Memorandum on Course Reflection: Technical Writing

Question

Paper details:Course Reflection. The name of course is Technical Writing.

Assignment  Overview Reflection is an important aspect of learning. In your final assignment, you will write a memo reflecting on the course, the writing projects that you have done, what you have learned and how it relates to your career. 

In your course reflection memo, be sure to address all of the following points: 

1. The Course. Reflect on the class in general. Look back on the course objectives from the syllabus, and from the learning objectives for each week. What did you learn about technical writing? How did your idea of what technical writing change in these five weeks? What concepts from the course will be useful in your job? Explain with an example or two. 2. The Assignments and Your Learning. Look back at your writing assignments 1 through 4. What did you learn from writing these assignments? What do these projects show about you as a communicator in the workplace? What skills did you gain during the course? What old skills did you revisit or improve? Explain with an example or two. 3. Your Career. Place this course and your writing assignments in the context of your career. How does what you learned make you a better job candidate? How does this course fit with your career goals? What connections can you make between this course and the other courses in the RN to BSN program? (RN is Registered Nursing while BSN is Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Explain with an example or two. • Questions. What questions about technical writing were raised for you during the course? Overall, how do you judge your learning? 

Note that this assignment does not ask you to simply answer these questions. Instead, it asks you to reflect on your learning in a coherent narrative. I am also not looking for fluffy contents. Please be sure to provide solid examples to support your reflection. 

Format
  • Use business memo format • Single-spaced • At least 825 words 

Submission
 My file name should be: Zhang-reflection.docx.

Answer

Memorandum on Course Reflection: Technical Writing

Name:

Institution:

MEMORANDUM

FROM:

TO:

DATE: 6 November 2016

SUBJECT: COURSE REFLECTION ON TECHNICAL WRITING

The technical writing course has been an engaging and interesting topic. Technical writing encompasses the process of simplifying complex or otherwise relating complex information in an easy-to-understand manner for a targeted audience. It is applied to the areas of content creation, communication, advertisement, marketing, and public relations across a wide range of subject areas. A deep understanding of the subject and excellent language skills are crucial requirements since they allow a person to relay technical information in a short, clear, and concise pattern (Barras, 2002).

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Going into this course, I already had a bit of information on the structure and application of technical writing. As the course went on, I was introduced into the different techniques of understanding information and putting down key points with a particular intention of reaching the intended audience. This process requires striking a balance between the need to reach out to the target audience and retain the content of the message. An example would be technical writing on business with variations in function such as for content creation and awareness one the one hand and content for marketing and advertisement purposes on the other. In this case, the strategies and language used tend to vary significantly (Barrass, 2002). Thus, I have learned that technical writing is itself a highly complex undertaking that requires careful planning and laying down of objectives during content formulation and adjusting of language to suit the purpose.

In this course I have developed an understanding of the categories of technical writing as well as the sequential process that goes into it. The first step is always to identify the needs and scope of the audience. This can be accomplishment through direct enquiry or evaluation of secondary statistics (Kirkman & Turk, 1989). This step is then followed by planning and developing the content. This is the most important step that reflects on the understanding of the audience and the information. Thirdly, a technical writer should test and review content. This is the point at which the accuracy and implementation potential of the content is evaluated. This is done in stages starting with personal editing, followed by professional or institutional editing. Finally, the editor may test the content on a small group of the intended audience to gauge the reception and familiarity it creates. Once these steps have been completed, the campaign is rolled out and distributed to the audience amidst monitoring, adjustments and implementing on feedback. After the content has served its purpose, it is shelved and archived or in other cases it is destroyed.

A few examples of technical writing categories that I did projects include demonstrations, customer service scripts, proposals, websites, policy documents, instructions, product descriptions and manuals (Mirel, 2002). On this basis it is evident that technical writing in recent years has evolved into a complex and diverse process that requires an integrative technical communications approach that will package content research, design, dissemination, marketing and revision without compromising its quality. This also requires a clear and functional communication pathway between the organization, customers, employees and separate markets. The core value for all technical writers is to create useful and relevant information that is targeted at a specific audience in order to cause immediate results. An unspoken rule in this regard is that any form of advertisement or content should offset a first-level impact immediately and without confusion. This course has also reinforced the power of technical writing in branding and image strengthening. This form of presentation is a direct representation of a brand and its services. Technical writing, whether presented in verbal, written or video formats, an integral part of advertisement psychology (Mirel, 2002).

Meanwhile, the nursing career has been undergoing transformations that now value effective communication in every day nursing practice and the managerial process in the nursing profession. As a registered nurse or student of nursing, this course has equipped me with the tools to deal with different types of patients at a very basic level. This is mainly because the course also employs lessons and strategies in oral communication and body language. I have personally observed the transformation that these few weeks of this course have affected in my communication patterns. On a larger extent, technical writing has exposed me to the principles of target advertisement and content creation especially in the health sector. Nurses can therefore take up technical writing positions and apply their nursing knowledge when designing simple content on basic health and care.

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For a nurse who is focused on management nursing, this course offers the tools to manage communication with nursing staff and health stakeholders. Without a doubt, I confidently acknowledge the power and influence that communication, branding, advertising and public relations have through technical writing. These abilities are of utmost relevance in the present world where the information age has been characterized by an information overload and the consequent task of sifting through loads of data while simultaneously evaluating it to identify the most accurate and relevant information (Mirel, 2002).

Lastly, a common point of discussion was the issue of sustaining while improving the quality of content and the authenticity of distribution channels. Based on my experience and, hopefully, the collective opinion of my fellow classmates, the only way of improving quality of one’s technical writing is by establishing transparent and flexible structures of editing and distribution through PR and advertisement organizations. These bodies have the potential to streamline the communication process, weed out irrelevant information, as well as save time and resource while still reaching the target audience.

References

Barrass, R. (2002). Scientists must Write: A Guide to better Writing by Scientists, Engineers and Students. London: Routledge.

Kirkman, J & Turk, C. (1989). Effective Writing: Improving Scientific, Technical and Busines Communication. London: E & FN Spoon.

Mirel, B. (2002). Reshaping Technical Communications: New Directions and Challeneges for the 21st Century. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.

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