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Memo of Transmittal
To: Kelsea Weber, iFixit
From: Bob Comstock
Date: Proposal to Improve Student Retention Following iFixit Project
The attached document is a recommendation report regarding the student retention rate after
the iFixit project done by technical writing students.
Recommendations
There are two potential solutions to keeping up the retention rate.
Modify introduction and conclusion emails
Provide at least one extra milestone for students
Methods
I have collected multiple sources to help identify the problem and support the solutions
Personal interview with Kelsea Weber
iFixit introduction email
iFixit conclusion email
Student survey (in progress)
Journal article
Findings
The obtained information and drawn conclusions are in the results and conclusion sections of
the recommendation report, respectively.
Final Recommendation
My final recommendation to improving student retention after the ifixit project is to greatly
improve the content of the introduction and conclusion emails of the iFixit project.
Thank you for your time. Please contact me if you have any concerns about the recommended
solution.

Improving Student Retention at Ifixit

Prepared for: iFixit Education Team, Morgan Livingston

Prepared by: Bob Comstock
Date Submitted: November 27th 2016

Table of Contents
Introduction.4
Methods5
Primary..5
Secondary.6

Results..6
Primary..6
Secondary.7
Conclusions....7
Recommendations.8
References...9

Introduction
Purpose
The iFixit project that students in English 149 (technical writing) do is one that allows
students to obtain real and practical tech writing experience. Students that do the
project get to write repair guides for broken devices on iFixits website. Even as an
aerospace engineering major, I can say that the project was a good experience for
writing in real-world technical applications. However, I think that it is essential that
students are still involved with iFixit to some degree after the project is completed. iFixit
wants its students to feel valued so that not only will they continue to contribute the the
repair community and make an impact in encouraging others to repair their devices, but
also so that they have a practical real-world application to keep their technical writing
skills in shape. This can be improved upon through means of giving incentive to
students staying with iFixit, whether it be having continued updates on their repair
guides in the future or recognizing them at some level for their hard work[1].
This recommendation report that will elaborate on the issue of student retention
following the iFixit project, as well as the proposed solution, will be addressed to the
education team at iFixit. They are the group at iFixit that oversees the repair guides
done by students and the retention of students after the project.
Student retention is a timely issue considering that iFixit interfaces with many new
students every quarter. The project in the tech writing class is a very valuable project to
the students and iFixit. Students that continue to be involved in the repair community
have the opportunity as engineers to keep their tech writing skills in shape as they can
make a valuable contribution at the same time [1].
Background
The retention rate of students being involved after the ifixit project is currently about four
percent [1]. The few that do stick around continue to be involved in the repair
community through making more iFixit repair guides and being active on the iFixit
forums. The parts of the project that are essential to keeping students involved
afterwards are the beginning of the project when they are given opportunity and
encouragement to hit the ground running, as well as the end of the project where they
may have the chance to be recognized for their hard work [2] [3].

Organization
This report has been sectioned into having an Introduction, followed by my means of
research and the results of the research. The following recommendations are then
stated:
Modify introduction and conclusion emails
Provide extra support and required information reminders to students throughout
project

Methods
A lot of direct research had to be done to learn more about the current status of the
iFixit project and where there could be areas of improvement. Input from an iFixit
employee and students working on the project was obtained as well as the information
posted in the introduction and conclusion emails for the project. One scholarly article
was used as well.
Primary Methods
Interview
I interviewed Kelsea Weber, a technical writer for the education branch of iFixit on what
needs improvement in the iFixit project. The following questions were asked:
1. Whats one aspect of the iFixit project that is continuously changing?
2. What do students express concern about the most after the project is completed?
3. What was the latest revision to the iFixit project and why?
Introduction Email
I referred to the introduction email to the iFixit project. This is the email that is sent out
to all students at the beginning of the project to help them get an idea of what to expect
from the start.
Introduction Email
I referred to the conclusion email to the iFixit project. This is the email that is sent out to
all students at the end of the iFixit project to congratulate them and encourage them to
keep in touch with iFixit.

Secondary Methods
Journal Article
I found an article that talks about how incentive can influence the assigned tasks of
others.

Results
The collected information from the primary sources gave me strong insight on what
things could currently be improved upon in the iFixit project. Feedback from an
employee at iFixit, current information layout on iFixits emails, and the journal article all
provided strong and relevant information.
Primary Methods
Interview
My interview with Kelsea Weber was very extensive with plenty of information and
insight. These were the general responses to the questions:
1. Whats one aspect of the iFixit project that is continuously changing?
How we interface with students when we present the project to them and help them out
with the project along the way. We are always improving our approach in order to give
them the best help needed. We are always trying to keep more students with us after
the project as well.
2. What do students express concern about the most after the project is completed?
Sometimes more assistance and guidance with where to start with their guide.
Sometimes they need some more urging to read the directions more.
3. What was the latest revision to the iFixit project and why?
Overall weve been continuously been providing more support via email and project
milestones to keep students on track as the project has grown. The project is always
expanding since its beginning and more students are becoming involved.
Introduction Email
I referred to the introduction email to the iFixit project. It highlights how popular some
student guides are (some seen by more than 10,000 people). Links are provided to see
the edu section of the iFixit website, contact info for iFixit support, and the overall
project infographic.

Conclusion Email
I referred to the conclusion email to the iFixit project. The email has a congratulating
statement along with links to give feedback on the project and contribute to making a
guide.
Secondary Methods
Article
I referred to an article about how incentives to a task had an influence on the
performance of those assigned to do the task. The results from the study mentioned in
the article show that those that are given incentive will peform better in terms of
providing more honest and less inflated information.

Conclusions
The Ifixit project is very valuable to the students that complete the project as well as
iFixit itself. It is important for students to stay involved in order to continue applying their
technical writing skills. Its ideal that work is done very soon to better retain students
considering that new students come every quarter to work on the iFixit project.
The first proposed solution to the issue of student retention is to provide more
accommodating links and information in the introductory emails to the iFixit project.
Such links should refer to the FAQ section of the iFixit website along with a brief
description of what they links provide. This information should be brought up and
emphasized by the professor of the class so that the students are encouraged to read
the email in the first place and refer to it if need be from the start. The concluding email
should retain the links that it currently has, but it should also include a little more
emphasis on the potential that students can do with retaining to iFixit as well as a
provide a link to the forums for students to engage on.
The second proposed solution is to have more student contact and potentially an extra
milestone or two during the process of the project. Not only will this make students feel
more valued and important, but it offers the opportunity for iFixit to simplify the project in
the context of breaking down the parts of the project into smaller and (potentially) easier
ones.

The first proposed solution is highly recommended. It is very important that students,
especially those that are very new to the repair community, get a running start with the
proper resources at their disposal.

Recommendations
After extensive research and examination of the current form of the iFixit project, I
recommend iFixit to add more support documentation/links in their introduction and
conclusion emails.

References
[1] K. Weber, Technical Writer/Education Aide, Ifixit. Interview. San Luis Obispo, CA.
10 Nov 2016.
[2] Welcome To The Ifixit Project!. 2016. E-mail.
[3] Team CPSU-LIVINGSTON-F16S10G2 Finished Device Guides (3). 2016. E-mail.
[4] R. Comstock, iFixit Student Retention, Survey. 16 November 2016.
[5] S. Roch, An investigation of motivational factors influencing performance ratings:
Rating audience and incentive, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 20 issue
8, pp. 695-711, 2016.