Communicating Emotions Effectively in Online Learning Environments  

This paper presents an analysis of the various textual and visual ways that emotions are typically communicated in online learning environments. It also looks at the importance (and limitations) of both verbal and nonverbal online communication from the perspective of Daniel Goleman’s concept of “emotional intelligence.” Descriptions of three case studies demonstrate situations that involve emotionally-based student-instructor interactions that could have become problematic without the instructor’s awareness of the actual emotional issues involved. The paper concludes with a set of recommended guidelines for instructors addressing emotions in online learning situations.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Education>Online>Emotions

Developing Effective Mentorships for Technical Communicators  

Mentorships can contribute significantly to the career success of technical communicators. Effective mentorships are established and maintained by finding the right persons to be mentors through active listening, careful observation, personal analysis, willingness to be influenced, coached and taught, and allowing mentoring relationships to emerge over time. Such mentorships benefit both individual technical communicators by furthering their selfdevelopment and careers, and they benefit their corporations by enhancing morale and productivity.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels and Howard T. Smith. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Mentoring

Electronic Information Kiosks: A New Online Genre for Technical Communicators  

Kiosk design is an inevitable extension of the development of online documentation. Technical communicators are now frequently being asked by their employers to create such forms of communication. They must learn about kiosks from the new perspectives of their evolving technologies, applications, audience reactions, social contexts, and information design. Finally, technical communicators must begin to view kiosks as an emerging new genre that requires both analysis and creativity.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online

Making Decisions about Distance Education: Organizational and Individual Perspectives  

Decisions about distance education, whether from the perspectives of academic or corporate organizations, are often made on the basis of economical, pedagogical, and psychological perspectives. Decisions are also made by potential distance learning students. Distance learning delivery organizations often include student self-surveys in their initial online promotional materials. This metaanalysis of several student distance learning 'readiness' surveys identifies their major common elements, and it offers a checklist of topics to include in distance learning student 'readiness' surveys. Finally, recommendations are offered concerning the ethical and research dimensions of the decision-making required for effective distance education delivery.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Online>Assessment

Marshall McLuhan's Message for Multimedia  

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was more than the person of his times who coined the famous popular term 'the medium is the message.' He was also an influential thinker whose views on media are even more relevant today than they were in the 1960s. McLuhan’s ideas about 'hot' and 'cool' technologies, the power and limitations of various media, the psychological landscape of communication, and the global village are very relevant for today’s technical communicators. They contribute important ideas to the historical roots of multimedia, and as such, they are part of an evolving theoretical foundation for technical communication.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Multimedia>Theory

Mental Processing of Online Documentation: From Concepts to Applications  

This panel will review the existing literature on how we mentally process online documentation and describe some implications for effective online document design. We invite the audience to define with us some critical areas for further research.

Knodel, Elinor L., Henrietta Nickels Shirk, Candace Sodetston and James Thibeau. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>User Centered Design

Researching the History of Technical Communication: Accessing and Analyzing Corporate Archives  

The historical roots of technical communication are just beginning to be identified and researched. Although many of the theoretical foundations of the field may be understood by focusing on the history of technical communication, several current interests and needs of practicing professionals may also be addressed through the study of the field’s history. With knowledge of the different kinds of corporate archival materials, of their typical locations, and of the techniques for using them, practitioners can begin to study and apply information from the past to their current work. Historical research also provides knowledge of corporate cultures and enhances the identity and professional status of technical communicators.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>TC>History

Robert Pirsig’s Message for Documentation Quality  

Teachers of technical communication frequently recommend that their students read Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) for his views on the complex relationships between technology and human values. As a former technical writer, Pirsig also offers some useful advice about Quality and its relation to the usability of technical documentation. Revisiting Pirsig’s works, including the more recently published Lila (1991), reveals concepts about Quality in documentation that are especially relevant to the usability testing of the documentation for today’s rapidly evolving technologies. This paper examines Pirsig’s views on the some of the characteristics of effective technical communication, and it offers advice to educators and trainers for incorporating Pirsig’s concepts about Quality into their teaching of techniques for the usability testing, and hence quality, of user documentation.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels and Howard T. Smith. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Quality>Technical Writing

Students as Netizens: Connecting the Classroom with the Web  

Connecting students with the digital world available through the Internet is an aspect of the traditional technical communication classroom that is often stated as a goal by many instructors. Accomplishing this task is sometimes a pedagogical challenge. Some of the issues involved in turning students into competent 'netizens' result from pre-existing student attitudes, while others reside directly with the instructor. Ultimately, it is the instructor’s responsibility to construct meaningful learning experiences that incorporate the rich resources of the Web in ways that enhance course learning goals. While focusing on the Web as a supplementary learning resource, instructors can stimulate learning experiencs by functioning as 'navigators' and 'pathfinders' in creating 'Web treasure hunts' for their student netizens.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Online

The TechOWL: A Resource for Technical Communication Students  

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) has been a popular pedagogical complement to writing labs in university academic environments since the mid-1980s. There is, however, a great deal of similarity among the generic functions of these OWLs. This paper presents a brief summary of the historical background of OWLs, and it offers a description of several different perspectives on a new subspecies of OWL – the TechOWL, which can be designed and implemented specifically for students and practitioners of technical communication. This blueprint for a TechOWL offers several suggestions and guidelines for identifying user communities for TechOWLs, for conducting a thorough needs assessment, for designing specific technical communication features, and for building, maintaining, and evaluating TechOWLs.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Writing>Online

The Fallacies of Collaboration: A Critique of Group Work in Technical Communication Pedagogy  

Collaboration through group writing assignments has become an accepted standard activity in most technical communication textbooks and classrooms. Some of the commonly-held fallacies connected with the view of collaboration’s benefits over individual efforts are that it produces better products, creates an equitable distribution of work, and provides greater motivation. It is also erroneously assumed that the success of collaboration depends on the study and effective practice of the principles of group dynamics and that collaborative techniques can accurately simulate “real life” readers and workplace experiences. Further research in group dynamics is required to accurately assess the value of group work in classroom settings.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Collaboration

What Technical Communicators Need to Know About Artificial Inteligence and Expert Systems  

Controversies characterize the study of artificial intelligence and expert systems. The varying opinions range from differences in defining these terms to arguments about their actual effectiveness when applied to practical problems. Technical communicators need to understand the different views on artificial intelligence, the types of expert systems currently available, and what the future impact of expert systems will be on technical communication in general, As a type of artificial intelligence, expert computer systems provide a technological solution to the problem of communicating specialized information and knowledge within business, technological, and scientific organizations. The computer can not only be a place to store large bodies of information, but it can also be programmed to interact with users as they attempt to apply this stored knowledge to specific problem-solving situations.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Online>Help