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Full Draft Workshop: Preliminary Research Report

Read the draft aloud or allow others to read it before beginning discussion.

Start with the authors’ questions or concerns. If some of their questions regard local level issues (grammar, style, word choice, document design), agree to address those later. Focus first on global issues, such as organization, clarity, emphasis, tone, and depth and breadth.

When responding to the authors’ questions, be specific in the feedback you provide. Point to particular passages in the draft, and offer specific suggestions for revision.

After you’ve fully addressed the authors’ questions and concerns, move on to the questions you have as readers. Again, be sure that your questions are specific, and that you’re referencing specific passages in the draft.

After you’ve addressed all of the global issues identified by the authors and readers, move on to local level concerns. During this stage it would be appropriate to comment on/discuss document design, grammar, word choice, etc.

Audience and the ePortfolio Video Project

From Lannon, John. Technical Communication, 11th Ed. Page 34.

1. Who wants the document? Who else will read it?
2. What is the purpose of the document?
3. Why do people want the document? How will they use it?
4. What is the primary audience’s technical background? The secondary audience’s?
5. What tasks must users accomplish successfully?
6. In what setting will the document be used?
7. Are there any possible hazards or sources of error?
8. What exactly does the audience need to know, and in what format? How much is enough?
9. When is the document due?

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Collective Intelligence: The Wisdom of Crowds

Imagine you’re consulting for a new medical research lab that will employ about 20 researchers and postdocs working in various areas related to disease and disease prevention, from virology to oncology. The lab’s director has little experience building a successful lab from the ground up, and so is looking to you to make recommendations. Drawing on the Hutto article you read for today as well as the Johnson lecture, outline a proposal in which you make specific recommendations based on what you know about how knowledge gets produced in professional settings.