http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Academic A listing of the most recently indexed works about Academic 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 http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Academic http://tc.eserver.org/35629.html http://tc.eserver.org/35629.html On the web, write in small digestible chucks, which fit into the information hierarchy. To create your hierarchy, outline the website as you would for printed material. Then examine the site’s purpose and outline the main sections (e.g. words people use to navigate) and the links within those heads. Test it before it goes online. http://tc.eserver.org/35537.html http://tc.eserver.org/35537.html Copyright law was originally intended to protect those who create for profit (Lessig used the example of recording artist Britney Spears). But academics also create original works, he said, and they are — or should be — motivated by a desire to advance human knowledge, not line their pockets. Therefore, sealing their work behind copyright barriers does no social good. http://tc.eserver.org/35412.html http://tc.eserver.org/35412.html Experiential learning theory provides a theoretical foundation for studying technical communication internships. This study explores, through the perspective of the experiential learning cycle model developed by David Kolb, internships in technical communication. Participants in technical communication internship experiences were asked to provide, from their different perspectives, information that described the experience. Program directors, industrial supervisors, and student interns provided different views of what they had experienced, illustrating that most had entirely different perspectives on their level of participation in creating, supervising, and evaluating this form of educational experience. Besides describing technical communication programs in the United States more comprehensively, the results of this study raise questions about how the respondents perceived their experience and how the "reality" of these perceptions often conflict. When these findings are explored within the epistemology conceptualized by Kolb's experiential learning theory, a framework is established for more systemic procedures and standards that will enhance the internship as a credible learning experience. http://tc.eserver.org/35360.html http://tc.eserver.org/35360.html Reports on the current state of curriculum in 84 Master's programs. Answers questions about program location, degree names, course requirements, internships, and cumulative experiences. Suggests additional research areas to provide more information on how well academic programs are meeting the needs of students and other stakeholders. http://tc.eserver.org/35361.html http://tc.eserver.org/35361.html Provides extensive guidance on applying to Master's and PhD programs for practitioners. Provides tips on applying for current students. Provides tables listing current graduate programs in technical communication, organized by state. http://tc.eserver.org/35324.html http://tc.eserver.org/35324.html This article examines the construction of the pedagogical missions of professional and technical communication (PTC) programs, focusing on two forms of professional discourse. Specifi- cally, I look first at discussions and debates about our pedagogical missions in the internally directed or private conversations of scholarly journals. Then, I examine the externally directed or public discourse of 123 PTC program websites. To compare these two discourses, I frame their differences in terms of the doxa, or unspoken beliefs, upon which they ground their approaches to teaching students the techne, or principled practice, of PTC. The main conclusion of my study is that these differences reflect more than mere genre variations; they reflect important internal conflicts within the attitudes and perspectives on the role of PTC programs as sites of pedagogy. I conclude with the recommendation that we consciously resist the doxa that values pre-professionalism for its own sake by designing websites that refer directly to the topics and themes that arise in professional journals. http://tc.eserver.org/34968.html http://tc.eserver.org/34968.html The purpose of this research is to identify UK English academics' conceptions of information literacy and compare those conceptions with current information literacy standards and frameworks. http://tc.eserver.org/34917.html http://tc.eserver.org/34917.html This class will explore the social and cultural role of information. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which the self and society shape and are shaped by our information networks, and will look at the structure of these systems. We will examine such topics as social and collaborative networking, information retrieval, database structures, tagging, and copyright issues. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to understand the function and limits of rhetorical choices within information production and retrieval. http://tc.eserver.org/34529.html http://tc.eserver.org/34529.html A graduate seminar in the theory and practice of structuring and designing information for web-enabled devices. This course emphasizes web standards, accessibility, and rapid prototyping. http://tc.eserver.org/34530.html http://tc.eserver.org/34530.html A graduate seminar in intensive work developing and using systems to manage documents delivered electronically and in print using single-sourcing technologies. Theory and practice of managing publication projects across groups and organizations. http://tc.eserver.org/34431.html http://tc.eserver.org/34431.html This short guide gathers a collection of questions evaluators can ask about a project, a check list of