BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, PILANI-Hyderabad Campus

INSTRUCTION DIVISION Course Handout (Part II)

Second Semester 2011-2012
Date: 07/01/2012
In addition to part I (General Handout for all courses appended to the time table) this portion gives
further specific details regarding the course.
Course No
: BITS F112
Course Title
: Technical Report Writing
Instructor-in-charge : JOY ANURADHA
Instructors
: Aruna Lolla, Maya Pavitra Lal, Olympia Bhatt
1. Scope and Objective of the course:
The objective of the course is to help the learners understand the process of communication; develop
skills in writing technical reports and presenting them to an audience effectively.
2. Textbook:
Raman, Meenakshi and Sangeeta Sharma, 2011. Technical Communication: Principles and Practice,
2/e. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
3. Reference Books:
(i)

Sharma, R.C. and K. Mohan. 2011. Business Correspondence and Report Writing.
Fourth Edition. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
(ii)
Gerson, Sharon J and Steren M. Gerson. 2011.Technical Writing : Process and Product.
Third Edition. India : Pearson Education Asia.

(iii)

Mishra, Sunita and C. Muralikrishna. 2004. Communication Skills for Engineers.

Delhi: Pearson Education Pte. Ltd.

(iv)

Advanced Communicative English. New

Krishna Mohan and Meenakshi Raman. 2010.

Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill
4. Course Plan :
Lec.
Learning Objectives
No
1-2 To give an insight into the communication process
and its importance in day-to-day activities
3
4

6-7
8
910
11

Topics to be covered

Communication:
Definition, Process,
Importance
To introduce the elements of effective writing; Elements of Effective
Writing
what constitutes a good writing style
To give practical hints to make ones writing more Effective WritingChoice of Words and
effective: choice of words, phrases, and sentences
Phrases
To make them conscious of various aspects of Effective Writingwriting: sentence construction, sentence length and Sentence Construction
and Length
word order
Practice
To provide practice in effective writing
To define technical reports and tell about their Technical Reports
characteristic features
To introduce various types of reports; to give Types of Reports
practice to prepare routine reports
To discuss various steps involved in report writing; Preparatory Steps
planning and preparation: from data collection to

Ref.Chap.
/Sec. No.
Textbook Ch.1

Ch. 13&14
----do------

-----do-----

-----do-----Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Ch.18

outline making
12

To discuss various sources for data collection.

1314

To familiarize them with all the methods of data Methods of Data

Collection
collection
To provide guidelines for preparing mail Mail Questionnaire
questionnaire; to give adequate practice in
preparing a questionnaire
To give an understanding of various structural Report Structure
elements of a report; to provide rigorous practice
To give insight into data analysis with the help of Data Analysis &
Illustrations
illustrations
Report writing
To provide practice in writing reports

Ch. 18

To provide an understanding of shorter reports; Memo Report & Letter

Report
when and how to use them

Ch. 18

To make them aware of various aspects of oral Professional

presentations; to provide guidelines for effective Presentation
presentations

Ch. 6&8

1516
1719
2021
2224
2527
2829

Sources of Data

Ch. 18

Ch. 18

Ch. 18
Ch. 3
Ch.18

5. Assignments: The following items to be done as class assignments:

Topic

Marks

i)

Assignment (1/2) (Surprise Quiz)

20

( 30 Minutes)

ii)

Team Report Assignment

30

( OB)

iii)

Class Participation

20

6. Self Learning: Ch.24&25

7. Evaluation Scheme:
EC
No.
1
2

Duration

Marks

Date & Time

Test I

50 min

50

23Feb.5.00-5.50pm

CB

Comprehensive exam

2 hours

80

01May FN

CB

Component

Nature

8. Chamber Consultation Hours: To be announced in the class.

9. Notices: Notices concerning the course will be displayed on Department of Languages Notice
Board and LTC Notice Board.

Dr.Joy Anuradha
INSTRUCTOR-IN-CHARGE