Career Advancement Certificate: Comprehensive Career Builder Certificate in Technical Writing
Contact Hours: 150 (an estimated time frame devoted to a course of study from start to finish that can vary from student to student)
This is a Career Builder Certificate Course of Study for students serious about advancing their career in the field of Technical Communication. Some of the highlights of this course are as follows.
1. Be prepared to invest 6-8 hours a week in your studies for 3 months.
2. Course of study can be accelerated with instructor permission.
3. Customized comprehensive content developed to engage you with one single instructor from start to finish.
4. Three Courses blended into one succinct body of knowledge.
5. Independent and self-paced study.
6. Instructor guidance and feedback.
7. Accredited University Certificate upon successful completion (issuance fees apply).
This certificate program consists of the following three courses:
1. Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format
2. Technical Reports for Industry, Government, and Business
3. User Documentation for Technology Products
The first course in this sequence is designed to prepare you for the remainder of the program.
Overall, just to name a few items, students will study style and format for industry, government, and business documents. They will review strategies for finding information for writing projects and learn methods for documenting those sources. Study and practice task orientation which is critical to good user-oriented documents and review writing styles common in user documentation is the main focus of this unit.
The synopsis for each of the three course modules can be found below.
Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format
In this course we begin with a thorough refresher bootcamp in grammar, usage, and punctuation and then study style and format for industry, government, and business documents (such as headings, vertical lists, warning notices, highlighting, tables, graphics), technical terminology, and wordiness problems. During this course you will correct documents containing the kinds of problems you are studying and read and take quizzes on The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing. To conclude this course, students do a major overhaul on a technical report and on a user guide.
Technical Reports for Industry, Government, and Business
In this course, the student begins by learning strategies for finding information sources for writing projects and methods for documenting those sources. From here, you will continue by practicing using character and paragraph styles to increase efficiency and consistency, reviewing how to create traditional outlines and tables of contents, and using templates for format reports. There will be readings along the way and quizzes on the Chicago Manual of Style. Following this fundamental preparation, students practice writing brief technical documents on science or technology topics. To conclude this course, you will apply all that you have learned by writing a formal technical report on a new technology, environmental issue, or scientific discovery.
User Documentation for Technology Products
Students begin this course by studying task orientation which is a critical component to writing good user-oriented documents. You will learn about writing style common in user documentation (especially the passive voice). The course continues with the students practice of writing two sets of instructions (the second of which you create and apply a template with customized character and paragraph styles). You will follow this project by creating a properly formatted standard operating procedure (SOP). As in the other courses you will read and take quizzes on Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, by Sun Technical Publications. The course of study concludes by teaching you how to study and analyze the design of user guides, and thus create a practical user guide of your own authorship.
Please note that this comprehensive course of study may be completed earlier than indicated dependent on arrangement between the instructor and student.
Certificates are only issued upon successful course completion of all required work. For more information contact courseinfo@jeronline.com
By the end of Course 1 - Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format, you will be able to:
The Comprehensive Career Builder Certificate in Technical Writing requires that the student engage in independent and self-paced study. The instructional developer of this program has been careful to provide a detailed method of study. Self-directed quizzes and short answer probe questions are created to give students a good sense of if they are on track with their learning objectives. These tasks are for student evaluation only.
In order to earn the official Comprehensive Career Builder Certificate in Technical Writing the student will be required to submit samples of completed work that will then be evaluated for accuracy and representative knowledge of the subject matter. More details regarding the process leading to the Comprehensive Career Builder Certificate in Technical Writing are described in detail in the course curriculum.
Course 1 - Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format
Week 1: Grammar, Usage, Punctuation Review, Introduction to Technical Writing.
Week 2: Technical Writing Process, Headings, Lists.
Week 3: Doc Plans, Outlines, Toolbox; Highlighting, Notices.
Week 4: Research, Rough-Drafting; Terminology, Style for Numbers, Symbols, Abbreviations.
Week 5: Task Orientation, Visuals; Introductions, Cross-Referencing.
Week 6: Editing, Indexing; Writing Style.
Week 7: Final Production; Grand Review of Grammar, Usage, Punctuation.
Week 8: Final Projects: Comprehensive Document Overhaul.
Course 2 - Technical Reports for Industry, Government, and Business
Week 1: Research and Documentation.
Week 2: Description, Process, Illustration, Abbreviations.
Week 3: Cause Analysis, Extended Definition, Numbers.
Week 4: Brief Field-Investigative Report, Tables.
Week 5: Introductions, Abstracts, Executive Summaries, Parts of a Published Work.
Week 6: Outlines, Tables of Contents, Grammar, Usage, Punctuation.
Week 7: Report Components and Templates, Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words.
Week 8: Final Project: New Technology, Environmental Issue, or Scientific Discovery.
Course 3 - User Documentation for Technology Products
Week 1: Task Orientation, Writing Mechanics, Constructing Text.
Week 2: Passive Voice and Other Writing Style Issues, Illustrations.
Week 3: Brief Instructions 1, Document Types.
Week 4: Formatting Reference Information, Document Types.
Week 5: Brief Instructions 2, Character and Paragraph Styles, GUIs.
Week 6: Standard Operating Procedures (Formatting), International and Legal Issues.
Week 7: Components of Standard User Guides.
Week 8: Final Project: User Guide for a Technology Product.
All materials included; no additional purchase required.
Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format (A Career Builder Course)
Contact Hours: 50 (an estimated time frame devoted to a course of study from start to finish that can vary from student to student)
In this course we begin with a thorough refresher bootcamp in grammar, usage, and punctuation and then study style and format for industry, government, and business documents (such as headings, vertical lists, warning notices, highlighting, tables, graphics), technical terminology, and wordiness problems. During this course you will correct documents containing the kinds of problems you are studying and read and take quizzes on The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing. To conclude this course, students do a major overhaul on a technical report and on a user guide.
In Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format, you study format and style of technical and business documents, along with main problems involving grammar, usage, punctuation, and sentence style. You do not do any extended writing projects, but instead correct problems in existing ones according to the guidelines and rules you have studied.
There are three options in this particular course:
By the end of the course - Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format, you will be able to:
This course contains numerous reading quizzes to help you measure your progress and mastery of the materials. A score of 85 or higher is required to complete the course successfully. Quizzes may be taken up to 3 times each.
Week 1: Grammar, Usage, Punctuation Review, Introduction to Technical Writing.
Week 2: Technical Writing Process, Headings, Lists.
Week 3: Doc Plans, Outlines, Toolbox; Highlighting, Notices.
Week 4: Research, Rough-Drafting; Terminology, Style for Numbers, Symbols, Abbreviations.
Week 5: Task Orientation, Visuals; Introductions, Cross-Referencing.
Week 6: Editing, Indexing; Writing Style.
Week 7: Final Production; Grand Review of Grammar, Usage, Punctuation.
Week 8: Final Projects: Comprehensive Document Overhaul.
and
Technical Reports for Industry, Government, and Business (A Career Builder Course)
Contact Hours: 50 (an estimated time frame devoted to a course of study from start to finish that can vary from student to student)
In this course, the student begins by learning strategies for finding information sources for writing projects and methods for documenting those sources. From here, you will continue by practicing using character and paragraph styles to increase efficiency and consistency, reviewing how to create traditional outlines and tables of contents, and using templates for format reports. There will be readings along the way and quizzes on the Chicago Manual of Style. Following this fundamental preparation, students practice writing brief technical documents on science or technology topics. To conclude this course, you will apply all that you have learned by writing a formal technical report on a new technology, environmental issue, or scientific discovery.
(This course builds on Technical Communication: The Profession, Writing Style, and Format and is the companion course for User Documentation for Technology Products.)
Bundle Pricing
We recommend registering for the full three-course Comprehensive Career Builder Certificate in Technical Writing to receive the best price possible. Each course is priced individually, but when you enroll in the certificate program and prepay, you'll receive a discount that is included in the total cost of the package.
Who Should Enroll:
By the end of the course - Technical Reports for Industry, Government, and Business, you will be able to:
This course contains numerous reading quizzes to help students measure their progress and mastery of the materials. A score of 85 or higher is required to complete the course successfully. Quizzes may be taken up to 3 times.
Week 1: Research and Documentation.
Week 2: Description, Process, Illustration, Abbreviations.
Week 3: Cause Analysis, Extended Definition, Numbers.
Week 4: Brief Field-Investigative Report, Tables.
Week 5: Introductions, Abstracts, Executive Summaries, Parts of a Published Work.
Week 6: Outlines, Tables of Contents, Grammar, Usage, Punctuation.
Week 7: Report Components and Templates, Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words.
Week 8: Final Project: New Technology, Environmental Issue, or Scientific Discovery.
User Documentation for Technology Products (A Career Builder Course)
Contact Hours: 50 (an estimated time frame devoted to a course of study from start to finish that can vary from student to student)
In User Documentation for Technology Products, you will:
By the end of the course - User Documentation for Technology Products, you will be able to:
This course contains numerous reading quizzes to help students measure their progress and mastery of the materials. A score of 85 or higher is required to complete the course successfully.
Week 1: Task Orientation, Writing Mechanics, Constructing Text.
Week 2: Passive Voice and Other Writing Style Issues, Illustrations.
Week 3: Brief Instructions 1, Document Types.
Week 4: Formatting Reference Information, Document Types.
Week 5: Brief Instructions 2, Character and Paragraph Styles, GUIs.
Week 6: Standard Operating Procedures (Formatting), International and Legal Issues.
Week 7: Components of Standard User Guides.
Week 8: Final Project: User Guide for a Technology Product.