Technical Writing (Coursera)

Technical Writing (Coursera)

The course develops technical writing skills necessary to communicate information gained through a process of technical or experimental work. The course highlights the factors that determine the degree of technicality of the language and concepts involved.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

You will learn how to write different technical reports, e.g., laboratory reports, research reports, design and feasibility reports, progress reports, consulting reports, etc. The course also approaches several language, structure, style, and content issues that you can encounter while reporting the results of your research.
Course 4 of 4 in the English for Research Publication Purposes Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction

WEEK 2
Module I: From Start to Finish
This module will help you acquire knowledge about technical writing, which deals with complex topics in precise ways. The module covers issues related to workplace research that you will have to conduct as a technical writer. Regardless of which technique you use, your challenge will be to sort the relevant information from the irrelevant, and the accurate from the bogus. The module focuses on audience, purpose, and measures of excellence in technical documents. In addition, you will learn what it means to be a good technical communicator.
The references included at the end this module will serve as a perfect complement to the information described in the video lectures.

WEEK 3
Module II: Organizing the Information
In this Module, you will learn how to use visuals to communicate a large amount of information quickly and efficiently. The Module provides general guidelines for using graphical tools that you can use to design visuals with the output process of the report in mind. In addition, you will learn how to define a term using various techniques of extended definitions. The Module also provides guidelines for effective planning of technical report writing.

WEEK 4
Module III: Researching Your Subject
This module will help you develop an enhanced understanding of such types of technical documentation as feasibility and recommendation reports, instructions as well as laboratory research. The module covers issues related to various types of academic and workplace research. The focus is on acquiring the best available information – the most accurate, most unbiased, most comprehensive, and most current.

WEEK 5
Module IV: Capstone Project

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television (Coursera)

In this course, you will write a complete, feature-length screenplay for film or television, be it a serious drama or romantic comedy or anything in between. You’ll learn to break down the creative process into components, and you’ll discover a structured process that allows you to produce a polished and pitch-ready script by the end of the course. Completing this project will increase your confidence in your ideas and abilities, and you’ll feel prepared to pitch your first script and get started on your next. This is a course designed to tap into your creativity and is based in "Active Learning". Most of the actual learning takes place within your own activities - that is, writing! You will learn by doing.

Nov 2nd 2026
13-24 Weeks
Business English for Cross-cultural Communication (Coursera) Coursera
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST

Business English for Cross-cultural Communication (Coursera)

This course aims to prepare you for working in an cross-cultural Business setting. We'll learn about common cross-cultural theories and how they are relevant to everyday business practices in a globalised world. By combining all of your vocabulary, reading, speaking, and writing skills that you acquired in the previous three courses, you will learn how language plays an important role in cross-cultural communication.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Tricky English Grammar (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Tricky English Grammar (Coursera)

English is a difficult language to learn because of its many obscure grammatical rules, which are fairly easy to mess up--even for native speakers. While it’s easy for non-native speakers to get overwhelmed by confusing grammar rules, in this course, we'll provide you with tips that will help you understand the rules more easily and give you lots of practice with the tricky grammar of everyday English.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Creative Writing: The Craft of Character (Coursera) Coursera
Wesleyan University

Creative Writing: The Craft of Character (Coursera)

At the center of a good story are the characters in it. In this course aspiring writers will discover how to build and bring to life complex, vivid and unforgettable characters. We will study the choices a writer makes to bring all characters to life on the page, and we will perform written exercises in order to develop a variety of writing and pre-writing techniques, in order to create a variety of characters.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Inglés Empresarial: el márketing y ventas (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Inglés Empresarial: el márketing y ventas (Coursera)

If you work in marketing, sales, or advertising, you already know that effective communication is a requirement. This can be even more difficult when expressing your ideas in a persuasive manner in English. In this course, you will learn to use English more efficiently while joining successful global professionals around the world. Develop your skills along with authentic characters that work in marketing and also work hard to improve their communication skills. Learn from your successes and failures, reflect on your own style, strengths, and improvement areas.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop (Coursera) Coursera
California Institute of the Arts

Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop (Coursera)

Why just write poems when you can write better ones? This course is built on the notion that the most exciting writing begins after the first draft. It is specifically for folks who believe that writing poems just to express oneself is like using the Internet just for email. After all, poetry can change the way you and your readers think of the world and its inhabitants; it can break new ground for language; turn a blank sheet of paper into a teeming concert of voices and music.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Translation in Practice (Coursera) Coursera
Nanjing University

Translation in Practice (Coursera)

This course offers you basic but valuable techniques used by a good translator in the translation between English and Chinese. We’ll discuss what is translation, what is good translation, and learn about how to produce good translations. All the examples used in this course are taken from the course instructor's own translations of various genres and topics of writing.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Essentials for English Speeches and Presentations 英语演讲与演示 (Coursera) Coursera
Peking University

Essentials for English Speeches and Presentations 英语演讲与演示 (Coursera)

Students must learn essential knowledge and skills to deliver an impressive English speech or presentation for academic purposes, job hunting, and business occasions. Global perspectives and inter-cultural communication skills are taught here to facilitate most Chinese English learners. 学习在学术交流、求职、海外留学与商务场景下进行英文演讲与演示所必备的知识与技能,强化中国学生的全球化视角与跨文化沟通技巧。

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Adjectives and Adjective Clauses (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Adjectives and Adjective Clauses (Coursera)

Being able to adeptly use adjective clauses in speaking and writing is useful for upper level English learners. Adjectives and adjective clauses are very common in English, so students need to be able to understand them when they see them or hear them. Students often struggle to bring complexity to their speaking and writing and adjective clauses can be a great way to do this.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks