Technical Communication

Directions:  Be sure to save an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it to Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) double-spaced pages; refer to the “Assignment Format” page located on the Course Home page for specific format requirements.

Part A: Written and Oral Communication Skills

Locate a website for an organization that hires graduates in your major. Besides technical skills, what writing and communication skills does this organization seek in a job candidate? Write a one-page essay on what they say directly on this subject. Include reasons why each skill is important, and any additional written/spoken skills that you believe would give a candidate a competitive advantage.

Part B: Effective Writing Teams

a.       What types of projects require collaboration?

b.      What are four primary attributes of an effective writing team? Provide an example for each.

Part C: Internet Source Distortion/Misrepresentation

From media, personal experience, or the Internet, identify an example of each of the following sources of distortion (faulty causal and/or statistical inference) for the following:

a.       A study with questionable sponsorship or motives

b.      Reliance on insufficient evidence/hasty generalization

c.       Unbalanced or biased presentation

d.      Unexamined assumptions

e.       Faulty causal reasoning

Part D: Checklist for Style – Local Newspaper

Using the “Checklist for Style” on the following page (also found in Chapter 11 of your textbook), rewrite the following letter to a local newspaper.

In the absence of definitive studies regarding the optimum length of the school day, I can only state my personal opinion based upon observations based by me and upon teacher observations that have been conveyed to me. Considering the length of the present school day, it is my opinion that the day is excessive length-wise for most elementary pupils, certainly for almost all of the primary children.

To find my answer to the problem requires consideration of two ways in which the problem may be viewed. One way focuses upon the needs of the children, while the other focuses upon logistics, transportation, scheduling, and other limits imposed by the educational system. If it is necessary to prioritize these two ideas, it would seem reasonable to give the first consideration to the primary reason for the very existence of the system, i.e., to meet the educational needs of the children the system is trying to serve.