Rentz, Kathryn http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Rentz,_Kathryn A bibliography of works by Rentz, Kathryn in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif Rentz, Kathryn http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Rentz,_Kathryn Designing a Successful Group-Report Experience http://tc.eserver.org/34822.html http://tc.eserver.org/34822.html Report assignments and collaborative assignments can both be fraught with risk. Report projects, if notstration) and/or can leave students wondering what they are supposed to have learned—all while creating a major grading burden for the instructor. Poorly planned group projects can cause similar difficulties, with the added danger of creating interpersonal stress in the student groups. Yet for many reasons, the report assignment is the perfect choice for the collaborative project. Because of its extra length and complexity, the report enables several students to contribute meaningful research, writing, and document design decisions to one product or a related set of products. If the project goes well, each student will learn important lessons both about report writing and about teamwork. To maximize the likelihood that the project will go well, the instructor must think through a wide range of variables and decide, based upon his or her learning objectives, what the features of the project will be. The Importance of "Niche" Journals To New Business-Communication Academics— and To All of Us http://tc.eserver.org/34534.html http://tc.eserver.org/34534.html This commentary, extending one published in 2007, reports on a study of publishing advice being given to new academics in business communication. The findings suggest that 'niche' journals such as the</it> Journal of Business Communication <it>are very important to these academics' professional advancement and are, in general, well regarded in the respondents' host departments. Such journals are essential to the scholarly conversation in specialty areas that are not well served by bigger, mainstream journals. Adventures in Collaboration: The Story of an STC Faculty Internship http://tc.eserver.org/20546.html http://tc.eserver.org/20546.html Rentz relates the lessons she learned as an academic who contributed to a writing project for a private company.