• Time Required
• 8–10 hours, including reading time

 

Welcome to Week Twelve of the course.

The writing activities for this week focus on the body of the report. By the end of the week, you should have a working draft for all five sections of the body (shown in the image below).

 Transcript of the image

Flowchart showing this is the sections of the report body:

1. Introduction. What is this document about?
2. Methods. What did you do?
3. Results. What did you see or determine?
4. Conclusions. What does it mean?
5. Recommendations. What should we do?

Next week, we will work on the front and back matter, so that you can compose a complete rough draft by the end of the week.

Holidays & Events This Week

• Pesach, or Passover, is a Jewish holiday that continues through sundown on April 19th.
• Palm Sunday, a Christian holiday, is Sunday, April 13.
• The New Year starts for several communities this week:
  • Theravāda, the Buddhist New Year, is Sunday, April 13.
  • Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year, is marked on Monday, April 14.
  • Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, is Monday, April 14.
  • Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, is also Monday, April 14.
• Virginia Tech’s Day of Remembrance is also Wednesday, April 16.
• Good Friday, a Christian holiday, is April 18.
• Easter, or Pascha, a Christian holiday, is Sunday, April 20.
• Ridván Bahá’í marks Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration he is God’s prophet. The holiest period in the Bahá’í faith,it begins Sunday, April 20 and lasts through Thursday, May 1.
• Arab American Heritage Month continues through the end of April.

If you observe these holidays or events and need me to adjust your due dates, send me a message in Canvas.

 

Objectives for this Module

After completing this week’s activities, you address the following course objectives:

• Identify and define a problem or subject related to your particular field (or another specific problem according to your assignment’s directions) and assemble and analyze research related to this problem. [CLO 1]
• Analyze the context of this problem or subject and determine appropriate audiences for the unit’s deliverables. [CLO 2]
• Practice workplace genres associated with a team-based research project: a research proposal, meeting minutes, a progress report, a recommendation report or an informational report for non-expert readers, a slide deck presentation of the report, and a video presentation. [CLO 3]
• Practice team and collaborative work in all phases of project management. [CLO 4]
• Design strategies for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the suggested approaches to the researched problem. [CLO 5]
• Illustrate the ethical and human implications of the solutions proposed for solving the problem. [CLO 6]

Due Dates & Deadlines This Week

Event	Date	Work Effected
3-Day Grace Period	By 11:59 PM on Wednesday, April 16	Week 11 Try-Its and the Check-In Survey
Target Due Date for Weekly Activities	By 11:59 PM on Friday April 18	Week 12 Try-Its and the Check-In Survey
Checkpoint Deadline	By 11:59 PM on Friday April 21	Progress Report and the related self-check
3-Day Grace Period	By 11:59 PM on Wednesday, April 23	Week 12 Try-Its and the Check-In Survey

See the information on Target Due Dates and Checkpoint Deadlines for additional details on these dates. The full list of course due dates and deadlines is listed in the Technical Writing Dates and Deadlines.

Activities to Complete

📚 To Read This Week

• Weeks 12 to 14 Readings on Recommendation Reports

📝 To Do This Week

• Develop the body sections for your Recommendation Report, using these resources:
  • Recommendation Report Criteria
  • Writing Your Introduction
  • Writing Your Methods Section
  • Writing Your Results Section
  • Writing Your Conclusions Section
  • Writing Your Recommendations Section
  • Documentation and Citations for Your Projects
• Try out strategies from the course by submitting these activities:
  • Try It #24: Integrating Your Sources
  • Try-It #25: Week 12 Consistency and Visuals Meeting
    • Week 12 Meeting Agenda
    • Meeting Minutes Format

💬 To Ask Questions (Optional)

• Optional ways to discuss class issues:
  • Post public questions in the General Q&A Discussion in Canvas if it can be shared with the class.
    
  • If you have a private question, send me a message with the Canvas Inbox.
  • Ask a question or make a suggestion anonymously with the Anonymous Questions & Suggestions form.

 

📓 To Check-In This Week

• Fill out the Week 12 Check-In Survey to let me know how you are doing in the course.