what to look for in a project, and some ideas about how to find experts for evaluators who are assessing digital work for promotion and tenure. http://tc.eserver.org/34368.html http://tc.eserver.org/34368.html The web, with its low barrier to entry and permeable social boundaries, is the ultimate medium through which to explore the finer points of the wisdom of crowds. You’re surrounded by online examples: Google’s search results. BitTorrent. The “Most E-mailed” stories on your favorite news site. Each is powered by wisdom gleaned from crowds online. You need a few things to enable online crowds to be wise. http://tc.eserver.org/34161.html http://tc.eserver.org/34161.html The principle objective of this course is to prepare you for all the communication activities you will engage in as a professional engineer, including various forms of writing, speaking, illustrating, collaborating, and presenting. Since an important part of engineering work is to disseminate the results of research and data collection, the course focuses on reports and presentations. But we also try to duplicate many of the conditions of the workplace, where you will often work with cross-functional teams on collaborative projects and where you will often be communicating to people who are NOT engineers. http://tc.eserver.org/34162.html http://tc.eserver.org/34162.html This course offers engineering graduate students the opportunity to accomplish the following: communicate effectively with a variety of audiences; communicate effectively in several media: written, oral, visual; manage the process of collecting, synthesizing, and presenting data and information; manage the process of writing and publishing scholarly work; produce a portion of their thesis or dissertation or a complete scholarly paper. http://tc.eserver.org/33997.html http://tc.eserver.org/33997.html Annals. Computer Science Series (Romanian original title Anale. Seria Informatică) was founded in 2003 by the collective of researchers of Computers and Applied Computer Science Faculty in "Tibiscus" University of Timişoara, being an annual – in printed form - international journal. The journal publishes scientific research papers presented in the framework of the International Conference "Actualities and Perspectives in Hardware and Software", event under the high patronage of the Romanian Academy, as well as research articles exposed on the "European Conference on Computer Sciences & Applications". Annals. Computer Science Series is an e-journal with free publication of original scientific work in any Computer Science area, as well as its applications to other domains such as Mathematics, Economics, Technical Sciences or Medicine. We accept to publish, after reviewer’s evaluation, theoretical and applicative studies, wishing to offer to interested audience interpretations and analyses of most recent approaches and results in above mentioned areas. http://tc.eserver.org/33933.html http://tc.eserver.org/33933.html Using activity theory as a supplement to genre studies, this article explores a case of the disintegration of a traditional engineering firm. It focuses on the causes of such disintegration and the role of different types of communication in serving as sites where contradictions can be brought to visibility and resolution. The authors’ goal is both to show the power of activity theory in illuminating issues of tension, contradiction, and dissonance that lead to the breakup of the original organization into two separate firms and point to fundamental differences in the cultures of traditional engineering firms and software design enterprises. http://tc.eserver.org/33890.html http://tc.eserver.org/33890.html Strategies for developing and delivering multimodal content via digital media. Focus on the principles on database design, interface development, usability testing, and collaborative content management within technical communication settings. Projects include training modules, online documentation, dynamic interfaces, and document management systems. http://tc.eserver.org/33674.html http://tc.eserver.org/33674.html AJAX is a name given to an existing approach to building dynamic web applications. Web pages use JavaScript to make asynchronous calls to web-based services that typically return XML. http://tc.eserver.org/33565.html http://tc.eserver.org/33565.html In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested. http://tc.eserver.org/33497.html http://tc.eserver.org/33497.html Technical writing is nonfiction writing meant to make the complex simple. It informs, instructs, and persuades. And it can take many forms -- manuals, references, instructions, correspondence, reports, and proposals, among others. Whatever form is used, technical writing's focus is to ensure that readers can make informed choices, understand complex information, and follow complex procedures. In this class, technical writing is treated rhetorically: We will build on lessons of rhetorical analysis, organization, and style learned in previous classes, but we will apply those lessons to concrete real-world problems. http://tc.eserver.org/33498.html http://tc.eserver.org/33498.html Middle managers interpret experiences and observations of employees and relate them to organizational contexts, practices, and strategies. By analyzing authentic verbal communication between middle managers and employees, this article will draw five conclusions about how interpretational work support organizational goals and values: 1. Middle managers and employees collaborate in interpreting tasks in relation to organizational context; 2. This interpretative work is based on language acquisition: learning the vocabulary of the organization; 3. The managers articulate the process, explicitly defining reality and