Sac State English students tackle real-world technical writing through iFixIt projects

By Jonathan Morales

May 08, 2024

Learning and documenting how to fix the turn signal on a 1978 Datsun 280Z is probably not most English majors' expectation for a class project, but it was right in Kenneth Williams' wheelhouse.

The Sacramento State senior, who works as a light rail vehicle technician for Sacramento Regional Transit, returned to school last fall to broaden his skills into technical and professional writing.

"It just seemed appropriate, considering I already work in the industry," he said. "And if I'm going back to school and get new skills, (I) may as well build on what I know rather than reinvent the wheel."

Associate Professor of English Angela Laflen had her technical writing students participate in iFixIt, and said there are jobs available for people with technical and professional writing skills. (Courtesy Angela Laflen)

Williams is one of 30 students in a technical writing course who participated in two writing projects through iFixIt, a company that provides free online repair guides for appliances, electronic devices, tools and other items. The projects provided the students a chance to hone an underrated but critically important writing skill.

"This is an area where we do see there are opportunities and there are jobs for English majors," said Associate Professor of English Angela Laflen, who is teaching the course. Most of the students in the class are studying English, but some come from other disciplines such as Engineering or Computer Science, industries where technical and professional writing is key.

"If someone's in engineering, they're going to learn (how to be an engineer) from their disciplinary faculty," she said. "We're emphasizing how technical experts can communicate to the public or non-experts."

The first iFixIt project was a hands-on effort in which students worked in teams to repair an item of their choice, document their work and write a how-to guide to be published online. Items chosen included a video game controller, a USB battery box and, yes, a 1978 Datsun turn signal.

Luis Antonio Rivas and his partner opted to swap the battery for a third-party video game controller. The technical process was relatively simple - the hardest part, he said, was prying open the casing - but the research and documentation elements nevertheless were valuable.

"The tone and directness of professional writing is very different from an academic, formal tone," said Rivas, a senior English major. "It's a recursive process as well. There's not just a formulaic, straight outline for every project. It changes based on what the project needs."

Williams learned how to fix a turn signal partly out of convenience: His project partner's boyfriend owned one. Because Williams' partner lives an hour away, he ended up doing the bulk of the research and documentation, working from photos she took of her repair work.

For Williams, a senior English major who is simultaneously earning a professional writing certificate from Sac State, the class and project have direct career implications. His new skills and credentials make him more qualified for leadership roles responsible for creating training and technical manuals, or, potentially, grant-writing positions.

"As an English major, you're learning all this fancy, flowery language," he said. "In technical writing, you're undoing that. You're stripping it, which is a challenge in itself."

The second iFixIt project focuses on search engine optimization, where students took existing instructional materials and rewrote them to make them more likely to show up in a search engine such as Google.

In addition to providing students with valuable skills, the iFixIt projects benefit the public by helping them restore or repair products rather than purchase new ones, reducing e-waste in the process.

"The idea is that the information's there, and if anyone looks it up, they've got it," Williams said. "It's positive for the community in a variety of ways, you know, a long list of reasons."

Lafen said this class and project was, for many of the students, their first experience with technical writing. She said she has been amazed by how many of them have told her it's now a career path they want to pursue.

"Our students are very interested in these kinds of projects, and they've been great," she said. "They really rose to the challenge, and they created some amazing materials."

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