This week is all about the technical report. The video will go over what it contains and should/could look like. I’ll also talk about how to fold in the article summaries and expanded defintions.

And don’t forget the Instruction Manual! An interim due date is 6/18.

Generally, it will go like this (individual assignments in italics, benchmark and due dates in bold):

  • We have an optional meet-up at 1 pm on 6/1.
  • Perusall: Read and Annotate assignment “Technical Reports” and is due 6/16.
  • Team Project Work: You’ll need to divide up the remaining research, with each person being responsible for 1000 words total. This can be split between different sections of the technical report if you wish. You should aim for the individual contributions to be completed by EOD 6/22 although there is still obviously work to be done to make it all fit together.
  • In general, continue work on Team task list/schedule. You probably should already be thinking about your website and letting me know if you need help with OpenLab.

Simple outline for technical report

Cover Page

Abstract

Table of Contents

Introduction & Objectives (topic and why your report is important; what you want this report to do, for example, provide technical support for your proposal, etc.)

Discussion (this should include the research you did, including the article summaries and extended definitions used in whatever way works best to cover these areas)

  • Background of topic
  • Problems associated with topic (This can be a single section, but you can also lay it out with different subheads for individual problems and/or technical elements you want to discuss.)
  • Previous attempts to solve the problems (Although I have this set off as a separate subhead, you can actually put this information in each of the problem subheads instead of making a separate section.)

Conclusions & Recommendations

  • What general conclusions you have drawn from the research
  • What do you recommend for your company or potential client to deal with the problem (software, equipment, training, etc.)

Information Sources (all the bibliographic information for everything you consulted)

Links to examples beyond the one in Perusall with more information on technical reports:

  • The Purdue Owl has a PowerPoint about technical reports. Pretty useful, especially about layout.
  • This website has a good look at the basics. It’s the one I reference in the video.