Individual: 1500-2000-Word Instructional or Training Manual, 15%
Individually, you will write a 1500-2000-word instructional or training manual that demonstrates: 1. ability to explain a task/process in clear, concise language. selection and definition of appropriate terminology and concepts. 3. awareness of the intended user/audience. 4. knowledge of instructional manual format. All diagrams, illustrations, or photos must be created by the student and integrated into his or her manual. Any outside sources cited should be documented according to APA format.
Your project deliverable is due before class on Nov. 5 according to the syllabus.
Instructional or Training Manual
- For our purposes, we will say instructional manuals are external facing, meaning they are meant for end users, customers, or clients.
- Training manuals are internal facing documents, meaning they are meant for employees, contractors, and colleagues.
- You choose your audience (internal or external).
- Its word count should be 1500-2000 words.
- Combine words with pictures, illustrations (drawings), and/or screenshots. Any images that you use must be created by you or taken by you.
- Clearly define the purpose of your manual. What does it teach? What does it help a person do? What task or tasks does it help someone complete in a straightforward and easy manner?
- Telling versus showing. Always aim for showing, but provide the telling as context, clarification, and additional information.
- Use the body of your document for writing, steps, etc. Don’t be afraid to include text boxes and end notes.
- Provide a cover sheet, table of contents, introduction/purpose, and glossary of important terms. It can be as few or as many pages as needed.
- Be consistent with your explanations and learn from similar kinds of manuals about what terms you should be using to explain how to do something (e.g., tapping, pressing, clicking, holding, dragging, typing, etc.).
Let’s look at some examples (using Google, enter terms including “instructions,” “user manual or guide,” and “filetype:pdf” modifier to find others).
- Chemical Safety Manual for Small Businesses (telling)
- IKEA Billy Bookcase (showing)
- LEGO Instructions (listing of Millennium Falcon sets) (showing)
- Training Express’ Windows 98 Level I Training (telling and showing)
- Beats Studio Quick Start Guide (telling and showing)
- Official User Guide to Mint Linux (telling and showing)
- Suse Raspberry Pi Quick Start (telling and showing)
Find your own examples for ideas and inspiration. The reading for this section of the class has to do with your own research into what instruction manuals look like.
Think about what you know enough about that you can teach it to someone else and it is something that you want to include in your professional portfolio.
Of course, choose a task or process that you have realistic access to the hardware, software, etc. that you will need for creating your instruction manual.
As you write and revise your instructions, you will want to test them with the intended audience to ensure that they are correct and easy to understand. Obtaining user feedback ensures that your instructions work, but if they don’t, you can use feedback to revise your instructions accordingly.
For next week, identify what you want to write a set of instructions for this project, and find three example instructions online (these could be webpages or PDFs) or print that you plan to use as models. Create a short memo addressed to Prof. Ellis to record this information (your topic and APA Bibliographic entries for your models–look at Purdue OWL APA Reference List for books (no author) and electronic sources. Post it as a comment to this blog post before class next week.
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Dominick Denis
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Instructional manual for creating a circuit board
Gehlot, S. (2019, October 21). How to Make a Printed Circuit Board (PCB): PCB. Retrieved from https://maker.pro/pcb/tutorial/how-to-make-a-printed-circuit-board-pcb
Instructables. (2017, October 31). DIY Customized Circuit Board (PCB Making). Retrieved from https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-A-Customized-Circuit-Board-Made-Easy/
PCB Manufacturing Process – A Step-by-Step Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pcbcart.com/article/content/PCB-manufacturing-process.html
To: Prof. Ellis
From: Luke Thomas
Date: 10/22/19
Subject: Instructional Manual for creating a time lapse video
I have chosen to do my instructional manual on how to create time lapse video with a DSLR and I will be doing so using my own Sony A7S camera an example. This is a very cool way to capture long periods and illustrate the changes in given landscape as the time progresses. The examples I have chosen are cited below.
