Technical Report Overview

Description

The goal of this assignment is to compose a document that analyzes an environmental issue. This report will strive for objectivity as it synthesizes reputable information sources into a summary statement. Such reports attempt to provide an unbiased encapsulation of an issue by resolving matters of fact, definition, and consequence, and they are important grounds from which to move toward interventions such as policy statements. As such, they have an important role in governmental, legal, organizational, and commercial activity. (Rhetorically speaking, the report will have forensic and epideictic functions, and it will address particular stasis questions—we will discuss this.)

Your aim in this document is unbiased synthesis (even if actual objectivity likely is impossible). Because this is an evaluation report, you will not offer recommendations or solutions. You should establish fact through evidence. You should link causes and effects. Because this is a technical rather than academic document, you mostly will rely on technical, scientific, and statistical information rather than on critical scholarship.

You will choose your own topic. Often people begin broadly by selecting an issue such as: "the status of recycling in the USA." This can become overwhelming, because there is too much material to cover in this situation. Usually it is more productive to narrow your topic by including limiting factors. You might focus geographically, for example, by evaluating the potential for renewable energy resources within North Carolina or feasible green roofing options in Wilmington. You might preserve a broad geographical scope but examine something specific such as the use of disposable cutlery at US universities. Finding a topic that is manageable and has sufficient information available is an important aspect of a productive composition process.
 

Structure

The sections of the document are as follows (the section covering the "Parts of an Informal Technical Report" in the Tebeaux and Dragga reading Links to an external site. may be helpful):

  1. Summary
  2. Introduction
    1. Purpose
    2. Background or Rationale
    3. Development
  3. Discussion
  4. Conclusion
     

Processes

This assignment (and the corresponding grade) encompasses multiple steps:

  1. Generating ideas and identifying productive online models
  2. Identifying sources
  3. Drafting
  4. Composing the final piece
  5. Completing a Material Analysis
  6. Completing a Postmortem
     

Parameters

The final piece has the following parameters:

  • Approximately 2,000 words
  • At least five sources (documented in any suitable citation format)
  • Submitted as a .pdf file

Resources

These tools may be useful:

Examples

These commented examples from previous students may be useful.