Kayla Cindric

During Technical Writing and Chemistry, we completed a project to help us learn how to write up and create a usability test for sixth graders (which included making well-written instructions that have terms that the sixth graders will understand, and how to revise our content based on their level of knowledge.) The goal of this learning experiment (for the 11th graders) was to understand what a usability test is, why they are necessary in creating instructions for any experiment/product, how to create thorough and correct instructions that meet the tester’s/audience’s knowledge level, and write effective and clear notes.

In Technical Reading and Writing, I grew in my understanding of how to write well written instructions/procedures for a certain age group and record data. Furthering my knowledge, prepares me for the future because I know now what makes well-written instructions and procedures that would match different age levels. In Dentistry, a career that I want to pursue in you need to write clear notes, create instructions to create molds and perform cleaning, and how posters that will help show children what will happen while they are getting their teeth cleaned.

In order to complete this experiment between the two classes and grow, many steps were taken. First, we had to know what was needed in instructions/procedures for the experiment. Instructions have to be written with simple and clear procedures. Each step, must be short, begin with an action verb, and be numbered. We put our knowledge in action and created the procedures, materials, purpose, diagrams, warnings and cautions, and tables.

We were ready to conduct a usability test which we learned what they are and what they are used for in class. In class, we learned that a usability test is a test to see what the testers are struggling with or understanding when reading/completing a set of instructions, so that we can revise them and make them better based on the struggling points. Conducting usability test helped what we needed to change so that the terminology would match what they already knew. Second, we learned what experiment we were doing. The experiment involved pouring baking soda and vinegar together in a flask (that was hooked up to another flask) to observe the results of the chemical reaction in another tube. Sixth graders were our testers.

Next, we created a preliminary survey for the sixth graders to complete. This survey helped us, juniors, see where the sixth graders’ knowledge level was at and what we needed to change in our procedures to assure that they would understand the terms. After we saw that the sixth graders struggled with understanding: what the abbreviation for grams and milliliters were, were what chemical reactions were, what stoppers were, etc. we changed our procedures. Instead of writing in our instructions “g” and “mL” for grams and milliliters, we wrote out “grams” and “milliliters”. Also, instead of writing “stopper”, we wrote “black plug” which is the same thing. This helped them know that it was use to plug and cover the flask.  We also explained what a chemical reaction in the poster so that they could understand what is happening in the experiment.

We learned about Concurrent and Retrospective. These “tests” are used during the usability test to record the tester’s reactions, what they struggled with, why the struggled with it, what they learned/recall, what they did right and wrong, etc. to help us further improve our procedures even more. We created a survey (retrospective) using questions to see what they recall, learn, struggled with (after the test) and also wrote notes while they were completing the test. After we collected their feedback and saw what we needed to improve based on what they struggled to comprehend, we revised our instructions one more to time to fit their knowledge level, so the next we do another usability testing round, the testers will understand what they need to do.

My first artifact is our procedure poster. During this portion of the project, I was able to learn how to create clear instructions that were short, numbered, and began with an action verb. I also learned how to write the correct way of writing a WARNING and a Caution and the difference between them. Learning to write clear instruction will help me prepare for college because I will be taking a science class whether its chemistry or biology, and I will need to be able to create clear instructions that the target audience will be able to understand and correctly follow. In the beginning, I started out each step without an action verb (such as “pour” or “record”, used long sentences, and put it in paragraph form. In my final draft of my poster, it shows that I have the instructions in a list, start with an action verb, and have short sentences. This artifact shows that I have grown in Technical Writing because without this practice and project, I would not have been able to know how to create well-written instructions and I would not have known what a usability test was. To be honest, I would have skip the usability test because I wouldn’t have known the importance of it and that would not be good, because I would not have known what to revise to make it better to follow. Also, making a poster was a great way to portray information for children to know and understand what will be happening during their cleaning because there will be visuals. 

 My second artifact is our professional document where we took what we observed during the usability test and summarized it, what we changed, and why based on our feedback. Documenting and summarizing the test helped me know what I could/would do differently next time. It shows that I have grown because I would add where you specifically get the materials (such as water from the sink) because they were not aware of their surroundings and where things are in a new environment. It helped me know what to fix and include based on what the testers needed help with. We created this by looking back through our notes and seeing what was needed to revise and change, what they struggled, what they were doing that we not part of the instructions and why, etc. They struggled with understanding repeated steps (when it said “repeat steps 1-3 with different amounts of water. We wrote in our notes what made them struggle and why. We, then, changed the wording so that they understood and included examples in our instructions. Learning to take well written notes will help me in the future because it was a great effective note taking practice for me to be able to take notes and use them again to help us write up a “reflection” of what occurred during a usability test (or in dentistry: what the issues are with their teeth) and how to create a professional document if I were to create one in the future. 

This project has benefited me for the future and college because I was able to create simple, short, and clear instructions and a way to display the information and data which I could potentially use in the future.