Objectives
Technical authors operate in a wide variety of contexts. Traditionally employed in aerospace engineering, cellular communications, electronics, the pharmaceutical and software industry, there are now increasing opportunities in the banking, financial services, national and local government and health sectors. Developed with the support of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC) and supported by a group of experienced professional authors, the course has a pronounced communication focus and a strong practical orientation. It features units which have a high degree of professional relevance and training, particularly in relation to choosing the right tools for the job. It will provide you with an opportunity to produce technical documentation in the two broad areas of engineering/technology and private/public sector business organisations. This breadth of experience is complemented by an opportunity to develop a specialism in an area of your choice through completing the final year project.
Course description
Technical Communication has a strong practical element and features units that have a high degree of professional relevance and training.
The course is structured on the basis of core units and optional units.
Core units
-Technical discourse: theory and practice
-Electronic publishing
-Managing the Project
-Communicating with different audiences
-Multimedia communication
-Project
Optional units
-Writing to inform (recommended)
-Human-Computer Interactive Design
-Technical Translation
-Writing to persuade (recommended)
-Work-based Learning
-Professional aspects of technical communication
-These units are described briefly below.
Exit levels
The credit system creates a flexible framework in which you can graduate with one of the following awards, depending on the number of credits gained. Each taught unit has a credit rating of 15 credits with the dissertation worth 60 credit points:
-MA in Technical Communication (four core units plus the research management and dissertation units) 180 credits
-Postgraduate Diploma in Technical Communication: 120 credits
-Postgraduate Certificate in Technical Communication: 60 credits
Core Unit descriptions
Technical discourse
The unit is designed to ensure that you will develop a thorough understanding of the distinguishing characteristics of technical discourse, which includes both writing and speech. This will be achieved through the analysis of existing texts, the regular production of different text types and their evaluation, using relevant concepts from linguistic and communication theory.
Electronic publishing
This unit will introduce you to the most significant technologies involved in the production and publishing of electronic texts. You will develop skills and understanding of the underlying principles of the appropriate software and of the legal and economic issues involved in electronic publishing.
Managing the project
The unit will prepare for the Project. Using materials prepared by a professional communicator, the unit will take you through the various stages of a technical documentation project, from initial information-gathering to project evaluation, with particular reference to planning and creating content, editing and reviewing. The unit includes time and budget management and document control procedures.
Communicating with different audiences
This course unit will examine the needs of different audiences focusing on non-technical, mixed and international audiences, and on visual communication. You will also explore the theory of sign systems (semiotics) and multimodal discourse, which provides the theoretical underpinning of the interface between text and graphics.
Multimedia communication
In this unit you will explore current multimedia software authoring tools in order to produce effective communication artefacts and understand the theory that informs their production. The syllabus includes: fundamentals of digital multimedia; multimedia authoring; multimedia design and planning; journaling and reflective writing.
The Project
The final project is of 12,000 to 15,000 words, involving both theory and practice. Its starting-point is a technical documentation project, negotiated with a local/regional company, which you will carry through to completion. The Project will be evaluated against the theoretical knowledge that you will have acquired during the course. It is designed to provide you with real-world experience of technical communication.
Optional Unit descriptions
Writing to Inform (recommended)
The Writing to Inform and Writing to Persuade units are designed to provide students with knowledge and experience of particular aspects of technical communication. Both units are delivered by professional technical communicators and by academics from the Technology Faculty and the Portsmouth Business School. Writing to Inform focuses on informative writing in relation to three topics: electronic engineering, website design with particular reference to navigation systems, and Help page design.
Human computer interactive design
Human computer interaction is a multi-disciplinary unit concerned with the design, implementation and evaluation of the interface between human users and computer systems, and the major phenomena which influence these elements, including human psychological elements, engineering and a number of socio-technical phenomena.
Technical translation
The unit is aimed at bilingual students, who will be either English speakers with an advanced knowledge of a foreign language or native speakers of a foreign language with an advanced knowledge of English. As the title of the unit suggests, the unit aims to provide students with an opportunity to extend their translation capability to technical texts. The languages offered are: French, Chinese, German, Greek, Italian, and Spanish.
Writing to persuade (recommended)
This unit complements Writing to inform. It examines persuasive writing in relation to technical and business proposals on the one hand, and financial documentation on the other. Students taking both Writing units will be exposed to a broad range of technical documents, and will investigate the design principles behind them and produce their own texts, accompanied by an analytical commentary.
Work-based learning
This unit is deigned for flexibility. On the one hand, it allows part-time students to develop a project based on their current employment, provided it is situated broadly within a technical communication environment. On the other hand, full-time students are able to identify a unit of study from a relevant Faculty, such as the Faculty of Technology or the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries, and to develop a suitable project based on the unit of study they have chosen.
Professional aspects of technical communication (recommended)
The unit provides students with an opportunity to talk and debate with professional technical communicators and representatives of the professional bodies on a range of subjects of relevance. The unit will examine career opportunities for technical communicators and develop students’ understanding of the issues related to the preparation for technical communication as a career.
Please note. All optional units are subject to staff availability and student demand
