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DSST Technical Writing Exam covers the basics of theory and practice of technical writing; purpose, content, and organizational patterns of common types of technical documents; information design; and technical editing.
The exam contains 100 questions to be answered in 2 hours.
Exam content:
Theory and Practice of Technical Writing – 13% a. Understanding contexts, purpose(s), and importance b. Audience analysis c. Ensuring the validity and reliability of data and sources d. Establishing the appropriate style
Purpose of Technical Documents – 23% a. Informing i. Progress/inspection reports ii. Feasibility reports iii. Research/laboratory reports iv. Instructions, procedures and process descriptions b. Persuading and Making Recommendations i. Proposals ii. White papers iii. Grants
Technical Writing Process – 13% a. Individual and/or collaborative writing b. Choice of medium c. Drafting and organizing content d. Research (primary and secondary)
Document design – 18% a. Elements of document design i. Page formatting ii. Textual formatting iii. Illustration formatting b. Strategies of document design i. Readability ii. Usability iii. Accessibility
Revising, Editing and Final Sections – 33% a. Revising for i. Completeness ii. Concision iii. Accessibility iv. Organization v. Clarity b. Editing for i. Concision ii. Grammatical accuracy iii. Technical and referencing accuracy c. Final sections i. Cover letters ii. Executive summaries iii. Abstracts
Related test: DSST Technical Writing Exam Practice Test 1
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