How to make a time lapse Video: A beginner’s Guide (2017, April 05). Retrieved from: https://petapixel.com/2017/04/05/make-timelapse-video-beginners-guide/
Time Lapse Network – Free Tutorials, Videos, forum and much more. Retrieved (2019, October 22) from: https://timelapsenetwork.com/tutorial/how-to-create-a-time-lapse-video-step-by-step/
Time-lapse photography: how to capture your first time-lapse video (2018, July 19) Retrieved from: https://www.techradar.com/how-to/time-lapse-photography
How to create time lapse video from still images on your camera (2017, May 19) Retrieved from: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-create-time-lapse-video-from-your-photography/
To: Prof. Ellis
From: Jeremy Corona
Date: 10/21/2019
Subject: Project-1500-2000-word-instructional-or-training-manual-phase-one
Hey Prof Ellis. I decided to do my instructional manual on how to use a raspberry pi as an ad-blocking dns server in your home. The raspberry pi is a small micro-computer which a plethora of uses. Integrating this into your home network will allow you to browse the web free of ads wherever you would normally see them.
Here are some examples:
https://docs.pi-hole.net/guides/tor/setup/
https://blog.cryptoaustralia.org.au/instructions-for-setting-up-pi-hole/
Pi-hole Documentation. (2019.). Retrieved from https://docs.pi-hole.net/
Kavadis, N. Setting up Pi-hole Step-by-Step Instructions. (2019). Retrieved from https://blog.cryptoaustralia.org.au/instructions-for-setting-up-pi-hole/
Andand. (2019). Pi Hole setup guide: Ad-free better internet in 15 minutes. https://www.smarthomebeginner.com/pi-hole-setup-guide/
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Marco M
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Instructional Manual for building a electric mountainboard
I will be doing an instructional manual about how to build an electric mountainboard, and I will be using my own personal mountainboard as an example as I put this together.
Instructables. (2019, October 14). Ultimate dry ice machine – Bluetooth Controlled, Battery Powered and 3D Printed. Retrieved from https://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Dry-Ice-Machine-Bluetooth-Controlled-Batt/.
Brown, J. (2018). I can do that Manual. Retrieved from https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ICDTBookHiResJune10.pdf
(2019, October 22). Retrieved from https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/diy-arduino-wireless-programming-shield-using-bluetooth-module.
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Huzaifa Anas
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Beginners guide to Python
Hello Professor Ellis!
I have decided to do an introductory guide to python. In this, the basic functions, features, and applications of python will be explored. I have decided to name and do it like this because Python is a good first programming language and has a decent amount of introductory uses. Below are three examples, which I’d like to emulate for my work. Sorry for any mistakes on this assignment, I’m currently in the hospital so I’m kind of out of it and will also miss today’s class.
Aside from the work by Reitz, the rest are websites functioning as table of contents essentially.
Sources
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/
https://www.techbeamers.com/python-tutorial-step-by-step/
https://buildmedia.readthedocs.org/media/pdf/python-guide/latest/python-guide.pdf
APA citations
Python Tutorial: A Complete Guide to Learn Python Programming. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.techbeamers.com/python-tutorial-step-by-step/.
Reitz, K. (2018, December 21). Python Guide Documentation. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://buildmedia.readthedocs.org/media/pdf/python-guide/latest/python-guide.pdf.
The Python Tutorial¶. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/.
TO: PROF. Jason Ellis
FROM: Alain Palmer
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Using the Wireless PlayStation Controller (1500 – 2000 Words)
Using the Wireless PlayStation Controller
I chose this topic as my project to research because not very long ago I found out that this device is compatible with certain games on the iPhone and more. This was news to me because I thought I could only be connected and used with the PlayStation 4 (PS4). I currently own a PS4. The PlayStation 4 DualShock controller now has 14 buttons plus two analog joysticks. This is a unique device compare to previous PlayStation controllers. Previous PlayStation controllers are not able to connect to any device through Bluetooth connection. Because of today’s culture, technology has shifted into the wireless world. This is the reason why the PS4 controller is one of the top gadgets to use for gaming.
Reference
PlayStation4 User’s Guide. Basics. Using the wireless controller. Retrieved from
https://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/usecontroller.html
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Alpha Barry
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Instructional Manual on how Filters work.
In this project, I would like to explore how some of the electronic circuits or devices called filters operate(function).
http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/ac_theory/filters82.php
https://www.daenotes.com/electronics/devices-circuits/filter-circuits
Nick. Davis (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/an-introduction-to-filters
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Liuming Chen
Date: 10/21/2019
Subject: Beginner guide for building a WordPress Blog on a Raspberry Pi
I am planning to do a beginner guide on building a local webserver on a Raspberry Pi with WordPress installed. The guide will include how to set up a raspberry pi, how to install a webserver, database and WordPress from start to finish.
Here are some sources I found for writing this guide.
CanaKit. (2019). Raspberry Pi: CanaKit Raspberrry Pi 4 Quick-Start Guide. Retrieved from https://www.canakit.com/Media/CanaKit-Raspberry-Pi-Quick-Start-Guide-4.0.pdf.
Emmet. (2019, July 4). How to Setup a Raspberry Pi Apache Web Server. Retrieved from https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-apache/.
Emmet. (2019, July 30). How to Setup WordPress on the Raspberry Pi. Retrieved from https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-wordpress/.
From: Karmoko Sillah
To: Professor Ellis
Date:10/22/2019
Subject: Using Windows 10 , shortcuts, and overall training manual
I chose to create an instruction manual on Windows 10. There are many features and settings that come with Windows 10 that is useful to uses and administrators. The instructional manual that I have decided to construct will aim at trying to make things easier for windows 10 users. Below are some examples of windows 10 instruction manuals that I have found on the web.
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-use-windows-10
https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/lnb_win10_qsg_en.pdf
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b2dc/f57484a3317126601b0f430063ac7bd80993.pdf
References:
Piltch, A. (2019, June 17). How to Use Windows 10. Retrieved from https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-use-windows-10.
How to Use Windows 10. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/amp.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-use-windows-10
Lambert , S., & Lambert, J. (2015). Windows 10 step by step.
TO: Professor J. Ellis
FROM: Julia Shin
DATE: 10/22/2019
SUBJECT: Instruction Manual on Printed Circuit Board
For now, I’ve decided to do an instruction manual teaching people how to approach a printed circuit board. Printed circuit boards are practically ubiquitous nowadays so it’s kind of interesting to build your own circuit on one. The process can be time consuming depending on the complexity of the circuit you choose, but they all follow a guideline that is very important. Once you got the basics down, the possibilities are great.
Some sample instructions to model the way I want my manual to look:
Shinganapure, S. (2019). How to make a gesture control robot at home. Arduino Project Hub. Retrieved from https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/shubhamsuresh/how-to-make-a-gesture-control-robot-at-home-a3f4a4?ref=platform&ref_id=424_trending___&offset=5
Joebarteam. (2017). How to make a professional printed circuit board: a complete guide. Instructables. Retrieved from https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Professional-Printed-Circuit-Board-t/
Freedman, A. (2018). How to build a PC. Tom’s Hardware. Retrieved from https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-build-a-pc,5867.html
TO: PROF. Jason Ellis
FROM: Hector Dextre
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: The creation of basic calculator in Java
I would like to demonstrate the performance of basic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by using a normal calculator in Java programming language.
Electronic Resources:
Geeks for Geeks. Retrieved from: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/java-swing-simple-calculator/
Begginers book. Retrieved from: https://beginnersbook.com/2017/09/java-program-to-make-a-calculator-using-switch-case/
Codes Cracker. Retrieved from:
https://beginnersbook.com/2017/09/java-program-to-make-a-calculator-using-switch-case/
TO: PROF. Jason Ellis
FROM: Samuel L. Rivera
DATE: 10/22/19
SUBJECT: Using Liberty Court Recorder for Audio Recording and Transcription Services
This memo is to bring to your attention the topic I would like to choose for the instructional and training manual project. I will be creating a manual for in-house use, by co-workers and new hires, of the transcription company where I work, to assist my fellow co-workers in using and troubleshooting the Liberty Court Recorder software.
Resources:
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.libertyrecording.com/LCR_main.htm#LPfeatures.
Join Team eScribers. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://escribers.team/.