Technical Writing Online Course
How do you write technical manuals, scientific documents, texts and articles or anything else of a scientific or technical nature? This course will show you how. You will develop skills to write technical information for a variety of different purposes. This course is a professional development course for anyone working in a technical field, from consultants and teachers to scientists and engineers.
- 100 hr online course
- Study in your own time and at your own pace.
- Learn the skills required in technical writing.
- Learn to write articles, technical reports and much more.
- Learn from industry experts – our tutors!
Course Aims:
- Identify a broad range of situations where technical writing is used and where you might gainfully apply those skills;
- Present technical documentation for a variety of situations;
- Determine how to write appropriately for a defined audience;
- Develop formats for different documents that follow a logical appropriate structure;
- Explain how to effectively collaborate with one or more people in the production of a technical writing assignment;
- Write items of technical writing that are appropriate for publication in different types of periodicals including: popular magazines, industry magazines, scientific journals, newspapers and e-zines;
- Write easy to follow, technically accurate instructions for a variety of processes, using a variety of equipment;
- Write a formal proposal for a project;
- Write in an effective and appropriate style of report, during, or on conclusion of a project.
Lesson Structure
There are 9 lessons in this course:
- Scope and Nature of Technical Writing
- Nature and Scope
- Quality of Information
- Nature of Language
- Structure
- Characteristics of Technical Writing
- Presentation of Technical Writing
- Presentation
- Basic Parts of a Document (Written text, Images, White space)
- Headings
- Types of Images (Tables, Charts, Graphs, Photos, Drawings)
- Captions and Labels
- Main Elements (Front Matter, Body, end matter)
- Creating an Index
- Elements of Different types of Technical Documents (References, Texts, Journals, Reports, etc)
- Referencing
- Matching Style and Content to the Audience
- Writing for an Audience
- Writing Well
- Writing Guidelines (Jargon, Gender neutral writing, Using simple sentences, passive or active language, first, second or third person, etc)
- Spelling, Grammar
- Editing, Proof reading
- Planning: Developing a Logical Structure or Format
- Creating a Technical Document
- Research the Document; gather information
- Plan; decide on the format
- Write; create an outline and then write the first draft
- Verify; check the accuracy of what you have written
- Revise; amend the document before
- Writing a First Draft
- Collaborative Writing
- Working in a team
- Tasks and Roles
- Technical Brief
- Strategies for Collaboration
- Style Guide
- Using Templates
- Using Email Effectively
- Writing Technical Articles for Periodicals
- Writing for Periodicals
- Publisher Specs
- Writing Descriptions and Specifications
- Journal Abstracts
- Writing Manuals and Procedures
- Writing manuals
- Writing Instructions and Procedures
- Guidelines
- Troubleshooting
- Writing Project Proposals
- What is a Proposal?
- Proposal Categories (Solicited and Unsolicited)
- Model for Writing Proposals
- Grant Proposals
- The Stop Format
- Writing Project Reports
- Types of Reports
- Progress Reports
- Completion Reports
- Review Reports
- Regulatory Reports
- Feasibility Reports
- Scientific Reports
- Elements of a Formal Report
- Executive Summaries

