Wordsmithing the Marine Survey Report
Instructor: Pat Kearns
You may "work at your own pace" in this four-lesson course. Once you register, you will have 12 months in which to complete all assignments. Your instructor will be available via teleconferences, discussion
boards, messaging, and email, all of which will enhance your e-learning experience by providing information beyond what is covered in the written materials and
references.
Goal of this course: To help both
aspiring and veteran marine surveyors identify and master skills to
polish their report writing and organizational skills to produce
reports that reflect their expertise and experience and set them apart
as truly professional practitioners.
A survey is only as good as the report that
communicates the work of the surveyor, and a good surveyor’s findings
(and reputation) can be lost in a poorly written report. A lousy report
can ruin the client’s experience and is a liability to a surveyor’s
career potential. Writing competence is the key to producing accurate
and functional survey reports. Good writing requires a grasp of
fundamental language and grammar skills and the technical terminology
particular to survey practice. These complement a thorough
comprehension of the marine industry and the boating public’s needs for
the information conveyed in a survey report.
In this course, you will learn to say what you mean
to develop user-friendly reports with less jargon and more precise
language. Writing the report begins the minute you accept an assignment
and this class will show you ways to organize your findings and write
your observations with improved literacy and reader utility.
Your
instructor, an experienced surveyor, will share special insights from
her own survey practice. On completing the course, you will have a new
set of tools for writing reports that are professional, organized,
readable, and functional, reflecting your personal expertise in your
work product.
Each part of this course must be taken in sequence.
The practical exercises given throughout the course will
provide students with opportunities to objectively evaluate own writing
strengths and vulnerabilities and seek solutions from the instructor
and student colleagues.
Class outline
- 1. Week One: Then, now and the future.
1.1. Looking at reports: experts, amateurs and yours.
- 2. Week Two: Spelling and grammar DO count.
2.1. There are no born writers: Mastering the basics.
- 3. Week Three: Language, organization, and format
3.1. Report literacy: Accuracy and fluency, editing and proofing.
- 4. Week Four: Surveying the survey report.
4.1. Learning from works in progress.
Fees: $200
Continuing Education Credits (CEUs): Two
Learning Contact Hours: Four
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