influencing language use; 4. Employees show expectation of having their experiences interpreted by managers; 5. Employees may challenge managers with competing interpretations. This article will contribute to the study of leadership communication by combining organization communication theory and conversation analytic methodology. The article shows important ways in which middle managers "do leadership": by contextualizing employee actions and bringing employee perceptions in accordance with executive-level perceptions of organizational practices. http://tc.eserver.org/33265.html http://tc.eserver.org/33265.html Many university websites are poorly organized, and filled with out-of-date content that has been directly published from print. Delivering a better service to students and staff faces challenges because of decentralized management structures and concepts such as academic freedom. http://tc.eserver.org/33111.html http://tc.eserver.org/33111.html In this article, the authors argue that online learning conversations need to go beyond the common “information exchange” to a deeper level of interaction in order to help learners build situated knowledge that is useful in their local contexts. The article begins by looking at the commonly-used framework of a Community of Practice (CoP) and in particular, the challenges that designers can expect to encounter when knowledge building moves online, and conversants do not have a shared practice. The authors explain why this is problematic in terms of having insufficient grounding for the conversation and describe how online designers can compensate for the lack of shared practice by providing a common referent. Finally, the authors discuss three considerations that online designers should take into account in crafting a common referent (the richness of representation provided, the domain specificity required, and how the referent is conceptually framed) and explore their implications for both formal and informal learning environments. http://tc.eserver.org/32826.html http://tc.eserver.org/32826.html This course will ask you to explore the ways that literacy, technology, and humanity interact. You will look at the ways that each of these entities affects the others. The course will begin with a historical look at human technological literacy, but the majority of the course will focus on present literacy and technology. http://tc.eserver.org/32802.html http://tc.eserver.org/32802.html First-person shooter (FPS) games have become increasingly popular, and the player’s ability to accurately control their weapon is very important in these games. This study assesses players’ accuracy on eliminating targets in the FPS game Star Wars Battlefront II using three different input devices (mouse, Playstation 2 controller, and joystick) with two different rifle types (sniper and blaster rifle). No significant performance differences were found between input devices although subjectively participants believed they peformed the worst with the joystick. http://tc.eserver.org/32770.html http://tc.eserver.org/32770.html English 206 introduces theoretical and practical aspects of professional writing. Class activities highlight rhetorical analysis, diverse research methods, collaboration, and document design. Through participation in the course, you will explore opportunities and resources in the field and identify priorities for your own professional development. http://tc.eserver.org/32771.html http://tc.eserver.org/32771.html English 301 emphasizes a rhetorical approach to writing. In other words, this course asks you to consider the dynamic, interconnected relationships among purposes, audiences, and authors as you plan and draft professional documents. http://tc.eserver.org/32772.html http://tc.eserver.org/32772.html Writing always has included technical components. In fact, writing itself can be considered a technology. Relatively recent developments in computers and digital media, however, have reshaped our understandings of relationships between technology and writing. This course will explore the cultural, institutional, professional, and pedagogical implications of such shifts. Our explorations will draw upon theories of technology as well discussions from the field of computers and composition. http://tc.eserver.org/32773.html http://tc.eserver.org/32773.html Whether it's gestures in an oral conversation, type on a page, or flickering images on a screen, each medium of communication includes visual elements. Such elements long have been recognized as rhetorically significant, but the cultural proliferation of digital technologies has heightened interest in the visual dimension of rhetoric. As both consumers and producers, we engage daily with a variety of textual and graphical elements. Text and Image will encourage critical consideration of such encounters. We will examine the affordances and constraints of various forms from the perspectives of both reception and production. Our course assignments will ask you to respond to existing theories and examine them in praxis by producing a variety of image/text artifacts. http://tc.eserver.org/32638.html http://tc.eserver.org/32638.html Think of the library system as something akin to the open-source movement before software. Subsidized institutions buy books, subscribe to journals and proprietary databases, and pay people to help you find “stuff”, all essentially at no cost to you. http://tc.eserver.org/32612.html http://tc.eserver.org/32612.html The last decade has seen an explosion in digital media in numerous outlets of contemporary culture. During English 289.22 Multimedia Writing Workshop we will explore various media, genres, and technologies we use everyday. We will examine the communication, creative expression, interactivity and