Technical Writing Activity

Lesson by Andrew Moss

Description (for Instructors)

This generative activity asks students to explore effective instruction writing through the lenses of audience and task analysis, step identification and grouping, style, and design. Students first take notes on the chapter “Writing Instructions” in the textbook Technical Writing Essentials to familiarize themselves with the basic elements of instructions. Then, students apply their knowledge to a creative, divergent prompt: Compose two, highly different sets of instructions for a single listed task. By asking students to purposefully diversify the style and design of their instructions, this task encourages them to consider how certain decisions affect their writing’s effectiveness, given a certain audience, genre, and task.

This activity is formatted as a discussion forum on the course management system of the instructor’s choosing (i.e., Moodle, Canvas, etc.). However, instructors may also choose to have students submit their work to a CMS submission tool instead.

Explanation (for Students)

Instructions

1.) Read Technical Writing Essentials: Read the chapter “Writing Instructions” in the textbook Technical Writing Essentials.

2.) Take notes: Take notes on what you take to be the most useful ideas in the chapter.

3.) Write instructions: Write TWO sets of instructions that greatly differ from one another (i.e., in design, level of detail, level of vocabulary, different groupings of steps, different types of sections, etc.) for ONE of the following tasks:

  • Getting your favorite food delivered to your house (you can make up a fake address in order to protect your privacy)
  • Putting gas in the tank of your car (or a friend’s or parent’s car)
  • Taking the bus from the Illini Union to a building on campus where you take classes.

4.) Submit your materials: Post your notes and two sets of instructions to the discussion forum.

Submission Directions

  • Click the “Add a discussion topic” button to begin your discussion forum post.
  • Include your name in the subject line of your discussion forum post.

Grading

This activity is worth one homework/activity grade. All activities together are worth 20% of your final grade.

Deadline

See the week-specific instructional activities table for specific deadline information.

Student Examples

Student Example #1

Notes:

  • Effective set of instructions requires:
    • Clear, precise, and simple writing
    • Thorough understanding of the procedure in detail
    • Imagine the writer is the reader when using the instructions
    • Visualize the procedure in detail and capture awareness on paper
    • Test instructions on the kind of person it is intended for
  • Preliminary steps
    • Conduct audience and task analysis
    • Determine number of tasks
    • Determine the best approach to the step-by-step discussion
    • Design grouping of tasks
  • Set of instructions contains:
    • Introduction
    • General warning, caution, danger notices
    • Technical background or theory
    • Equipment and supplies
    • Discussion of the steps
    • Structure and format
    • Fixed-order steps
    • Variable-order steps
    • Alternate steps
    • Nested steps
    • Step-less instructions
    • Supplementary discussion
  • Writing style
    • Place key user steps in bold
    • Avoid passive voice/ third person
  • Formatting
    • Headings
    • Lists
    • Special notices

Task: Getting your favorite food delivered to your house (you can make up a fake address in order to protect your privacy)

Instruction #1:

Introduction

This document will serve as a set of instructions for getting your favorite food delivered to your house. These instructions will work for your purpose regardless of the type of food that you order or where you live.

Danger Notices

When ordering your favorite food, please be conscious of any allergies you may have. Additionally, be sure to not get too close to the food delivery drivers as to not spread viruses or put yourself in harms way.

Equipment and Supplies

    • Cell phone
    • Uber App
    • Credit/Debit card

Steps

    1. Download the Uber App from the app store
    2. Click on the app one it downloads to your phone
    3. Click on the push-button that says “food”
    4. Use the search box to type in whatever restaurant you are craving
    5. Scroll down the restaurant-specific page to find your favorite food that you are craving
    6. Click on that food and click “add to order”
    7. Continue scrolling through the page and adding items until you are happy with your purchase
    8. Click on the black push-button that says “View Order”
    9. Press go to checkout
    10. Input your address and payment method
    11. Track your food’s commute while it is being prepared and delivered
    12. Enjoy!

Instruction #2:

Introduction:

Purpose: The purpose of this instruction manual is to help hungry individuals find their perfect grub! We will take you through a step-by-step guide to have food delivered to the comfort of your own home without leaving the house.

Danger: Your know yourself best, but please always be mindful of the ingredients in food if yourself of someone around you has allergies. Also always ensure that the restaurant you are ordering from is still in business to avoid ordering from a fraudulent restaurant.

Equipment: In order to complete the following steps, you will want to have a phone ready with stable wifi. Additionally, you will want to have a current debit or credit card ready to use to pay for your meal.

Instructions

Step 1: Download the Uber App from the app store

–        Using the Apple App Store or Google Play, search “Uber Eats” in the search bar and press download. This app should be free to download.

Step 2: Click on the app one it downloads to your phone

–        Once downloaded, the app should appear after the last app in your phone. You will need to click on it to open it.

Step 3: Click on the push-button that says “food”

–        Once opened, you will come across a screen that has options to search for rides or food, among others. Click on the food option.

Step 4: Use the search box to type in whatever restaurant you are craving

–        If you have a restaurant in mind, type the name of that restaurant into the search bar. If you do not have anything in mind, scroll on this page to find local restaurants. Click on whichever restaurant interests you.

Step 5: Scroll down the restaurant-specific page to find your favorite food that you are craving

–        You are now looking at the menu. Scroll through the menu and click on items to either see their dietary facts or add it to your order.

Step 6: Click on that food and click “add to order”

–        You must add the item to your order in order to receive the food.

Step 7: Continue scrolling through the page and adding items until you are happy with your purchase

–        Continue this process until the food you want delivered is in your cart

Step 8: Click on the black push-button that says “View Order”

Step 9: Press go to checkout

Step 10: Input your address and payment method

Step 11: Track your food’s commute while it is being prepared and delivered