Memo

Date:
To:
From:

October13,2015
JenniferAmis,APECHSPrinciple
TimSquire,English218Student
BenitaHinojosa,English218Student
ProposalfordocumentdesignworkshopatAPECHS

Subject:

Purpose
ThepurposeofthismemoistorequestholdingaworkshopatAPECHSfor
studentstoimproveondesigningdocuments,whichwillimprovestudents
performance.
Summary
Ithascometoourattentionthatstudentsarehavingtroubleproperlydesigning
documents,whichisaffectingtheirgrades.
Facultyhasrecentlybeenrunningintotheproblemthatmanyofthestudentsat
APECHSdontknowhowtoproperlydesignadocument.Thepagelayouton
manyofthepapersdonotfollowproperpagelayout.Thismakesittowhere
documentsareconfusingtoreadandeffectiveuseofcolorandcontrast.This
problemhasbeenbroughttousbymanyteachersoncampus.
Weproposetoholdweeklongworkshopsstartingat3:30pmthatwilllastanhour
long.Theseworkshopswillteachstudentstoeffectivelydesigntheirdocuments,
whichwillalsohelpthembecomebettercommunicators.TimSquireandBenita
Hinojosaarebothupperclassmanthathavecompletedthenecessaryclassesto
properlyteachhowtousedesignelementsindocuments,morespecifically
English218.
Ifthisworkshopisapproved,theclasswillstartonMondayNovember2nd
andwillconcludeonFridayNovember6th.Aprogressreportfromfacultyon
studentswhotooktheworkshopwillfollow.
Introduction
IthasbeenagrowingproblemthatthestudentshereatArrowheadParkare
havingtroubleproperlydesigningdocumentssuchasessays,resumes,brochures,
andpowerpoints.Thereforethishasleadtolowerscoresonessaysand
assignments,whichhavemadestudentsgradesdramaticallylower.

Facultyoncampushasbeennoticingadropinstudentsgradesduetoimproper
designtechniquesontechnicalcommunicationwriting.Itiscrucialthatstudents
learnhowtoproperlydesignthesedocumentssothatitnotonlyhelpstheirgrades
butitalsopreparesthemformanyofthetechnicaldocumentstheywillhaveto

writeinlife.Therehavebeenfacultyandsomestudentsthathaveaskedforhelp
orresourcestoimprovetheirwriting.
WeproposetoholdaweeklongofworkshopsontheweekofNovember2ndto
November6thallofwhichwillbeheldafterschoolstartingat3:30endingat4:30.
Thisworkshopwillbenefitbyteachingstudentsthedesignprinciplesoftechnical
communication,whichwillsubsequentlyimprovetheirperformanceandcould
alsoraiseacademicscoresonstandardizedtests.Thiscouldalsobenefitfaculty
byloweringtheamountoftimeorevencuttingoutthattimeneededtoteach
studentstheproperprincipleofdesign.Thiswillallowfacultytofocusmoreon
otherareas.
IftheworkshopisapprovedalloftheinformationwillbegatheredfromPractical
StrategiesforTechnicalCommunicationbyMikeMarkel.Morespecificallywe
wouldfocusoninformationfromChapter7ofthebook,whichfocusesonproper
designinadocument.Wewouldconductabrieflectureovertheoneofthemain
principles,thenthestudentswouldworkonaprojectthatspecificallyusesthat
elementwhichwillmakethemusealloftheinformationtheyjustlearnedina
waythatwillbeapplicabletoschoolprojects.Facultywillbeprovidinga
progressreportonthestudentsthatparticipatedinthisworkshop.
Proposedtasks
OnDay1wewouldstartwiththeprincipleofproximity,whichisgrouping
relateditemstogether.Soifareaderseesthattwoitemsaresimilarorclose
togethertheywillinterpretthemasrelatedtoeachother.Iftheyarefartherapart
thereaderwillbeabletointerpretasunrelated.Also,textdescribingagraphicin
thedocumentshouldbeclosetothatgraphic.Followinglecturethatdaystudents
willbegivenobjectsandtextsothattheycanworkongroupingrelatedobjects
andseparatingunrelatedones.
Day2willcoveralignmentinwhichtextandgraphicsshouldbeplacedonapage
sothatitiseasyforreaderstounderstand.Thiscanbeaccomplishedbyusing
levelsofimportancetoorganizeinformation,alsobyusingdifferenttextcolors.
Afterlecturestudentswillbegivenasheetofnoteswhichtheywillorganizeby
alignmentandalsobreakingitintoheadingandsubheadingstomakeitmore
accessibletothereader.
Day3coversrepetition,whichistheprincipleoftreatingthesameinformationin
thesamewaytocreateconsistentgraphics.Repetitionconnectselementssothat
contentiseasiertounderstand.Someelementsthatcanbeusedtomake
consistentvisualpatternsarecolors,icons,headings,andfont.Afterlecture
studentswillchooseathemetorepeatthroughoutadocument.

Day4iscontrast,whichworksinseveralways.Forexample,blackprintiseasier
toseeinawhitebackground,largerlettersstandoutamongsmalleronesand
colorsuchasredwillgrabreadersattention.Fortheirassignmentsstudentswill
experimentoncontrastinglightanddarkbackgroundwithtextcolorandmake
importantinformationstandingoutbyusingcontrastingelements.
Day5willbeprimarilyaworkdayinwhichstudentswillgatherallthatthey
learnedthisweekandputitintoonecollaborativeproject.Oncetheyaredone
theywillreviewapeersprojecttoanswerwhatdesignfeaturesaremosteffective
fortheaudienceandpurposetheyhavebeengivenandanalyzewhichareleast
effective.
Schedule

3:30
3:45pm
3:45
4:30pm

Monday,
Nov.2
Proximity
lecture
Grouping
related
elements
project

Tuesday,
Nov.3
Alignment
lecture
Aligning
notes
project

Wednesday,
Nov.4
Repetition
lecture
Repetitive
theme
project

Thursday,
Nov.5
Contrast
lecture
Color
contrast
project

Friday,
Nov.6
Comprehensiv
edesign
project
Peerreviewof
project

Experience
Weareacademicallysuccessfulstudentsthatarequalifiedtooverseethis
workshop
BothBenitaandTimhavetakenEnglish218andexcelledattechnical
communication.Weareexperiencedindocumentdesignprinciples.
References
Markel,M.(2013).PracticalStrategiesforTechnicalCommunication.Print.
Boston,NewYork;Bedford/St.Martin