design of multimedia composition for the purposes of persuading, negotiating, contesting, and creating narratives as well as individual and community identities. In other words, we will ask: How does this multimedia text tell a story? What elements help tell the story? In what ways does it reflect who I am or want to be? In what ways is it trying to persuade me to socially identify? We will interrogate our cultural practices as they relate to the cultural and technological underpinnings of our use of media such as blogs, podcasts,wikis, text messages, chats, MySpace, Facebook, film, videogames, etc. to tell stories and convey our identities. http://tc.eserver.org/32613.html http://tc.eserver.org/32613.html This section will focus on both the creation and production of technical writing, particularly concentrating on how using a specific medium to convey information frames how the information is received by the intended audience(s). http://tc.eserver.org/32610.html http://tc.eserver.org/32610.html If technical communication has come of age, then its faculty owe their newer colleagues (and themselves) a clear road map for professional development and career progress. Hiring new faculty for maturing academic programs demands attention to the systems of promotion and tenure, which anchor faculty review and reward structures and define academic career success. http://tc.eserver.org/32611.html http://tc.eserver.org/32611.html When thinking about scholarship, tenure, and promotion in professional communication, we must remember that the field has come into its own only in the last decade. Called by different names -- technical writing, technical and scientific writing, business communication, or the more inclusive term we use -- professional communication has now moved from a nearly invisible position in the service ranks of academic departments to recognition as a discipline with its own scholarly agenda. http://tc.eserver.org/32318.html http://tc.eserver.org/32318.html This paper compares two JISC-funded surveys. The first was undertaken by the Rights MEtadata for Open Archiving (RoMEO) project and focused on the rights protection required by academic authors sharing their research outputs in an open-access environment. The second was carried out by the Rights and Rewards project and focused on the rights protection required by authors sharing their teaching materials in the same way. The data are compared. The study reports confusion amongst both researchers and teachers as to copyright ownership in the materials they produced. Researchers were more restrictive about the permissions they would allow, but were liberal about terms and conditions. Teachers would allow many permissions, but under stricter terms and conditions. The study concludes that a single rights solution could not be used for both research and teaching materials. http://tc.eserver.org/32336.html http://tc.eserver.org/32336.html The paper explores the interrelation and differences between the concepts of occupational community, community of practice, online community and social network. It uses as a case study illustration the domain of UK university web site production and specifically a listserv for those involved in it. Different latent occupational communities are explored, and the potential for the listserv to help realize these as an active sense of community is considered. The listserv is not (for most participants) a tight knit community of practice, indeed it fails many criteria for an online community. It is perhaps best conceived as a loose knit network of practice, valued for information, implicit support and for the maintenance of weak ties. Through the analysis the case for using strict definitions of the theoretical concepts is made. http://tc.eserver.org/32279.html http://tc.eserver.org/32279.html Longitudinal studies of web change are needed to assess the stability of webometric statistics and this paper forms part of an on-going longitudinal study of three national academic web spaces. It examines the relationship between university inlinks and research productivity over time and identifies reasons for individual universities experiencing significant increases and decreases in inlinks over the last six years. The findings also indicate that between 66 and 70% of outlinks remain the same year on year for all three academic web spaces, although this stability conceals large individual differences. Moreover, there is evidence of a level of stability over time for university site inlinks when measured against research productivity. Surprisingly, however, inlink counts can vary significantly from year to year for individual universities, for reasons unrelated to research which undermines their use in webometrics studies. http://tc.eserver.org/32214.html http://tc.eserver.org/32214.html Today's business climate of outsourcing, in-sourcing, virtual teams, and ROI-driven objectives can leave a manager at any level feeling powerless. Yet, we often see examples of those who can elicit unwavering support from their teams, driving highly effective projects, and getting the best performance from employees despite ever-increasing workloads. What is it about these individuals that makes them stand out as great leaders? http://tc.eserver.org/32147.html http://tc.eserver.org/32147.html English 203 serves as an introduction to research approaches and methods useful for professional writers. The course will focus on developing ideas to guide research; collecting print and online information; interviewing, surveying, and conducting observations; and evaluating, summarizing, analyzing, and reporting research. Perhaps most important, the course will focus on developing your writing skills so that you might not only engage in but also produce quality