This course will help you develop your technical writing ability  through extensive practice writing a variety of technical documents, including a research report. You will learn to write useful descriptions, proposals and reports that your intended readers can understand and respond to. You will work on audience, voice, tone, style, and content in your writing. The topics will depend on your own interests and field of study.

If you do well in this course, you will be able to:

• write the kind of specialized reports required in your present and future occupations;
• identify the audience for your writing and prepare text suitable for that audience;
• select and use the appropriate formats and layouts for organizing your material, including plenty of white space;
• select and/or develop simple, yet appropriate visuals to give impact and clarity to your reports;
• pursue appropriate research methodology to develop your reports;
• document your reports correctly and completely;
• write a well-organized and effective research report.

The required textbooks for this course are:

• John M. Lannon. TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION. Ninth Edition. Longman, 2002
  
  - or -

• John M. Lannon. TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION. Tenth Edition. Longman, 2006

For information on how to order your textbooks, go to http://eli.nvcc.edu/books/

Your course grade will be determined by the assignments and exams, according to the following points:

There are 2 proctored exams in this course. You are expected to take your examinations at one of the NVCC campus Testing Centers. Be sure to allow enough time to complete your exam before the Testing Center closes; Testing Centers have specific policies relating to the administration of ELI exams. You will need to take a photo ID, your NovaConnect empl ID number, and the appropriate Exam Pass when you go to the Testing Center.  

For Testing Center locations, hours of operation and policies, click here.

For information on taking exams outside of the metropolitan area, click here.

I am here to help you succeed in this course. Occasionally questions or problems may arise. Here is how to contact me when they do:

E-mail : gpruden@nvcc.edu
Telephone : (703) 323-3347

You may also call me to schedule a meeting in person, either at ELI or my campus office. 

1. Use your web browser to connect to http://www.nvcc.edu/bbstart. Follow the directions to determine your email, Blackboard and VIVA account user names and passwords.
2. Access your email account and make sure you know how to use it; you will be required to use this account for all course-related email.
3. Log on to Blackboard at http://learn.vccs.edu.
4. Click on this course under "My Courses." Review the entire course to make sure you understand what will be required of you. Then start completing the assignments.

Please note that account generation takes approximately one week from the time of your paid registration. If you cannot log on after one week, contact the IT Help Desk. If you can log on to Blackboard, but your course isn't listed, please contact ELI or your instructor.