Module Seven

Due: 28 April by 11:59pm Points: 30 Weight: 18% Readings -Chapter 20 (begin on page 584) Summary of Responsibilities -Complete instruction sheet by Sunday, April 28th at 11:59pm. -Complete Module 7 Quiz by Sunday, April 28th at 11:59pm. Detailed Description of Responsibilities The Value of Instructions The nal document you will asked to create this semester is one of the most basic, ubiquitous, essential genres that exists within the realm of technical communication: instructions. From setting up electronic devices to assembling Ikea furniture, instructions are an integral part of our lives. There are times when we get frustrated with the complexity instructions (Figure 1) and other times when we take for granted how straightforward and well-designed/written some instructions are (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

In the eld of rhetoric, specically technical communication, overly-complicated, unclear instructions are attributed to the designers inability to understand the task from another persons point of view, indeed to his or her assumption that the audience possesses the same amount of technical expertise as they do. I think it a

fair assumption to say that if we are looking at an instructional manual or document of any kind, we are most likely not in a position of authority on the subject.

experts

non-experts

One of the most basic roles of technical communicators is to bridge the gap between experts and non-experts. Whether this is in a scientic, corporate, legal, technical, or other capacity, every effective communicator has the ability to take a complicated task or idea to lter it through to myriad audiences. As such, being able to create effective instructions for a given task reects your skill set as a technical communicator. And since the creation of instructions requires you to recall and assemble many if not all of the previous topics covered in this course (i.e., document design, visual communication. usability, writing effective sentences, audience awareness), composing instructional documents is an appropriate way to end a course in technical communication. How to Read Chapter 20 Chapter 20 does a good job at going over all of the key facets of effective instructions, including issues of design and white space, introductions and numeration. However, do know that the type of instructions required of you this module are different than the ones Markel uses as exemplars in the chapter. Be sure to read the chapter carefully and glean the key concepts while still paying close attention to the elements and characteristics I am looking for in terms of this specic assignment. Your Task Your task is to create an instructional document (a how-to) outlining how to complete a task that relates in some capacity to the university setting. In terms of choosing a task, there are only two criteria that it must meet: it must be relevant and useful to university students and it must have a moderate to high degree of difculty. It might be useful to think about the tasks that someone in

your major would nd benecial but that might not be the easiest to perform. Here are some examples, ranging from the technical to the theoretical, to get you thinking: How to create, use, and share Google Docs for collaboration How to research and nd New York Times articles from the 1950s using the library database How to loan a library book from another school in Florida How to create a blog for self-promotion How to write a strong research paper in psychology How to think critically about a text How to resolve an ethical dilemma in philosophy How to share large les (over 25MB) with your classmate How to approach parking at USF How to create an effective graph or table in Microsoft Word How to print documents in the Marshall Center How to apply for nancial aid How to write a cover letter for an accounting position If youll notice, each topic responds to a need, or what in rhetoric we call an exigence: an event or circumstance that requires some sort of action. There is meaning to each task or topic in the sense that hundreds if not thousands of students would nd your instructional document to be extremely useful. The Challenge The challenge of this module is two fold.

Accumulate through research and experience the necessary knowledge to develop some level of expertise on the subject or task at hand.

Use communicative techniques to communicate complicated but common anxiety-inducing tasks to a beginner-status audience.

The Design There are lots of good models of instructions, both effective and ineffective, on the internet. Many of the online instructions for technical tasks resemble a eHow.com format, such as this one on changing oil. While this brief instructional guide does things well (provides an introduction, uses numerical direction), it is not very visually- oriented and only provides small pictures for only a couple of steps. It is expected that in this module you will use graphics and design features (colored boxes, appropriate font, clear numeration, etc.) to coincide and supplement the textual content. Generally, here are three examples of what your document might look like: How-To... 1

4 6

5 7

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Your design should reect the task you have chosen. For more technical tasks, perhaps a black and white approach (Figure 4) would be more appropriate. For more visually-oriented tasks, just as nding parking, a more colorful, imagebased approach (Figure 5) would be appropriate. If your topic is dry and want to spice it up a bit, then a more modern approach (Figure 3) might be appropriate. As such, I anticipate that you yourself will have to rely on some instructions/howtos in terms of using Microsoft Word, Pages, Adobe InDesign, or any other software to complete this module. This is a visually-oriented module that requires you to go beyond just the insertion of text into a word processing document.

The Criteria Each document must possess the following elements: Color Introduction (p. 590) Title (p. 589) At least 6 steps Associated, illustrative images Each document must have the following characteristics: Spaciousness, readability Legal in size (8-1/2 x 14) Consistent and intentional font choices Text enclosed in boxes Concise, imperative writing Numerical direction Each task must have the following qualities: Be a relatively complex task Be relevant for university students Be well-researched and accurate in terms of its execution (i.e., outlining how to think critically must be informed by relevant research) Assessment Assessment for this module will be based upon the Instructions checklist at the top of page 600. Be sure to run through this list when you are creating your instructions.