professional research. http://tc.eserver.org/32148.html http://tc.eserver.org/32148.html English 306 introduces you to the rhetorical principles and theoretical concepts that you will need as a professional writer. These principles and concepts will help you analyze and respond effectively to a variety of workplace writing scenarios. While the course will address some practical skills such as how to write memos, emails, and reports, we will focus most of our attention on theories of rhetoric, language, and information. We will learn how information operates in organizations, theories about information architecture, as well as rhetorical concepts that will allow you to effectively assess and approach any writing situation you might encounter. Additionally, the course will introduce you to the strategies and skills necessary for using various communication technologies in workplace contexts. http://tc.eserver.org/32149.html http://tc.eserver.org/32149.html The class English 396D: Digital Rhetorics and Writing covers contemporary digital writing practices and rhetorical theories about those practices. This space is a metasite intended to aggregate class content. http://tc.eserver.org/32150.html http://tc.eserver.org/32150.html English 419 introduces students to the fundamental rhetorical theories, principles, and practices of multimedia design, implementation, and publishing. The main objective for the course is for students to understand critical theories of multimedia and the new media technologies that create and publish multimedia content, with a particular emphasis on visual rhetoric and usability. Since multimedia is, by nature, interactive, we will cover the rhetorical nature of interactivity, the relationship of the audience—or users—to interactivity, and the discovery of innovative methods for successfully interacting with others through multimedia. Students will explore these theories through projects that require creative engagements with a variety of technologies and users. http://tc.eserver.org/32151.html http://tc.eserver.org/32151.html English 420 teaches students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is guided by the needs and practices of business, industry, and society at large, as well as by the expectations of Purdue students and programs. All sections of English 420 are offered in networked computer classrooms to ensure that students taking the course are prepared for the writing environment of the 21st-century workplace. The course teaches the rhetorical principles that help students shape their business writing ethically, for multiple audiences, in a variety of professional situations. http://tc.eserver.org/32152.html http://tc.eserver.org/32152.html English 470 will explore some of the major theories of rhetoric and writing which shape the ways that we use language in social, educational, political, and professional situations. We will examine various definitions of rhetoric, key rhetorical concepts and debates, theories of writing, the impact of new technologies on rhetoric and writing, and philosophical questions, among others. Our trajectory for the course can be mapped across several different heuristics. We can say that we will begin with oral traditions of rhetoric, move to written traditions, and then to electric or online instantiations of rhetoric. Another way to think about the structure of the course is philosophically: we start with ancient concepts of language and thought, then move to modernist conceptions, and finish with postmodern ideas about the place of rhetoric in the world. While we won't be able to cover every historical period and every rhetorical concept, you should leave the class with an understanding of what rhetoric is, when, where, and how it can be deployed, and why rhetoric is important. The ultimate goal of the course is for students to understand rhetoric as a productive art that offers transformative possibilities. http://tc.eserver.org/32153.html http://tc.eserver.org/32153.html What is "new media?" English 680N will examine this question from a variety of perspectives, investigating forms and examples of new media as well as the theories that underlie and emerge from these forms. http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html Both the DITA and the DocBook specification are quite alive and well in organizations, and each is evolving into its own distinct application niches, with DITA looking to be turning into the default standard for large scale enterprises, while DocBook works more effectively at the small to intermediate level. What’s perhaps more interesting is the Microsoft Word, even with support for XML as provided by OOXML, is not making as much of an inroad in the structured document market, in great part because it is fairly difficult to constrain people’s use of the word-processing program to a limited, finite subset of potential styles. http://tc.eserver.org/31972.html http://tc.eserver.org/31972.html PHP is a high level, dynamic, interpreted scripting language. It augments raw HTML by allowing significant interactivity and increased functionality. It has become popular in recent years as it is easy to begin working with and supported by a good majority of web hosting companies. http://tc.eserver.org/31971.html http://tc.eserver.org/31971.html Web Design is an incredibly fun skill to learn - combining the latest toys of technology with the creativity of design! On top of that, learning web design is unique in that we can learn directly from current professionals who publish their techniques for all to read on their own Web-logs! http://tc.eserver.org/31952.html http://tc.eserver.org/31952.html Good evening — in this article I will aim to demystify the world of mobile web development, or in other words, developing web sites