Birla Institute of Technology and Science- Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Instruction Division
First Semester 2015-2016
Course Handout (Part II)
1 st
August, 2015

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
Course Title
Instructor- in- charge
Instructors

: BITS F112
: Technical Report Writing
: Maria Mercy Amutha A
: Santosh Mahapatra, Olympia Bhatt, Maria Mercy Amutha A

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:
Sharma, R.C. and K. Mohan. 2011. Business Correspondence and Report Writing.
Fourth Edition. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
3. Reference Books:
(i) Raman, Meenakshi and Sangeeta Sharma, 2011. Technical Communication:
Principles and Practice, 2/e. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
(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)Krishna Mohan and Meenakshi Raman. 2010. Advanced Communicative English.
New Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill
(v) Finkelstein, Jr. Leo. Pocket Book of Technical writing for Engineers and Scientist.
Mc. Graw Hill . 2005
4.
Lec.
No
1
2
3

Course Plan :
Learning Objectives
To give an insight into the communication
process and its importance in day-to-day
activities
To introduce the various communication
networks in organizations

Topics to be
covered
Communication
Process

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

Communication
Ch.3
networks- formal and
informal
To introduce the concept of barriers to Communication
Ch.4; Ref.
communication; how these barriers lead to Barriers
(i) Ch.2

noise in the communication process

4-5 To introduce the elements of effective Elements
of Ch. 19 ;
writing, what constitutes a good writing style Effective Writing
Ref.(i)
and how can it be attained
chapter
13&14
6-9 To make them conscious of various aspects Effective
Writing- Ch. 19 ;
of writing: sentence construction, sentence Sentence
Ref.(i)
length and word order
Construction
and chapter
Length
13&14
10 To give practical hints to make ones writing Effective
Writing- ---more effective: choice of words, phrases, and Choice of Words and do-----sentences
Phrases
11 To make them conscious of various aspects Effective
Writing- ---of writing: sentence construction, sentence Sentence Construction do-----length and word order
and Length
1213
1416
1720
2123
2425

To provide practice in effective writing

Practice

To define technical reports and tell about

their characteristic features
To introduce various types of reports; to give
practice to prepare routine reports
To provide an understanding of shorter
reports; when and how to use them
To give an understanding of various
structural elements of a report; to provide
rigorous practice
26 To discuss various steps involved in report
writing; planning and preparation: from data
collection to outline making
27 To familiarize them with all the methods of
data collection
28 To discuss various sources for data
collection.
29- To provide guidelines for preparing mail
31 questionnaire; to give adequate practice in
preparing a questionnaire
32- To give insight into data analysis with the
34 help of illustrations
35 To provide practice in writing reports

Technical Reports

---do-----Ch. 12

Types of Reports

Ch. 12

36- To make them aware of various aspects of

38 oral presentations; to provide guidelines for
effective presentations
39- To make them aware of various aspects of
40 oral presentations; to provide guidelines for
effective presentations
41- To provide information about group
42 discussion; how to participate in a group
discussion

Professional
Presentation

Ch. 24

Oral Presentation

Ch. 20

Group Discussion

Ch. 26

Memo Report
Letter Report
Report Structure

& Ch. 22 &

Ch. 19
Ch. 18 &
Ch. 19

Preparatory Steps

Ch.14

Methods of Data
Collection
Sources of Data

Ch. 14

Mail Questionnaire

Ch. 14

Data Analysis &

Illustrations
Report writing

Ch. 14

Ch.22 and
23

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

i
ii

Topic
Assignment
Presentation

-2
-1

OB
OB

6. Self Learning: Ref. (iii). Ch.3, 5, 11, 12, 13

7. Evaluation Scheme:
Duratio
n

Weighta
Venu
Date & Time
ge (%)
e

Test-I

1 Hrs

15 %

11/9, 8.30-9.30
AM

Closed Book

Test-II

1 Hrs

15 %

10/11, 8.30-9.30
AM

Open Book

Component

Assignments
Compre Exam

Remarks

30%
3 hrs

40 %

01/12 FN

Closed Book

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

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

Maria Mercy Amutha A

Instructor-in-charge