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Re: "Too Good" (was: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help!)
Subject:Re: "Too Good" (was: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help!) From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 27 Oct 2003 11:32:58 -0800 (PST)
> > One of the design principles we followed was
> > to have LOTS of white space in the manuals, so the
> > students would have areas where they could take
> notes.
> > The theory is, their making notes next to the key
> phrases
> > in the manual gives them a tighter memory
> association.
>
> Does anyone have any evidence (anecdotal or
> otherwise) to support or refute this theory?
Works for me! I have a photographic memory, but a
horrible memory for audio-received information. I also
tend to gloss over written text, looking for key terms
and phrases to lock into memory. When they aren't in
the book, I put them there, and then re-read what I've
edited. This is why I've been unable to resell my old
textbooks. ;)
> I've heard it before, but I'm skeptical. My gut
> feeling is that the
> trainees will either (a) not write anything, and
> then go back later to
> the fragmented thoughts in the manuals and wonder
> what it all meant; or
> (b) write disjointed notes, and then go back later
> and wonder what it all meant.
Everyone learns differently.
> I'd rather give them something so detailed and
> complete that they can
> use it as reference material later on.
Someone like me would never benefit from that,
unfortunately.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
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