so that they will provide an acceptable user experience on mobile devices. I’ll run through how “the mobile web” differs from the normal web, the basics of techniques you can employ. http://tc.eserver.org/31930.html http://tc.eserver.org/31930.html The process leading up to your first faculty job is almost guaranteed to be a nerve-racking ordeal. Many applicants don't know how to make a good first impression. It is common--and reasonable--to question whether you have the right set of skills and credentials for a particular faculty job. Whether at a large research-intensive university on the West Coast or a small teaching college in New England, the recruitment process is much the same all across the country. http://tc.eserver.org/31931.html http://tc.eserver.org/31931.html Take pity on me and my colleagues. As a faculty member who serves on faculty search committees and a frequent reader of job applications, I dread reading teaching statements. I have even considered asking search committees to stop asking for these essays (in which applicants discuss their teaching philosophies and their anticipated approaches to teaching) because they are so often insipid and painful to read. I've never actually made that suggestion, though, and for now, at my institution (and many others), teaching statements remain a required part of an application for a faculty position. So for every permanent-faculty search I'm involved in, I end up reading as many as several hundred insipid teaching statements. Have mercy. http://tc.eserver.org/31891.html http://tc.eserver.org/31891.html Over the course of the semester we will explore the full range of writings by physicians and other health practitioners. Some of the writer/physicians that we encounter will be Atul Gawande, Danielle Ofri, Richard Selzer, and William Carlos Williams. Students need have no special training, only a general interest in medicine or in public health issues such as AIDS, asthma, malaria control, and obesity. The writing assignments, like the readings, will invite students to consider the distinctive needs of different audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/31880.html http://tc.eserver.org/31880.html How many times have you written a 75+ page guide and heard the customer say, This is great, but can you give us a condensed version? After the third or fourth time I’d heard this, I decided to actually try it. http://tc.eserver.org/31818.html http://tc.eserver.org/31818.html The purpose of this course is to introduce you to several new writing genres that are based on "Web 2.0" technology, which include mostly database-driven websites such as blogs, wikis, and virtual environments. These sites are designed to facilitate collaboration and discussion, rather than the one-to-many model of the typical website in which readers do not participate beyond reading or viewing material. Although many of these technologies are used for entertainment, they are also finding their way into professional settings. For instance, a game such as Second Life might be adapted for use in the workplace, allowing employees at distant locations to occupy the same virtual space and model behaviors or objects that would be impractical in physical space. http://tc.eserver.org/31817.html http://tc.eserver.org/31817.html This course is designed to familiarize you with the type of writing you'll encounter and produce as a college-educated professional. You'll learn how to write clearly, confidently, and effectively for an international audience. You'll also learn how to compose great resumes, emails, proposals, and Power Point presentations. You'll learn productive strategies for working in groups. Finally, you'll get to work with powerful, yet easy-to-use software. http://tc.eserver.org/31628.html http://tc.eserver.org/31628.html This course introduces the discipline of Document Engineering: specifying, designing, and deploying electronic documents and information repositories that enable document-centric or information-intensive applications. These applications include web services, information supply chains, single-source publishing, composite applications/virtual enterprises/portals, and so on. Course topics include developing requirements, analyzing existing documents and information sources, conceptual modeling, identifying reusable semantic components, modeling business processes and user interactions, applying patterns to make models more robust, representing models using XML schemas, and using XML models to implement and drive applications. The syllabus contains over 20 short case study examples from different industries, with special emphasis on business-to-business, healthcare and medical informatics, and e-government. http://tc.eserver.org/31099.html http://tc.eserver.org/31099.html The following includes the instructions for creating a model of a small help project and how to name and send it to your instructor. http://tc.eserver.org/31063.html http://tc.eserver.org/31063.html Knowledge analysis and representation; information presentation and assimilation; bibliographic and record control. http://tc.eserver.org/30999.html http://tc.eserver.org/30999.html We offer you Level 1 and Level 2 courses in technical writing, plus a workshop on writing system requirement specifications. We're constantly updating and restructuring our content. We also welcome your active participation in building and improving this learning community. http://tc.eserver.org/30792.html http://tc.eserver.org/30792.html This course will provide an introductory level approach to professional web authoring. It is ideal for folks with little to no background in CSS, XHTML, Photoshop, iMovie, PHP, Database, TCP/Server experience, and other essential web authoring technologies. We will approach these