Instructions Proposal

Submitted by bpo on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 14:09

For my novice direction set I want to show people how to use a virtual machine to install a new operating system. The OS I will be installing will be FreeBSD which is a Unix OS. These instructions will include how to use VMWare to install and set up a virtual machine and the steps to take to install FreeBSD. My advanced instruction set will include how to install X-Windows and Gnome so the user can have a nice graphical interface and not have to mess around with only the command line. I feel that I am qualified to write about this topic because I have installed multiple virtual machines and FreeBSD in my CIT courses. For my graphics I will probably use some installations screens because it can be confusing when you are faced with all of the available options.

Instructor Feedback: bpo

Nathaniel's picture
Submitted by Nathaniel on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 13:18.

For this proposal to be of value to you (as a concrete starting point for this project), it needs to include much more than it currently does. First, you need to more fully articulate the differences between the audiences in terms of their expertise, needs, values, and expectations. Second, you need to describe how the instructions will be designed and composed in response to these two audiences, not just in terms of information (which you cover briefly) but also, and more importantly, in terms of the design, the arrangement of information, the word choice, the phrasing, and the tone. In other words, you need a specific and concrete plan for meeting the needs, expectations, and values of two distinct audiences. Third, you were asked to make a strong case for why these instructions are necessary; such a case has not been made.

It is vitally important to your project's success that you produce two clearly distinct instruction sets. The worry here is that the difference between the two will be one of degree (that is, the expert set will simply be a truncated version of the novice set); we are expecting a difference in kind (the expert set should be qualitatively different from the novice set). Be sure you are able to differentiate the two sets in this way. Additionally, this proposal was expected to be a clear articulation of your expertise, the need for these instruction, your audiences and their differences, and, importantly, a discussion of how you planned on executing these documents.