Technical Communication
Engineering, Fall 2010
Please visit out class website to view the students' work: http://blogs.hightechhigh.org/hthcvseniors/
Project Abstract
Over the past 3-plus years, students have completed dozens of projects that required them to build, paint, construct, draw, create, exhibit, and more. This project, a joint effort between english and engineering, asked students to tap into this vast store of know-how to create an article for an online technical handbook that allows them to share their knowledge with current and future High Tech High Chula Vista staff and students. Students worked in small groups of 1-3 students that 1) identified a technical task, 2) interviewed a specific person who was a novice at this task and 3) composed a document that addressed the specific needs of the audience. Once all the groups composed their documents, they were accumulated and posted on a class website so that others in the HTHCV community may view them all in one location.
What did you teach and how did you teach it?
Through this project students learned how to analyze their audience through interviews, classroom discussions about the rhetor triangle and an analysis of modern media. They also learned professional tone, clear layout techniques, the use of visual hierarchy, and how to create useful visuals, whether video clips, illustrations, screenshots or photographs.
At the beginning of the project, a lot of time was spent on analyzing a variety of technical manuals and how-to videos that are effective in the real world. Learning of visual hierarchy and layout features was supplemented by Carnigie Mellon's open source class on Visual Communication Design. Student success was promoted through several peer and class critique sessions.
What concepts and skills did the students gain in this class through this project?
The goal was for students to walk away from this project with the ability to effectively communicate their knowledge to an individual who may be struggling with it. This requires understanding their audience thoroughly such that their needs and questions are answered, and presented in a manner that is useful and interesting to the reader/viewer.
How is the curriculum for this project academically rich and grade-level challenging?
For many students, by their senior year, they have become excellent verbal comunicators. These students are also very accustomed to creating work that is centered around their own personal interests and curiosities. This project was personally challenging for many students and required the maturity to think of their audience's needs before their own desires. The necessary detail to describe small steps and maintain a professional tone was also challenging for the students. Each group was allowed to select their own topic that was challenging for them. The small size of groups required that each member pull their own weight and be responsible for the final product.
To what extent was there integration across disciplines in your class through this project?
This project was simultaneously developed and implemented in both the students english and engineering classes.
Which Habits of Heart and Mind (HoHM) and Design Principles were utilized in this project?
This project required the students to analyze the perspective of their audience so that their needs might be met, cooperate in a group setting to complete the project, be mindful about their audience's busy schedule in asking for their help and support, and to refine their work thoroughly as it was being presented to an audience larger than the classroom.
How did you incorporate refinement through this project?
Refinement in this project was centered on peer review. Each student had their work critiqued by 2-6 other individuals after they completed their first draft. Students were then offered the opportunity to complete another voluntary round of critique based on the the rubric on which they were to be assessed. After the final draft was submitted, the groups had both their audience member and the instructors provide specific feedback on how they might improve their project before the online manual is made public.