technologies from both a production and a publication perspective. http://tc.eserver.org/30482.html http://tc.eserver.org/30482.html The following regional STC chapters have established their own scholarship programs. Please visit the chapter Web sites listed below for more information. http://tc.eserver.org/30481.html http://tc.eserver.org/30481.html To assist students who are pursuing established degree programs in some area of technical communication. Applicants must have completed at least one year of post-secondary education. Applicants must be full-time students. They may be either graduate students working toward a Master's or Doctor's degree, or undergraduate students working toward a Bachelor's degree. Students should have at least one full year of academic work remaining to complete their degree programs, although under exceptional circumstances an award may be granted to a student for the final half-year. They should be studying communication of information about technical subjects. Other majors, such as general journalism, electronic communication engineering, computer programming, creative writing, or entertainment, are not eligible. http://tc.eserver.org/30480.html http://tc.eserver.org/30480.html This scholarship is for those who are interested in studying for a degree or attending a continuing education or training course in one of these areas. Applicants must be female. Applicants must be working full- or part-time for the U.S. federal government as a secretary or administrative assistant. Applicants should be interested in enrolling in a training or academic class related to technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/30237.html http://tc.eserver.org/30237.html New technologies provide technical communicators with opportunities to expand their learning communities. Establishing and maintaining an electronic mentoring forum will benefit students and teachers. http://tc.eserver.org/30238.html http://tc.eserver.org/30238.html The Faculty Internship Panel provides a guideline and model for faculty internship programs. Although technical communicator internships, particularly faculty internships in the corporate environment, are generally considered a good idea. They are difficult to set up. The Austin STC chapter (in collaboration with members of the Austin Technical Communications Mangers' Focus Group and the Technical Communications Department at Austin Community College) set up and ran a successful pilot Faculty Internship program. A panel offaculty interns and corporate sponsors provide pointers in planning, implementing, and evaluating such a program. http://tc.eserver.org/30173.html http://tc.eserver.org/30173.html The internship is a very important part of the Scientific and Technical Communication program at the University of Minnesota. Through the internship students learn what it is like to work as technical communicators in the business setting and how to adapt to an organizational culture. The internship experience helps students research decisions about the type of technical communication work they would like to pursue and often leads to jobs offer after graduation. All undergraduate and graduate students are required to complete internships as part of their degree programs. http://tc.eserver.org/29951.html http://tc.eserver.org/29951.html These example exercises are intended to help you better understand how to write paragraphs according to the five patterns of organization listed above. Each example exercise is followed by an assignment that asks you to use the example exercises and the textbook as a guide in writing paragraphs that are clear and well organized. http://tc.eserver.org/29948.html http://tc.eserver.org/29948.html The online companion to the textbook Technical Communication in The Twenty-First Century. http://tc.eserver.org/29950.html http://tc.eserver.org/29950.html This interactive tutorial is designed to supplement your use of TCTC, and provides new information and activities that will enhance your understanding of visual rhetoric. This tutorial has five main sections, Visual Rhetoric, Use of Visuals, Types of Visuals, Color, and Design. With only a few variations, each section is divided into smaller three- to five-page chapters, all arranged using three basic types of pages. http://tc.eserver.org/29949.html http://tc.eserver.org/29949.html This web tutorial is designed for students making their first web pages. No previous experience writing HTML is expected. This tutorial will introduce you to the basic concepts of HTML code and will guide you through the creation of several practice web pages. Using this tutorial you will learn the skills you need to start making your own web sites. http://tc.eserver.org/29828.html http://tc.eserver.org/29828.html Over a period of 10 years, we have developed a sustainable process of online portfolio assessment that demonstrates both reliability and validity, using both qualitative and quantitative measures. The sustainable cycle is that, each semester, we assess a random sampling of the students' work that they have posted, as per our instructions, in an online portfolio. During the reading, the faculty score the documents for 11 variables, including writing, content, audience awareness, and document design. We achieved validity by a modified online Delphi that led to a redefinition of the construct of technical communication itself; we achieved reliability by adjudication resulting in adjacent scores. The results of our assessment meet the requirements of ABET and result in a continual cycle of improvement for our technical communication curriculum. Results from three semesters show an improving correlation between the course grade and the overall, holistic portfolio score. http://tc.eserver.org/29785.html