Barker Chapter 2 summary: Writing to Teach: Tutorials. Team 4 Tradup/Larson

Main terms of the chapter – Module
Minimalist tutorial: Open-ended tutorial
Elaborative tutorial
Embedded tutorial
EPSS
Scenario
Documentation sets
And others per the glossary listed later in the chapter (p. 54-55)

It is important to remember past experiences with the application you are writing when a writer prepares manuals. This will help the reader understand certain problems that might happen when they are trying to use the system. It is important then to figure out what skills are necessary to teach the reader after presenting the scenario. (p. 31). If the writer plans the tutorial around the action or scenarios, then it becomes easier to see the skills needed to build lessons. The following are the categories needed to write a good tutorial:

Introduction, Overview, Explicit Instructions, Steps to keep the user focused on one task, and graphics integrated with words to show what to do specifically for that particular step. (Page 32).

The features to set in a tutorial depend on several factors, discussed in more details on page 33. Is the task central to job performance, is it essential for efficient software use, what is the frequency of performance for that task. The help system should also detect skill needs.

Objectives in tutorials are important because the writer should be able to state what they want the tutorial to achieve for the user. Objectives should be written down in the tutorial plan as well as being apart of the actual lesson. Objectives = actions the user needs to complete.

Choosing the right type of tutorial is important because they come in many variations. Page 34 talks about how they range from very brief to full-scale manuals. Print and online media is used to display these tutorials so that users have a variety of ways to access them. The choices include a guided tour, demonstration, quick start, guided exploration, and the instruction manual.

Guided Tours help to present an overview of each of the programs features (page 36).

This chapter also asks the writer to present skills in a logical and cumulative structure. This means that the writer needs to organize features in the “form of instructional objectives.” (page 42). Beginning to advanced, simple to complex, generalized to specialized, input/accumulating data to output/reporting data, starting to ending a session, using default options to using customized options and working with text to working with graphics are all varieties of ways to use logical and cumulative structure in your tutorial.

Offer Highly Specific Instructions is very important when writing a tutorial so that the user doesn’t get confused or frustrated.

Specific data
Tools
Screens
Commands
These are all ways to keep the user on track with the specific instructions you are trying to teach them. *It is important to avoid distractions.
Give practice and feedback at each skill level. It is important for the user to give feedback after they are finished with the tutorial. A positive ending to the tutorial is important.
Build a pattern of Exposition: This means to repeat a rhythm such as give action to take, explain the result. (Page 47).
A quiz at the end of the tutorial is important feedback for the writer to see if any improvements need to be made.
Pace the Tutorial to make sure you don’t waste the user’s time. (page 47). This is important for you and the user so that the tutorial will be useful and they will have other people come back to it later. It is important to allow the user to quit during the tutorial and to show them how to quit the program when it is finished.

Testing your tutorial is important to make sure to knock out the kinks before giving it to the end user.

6 steps in the Eleborative Approach

Instruction results in articulated skills
skills transfer capability to real-world performance
steps should present skills in logical and cumulative structure
highly specific instructions work best
give practice and feedback at each skill level
master one skill before going to the next

The minimalist approach

1. Choose an action-oriented approach
2. anchor the tool in the task domain
3. support error recognition and recovery
4. support reading to do, study and locate

Ways people learn software programs
Users jump the gun
Users will skip information
Users like to lead

Page 54-55 displays a glossary that defines terms in the chapter.
Page 57-58 provides a checklist for tutorial design

Practice/Problem solving is at the end of the chapter. The following are exercises the chapter suggests in order to get a better understanding of writing a tutorial.

Analyze a tutorial to get used to different types of tutorials and figure out which you would use where.
Analyze a program operations list, this portion of the chapter mentions to examine program operations list and identify three elements for each operation job performance, important to efficient software use and frequency of performance.
Analyze elaborate vs. minimalist methods of tutorials to get a better understanding of both methods. There are worksheets on page 61 to assist you with this.
“Revise the Objectives Statements using a user orientation, emphasizing the terms the user should know by the end of the lesson, and the commands the user will master.” (Page 61)
Write Practice Problems for Users