Ch 8: Formal Technical Reports Lesson Plans
About This Chapter
Weekly Syllabus
Below is a sample breakdown of the Formal Technical Reports chapter into a 5-day school week. Based on the pace of your course, you may need to adapt the lesson plan to fit your needs.
Day | Topics | Key Terms and Concepts Covered |
---|---|---|
Monday | Formal reports as problem-solving documents and the three main components of formal reports | How formal reports are problem-solving documents, standards of judgment in formal reports, front matter, body and end matter |
Tuesday | Recommendation and feasibility reports | Purpose, content and structure of recommendation reports; how and when to compose feasibility reports |
Wednesday | Evaluation reports | Evaluation report content, structure and purpose; writing evaluation reports |
Thursday | Audience needs | Considering the audience of formal reports, appropriate distribution of formal reports |
Friday | Research and visuals aids and ethical issues in formal reports | Need for research and role of visuals in formal reports, major issues in formal report writing |

1. Formal Reports as Problem-Solving Documents: Criteria & Standards
How do organizations solve problems and evaluate solutions? In this lesson, we'll examine the role of formal reports in organizational problem-solving, including the three major types of formal reports and the criteria for a great formal report.

2. The Three Main Components of Formal Reports
Organizations use formal reports to present information, analysis, and options to organizational leaders facing complicated problems, issues, or decisions. In this lesson, you'll learn about the three major components of formal reports.

3. How to Write Recommendation Reports: Purpose, Structure & Content
Deciding between two or more products or solutions can be an onerous process in business. In this lesson, we'll look at a helpful decision-making tool, the recommendation report. We'll examine what it is, what it includes, and how it is organized.

4. How to Write Feasibility Reports: Purpose, Structure & Content
What, exactly, is a feasibility report, and how is it written? In this lesson, we'll examine feasibility reports, including when they are needed, what content goes into a feasibility report, and the two most common organizations of feasibility reports.

5. How to Write Evaluation Reports: Purpose, Structure & Content
How do you decide whether a program or product is effective? In this lesson, we'll examine the evaluation report, including what they are, how they are used in business, what information is included in them, and how they are organized.

6. Considering the Audience in Formal Reports
When drafting a formal report, it is important to think about the audience and the purpose of the report. In this lesson, we'll explore strategies you can use to identify the audience and assess their needs.

7. Research & Visuals in Formal Reports
Your technical writing may be superb, but at some point even the best writers need a little help to make their work more readable. In this lesson, we look at how research and visuals can assist in doing that.

8. Ethical Issues in Formal Report Writing
Businesses use formal reports for a variety of situations, but they are often fraught with ethical issues. In this lesson, we'll examine the ethics of formal report writing, including ethics when doing research and honesty issues when writing reports.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the Technical Writing Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans course
- Technical Writing Basics Lesson Plans
- Prewriting Lesson Plans
- Writing Technical Documents Lesson Plans
- Technical Editing & Rewriting Lesson Plans
- Parts of a Technical Document Lesson Plans
- Usability Testing & Technical Writing Lesson Plans
- Informal Technical Reports Lesson Plans
- Business Reports and Proposals Lesson Plans
- Technical Correspondence Lesson Plans
- Writing Resumes & Cover Letters Lesson Plans
- Technical Instructions Lesson Plans
- Technical Manual Writing Process Lesson Plans
- Proposal Writing Process Lesson Plans