This is a blog for the UBC course English 301 – Technical Writing.

In this course, we students will learn a wide variety of techniques and skills that will be useful in professional writing.

In Unit 1, we will learn the basics of technical writing and its adjacent procedures. This will be taught through, in part, the building of this website. We will learn how to format posts and webpages, create intuitive explanations for readers and audiences, and focus on expressing complex professional systems with care and simplicity.

In Unit 2, we will begin to create more specific professional work, branching off to create proposals for reports on a specific topic, and fleshing out our individual online presences through LinkedIn. This will give us the opportunity to get more comfortable with the core principles of professional writing, as we can apply it to topics we are already familiar with.

In Unit 3, we will build on what we’ve learned previously and develop our project proposals more, giving each other feedback to improve our work. In addition, we will deepen our understanding of professional writing and systems by creating an application to a job or internship using our new online skills. This will help us develop our voices for such writing, and give us valuable experience in interacting with real-world applications of technical writing.

In Unit 4, we will complete our professional report, writing detailed and clear information that delves deeply into the realities of a particular subject. This report will be laid out according to the basic principles we’ve learned throughout the course, and follow accepted guidelines on form, layout, composition, and more.