http://tc.eserver.org/29785.html Rhetoric 3301 is a writing course in which students work to improve their writing style and clarity while studying the conventions of standard usage. http://tc.eserver.org/29786.html http://tc.eserver.org/29786.html Rhetoric 3316 studies and practices 'workplace communication required of professionals who write as part of their jobs. Emphasis on developing a sense of audience and purpose, writing in teams, and learning problem-solving strategies. Intensive practice writing workplace documents such as memos, letters, e-mail, resumes, and reports.' http://tc.eserver.org/29787.html http://tc.eserver.org/29787.html Rhetoric 5/4304 emphasizes the editing process of technical materials, which includes the following: knowing different levels of editing, copyediting and proofreading, editing for organization and content, editing graphics, editing for effective document design, and learning how to work effectively and efficiently as a team member. We'll do hands-on editing to give you necessary knowledge/practice and to develop your editing skills. http://tc.eserver.org/29627.html http://tc.eserver.org/29627.html Using their own mentor-mentee relationship as a pilot project, the authors planned and implemented a successful mentoring program pairing professionals in the Orlando Chapter with graduating seniors in the technical communication program at the University of Central Florida. This paper (and presentation) provides a detailed description of the planning and execution of the new program, along with feedback from participants at the end of the first year, and an update on the program midway through its second year. It also provides a glimpse into the special trust that can grow between mentor and mentee--and the mutual personal and professional growth that can result from such a relationship. In addition, the session includes a turnkey package (both hard-copy and electronic) of administrative forms and materials that can readily be adapted to implement a mentoring program within another STC chapter or organization. The package is also available from either presenter or from the Orlando Chapter Education Committee. http://tc.eserver.org/29584.html http://tc.eserver.org/29584.html A list of all programs in scientific and technical communication. The titles of some programs may include related names such as professional writing or professional communication. http://tc.eserver.org/29205.html http://tc.eserver.org/29205.html Analysis of the academic job market in 2002-2003 reveals that 118 nationally advertised academic jobs named technical or professional communication as a primary or secondary specialization. Of the 56 in the "primary" category that we were able to contact, we identified 42 jobs filled, 10 unfilled, and 4 pending. However, only 29% of the jobs for which technical or professional communication was the primary specialization were filled by people with degrees in the field, and an even lower percent (25%) of all jobs, whether advertised for a primary or secondary specialization, were filled by people with degrees in the field. Search chairs report a higher priority on teaching and research potential than on a particular research specialization, and 62% of all filled positions involve teaching in related areas (composition, literature, or other writing courses). http://tc.eserver.org/29209.html http://tc.eserver.org/29209.html This article presents the results of an April 2003 electronic survey of ATTW members. Results and interpretations are categorized as follows: a professional profile of respondents; member observations about ATTW and its activities (member participation, appraisal of benefits, and preferred topics for TCQ); and current issues and views of the field's future. http://tc.eserver.org/29213.html http://tc.eserver.org/29213.html This article reports United States salary data from the April 2003 survey of Society for Technical Communication members who identify themselves as educators. It provides analysis of salary data based on type of institution, rank, tenure status, experience, education level, sex, and age. It also reports on benefits, administrative responsibilities, job satisfaction, and program size. http://tc.eserver.org/29010.html http://tc.eserver.org/29010.html In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested. http://tc.eserver.org/29135.html http://tc.eserver.org/29135.html Universities and colleges are investing millions of dollars in information technology infrastructure to support teaching, research, and service, and thousands of dollars annually in faculty training programs. And yet, many college graduates entering the workforce lack adequate technology skills. To ascertain the frequency of faculty adoption of information technology, we surveyed a random sample of faculty in the liberal arts and sciences departments in our university. Overall faculty members (n = 174) reported a low usage of information technology for teaching, though the rate of software adoption is higher than the rate of hardware adoption. While opportunities to learn technology are available, about two-thirds of the faculty members have not completed the available seminars and workshops on information technologies but prefer more informal ways of learning information technology, such as talking with other faculty members. http://tc.eserver.org/29144.html http://tc.eserver.org/29144.html Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is produced by individual activity and social affirmation and not by objective descriptions of sensory impressions. Her "Rationale" is an attempt to change institutional and discursive structures by persuading literature professors that technical communication can have as much distinction in the academy as literature. http://tc.eserver.org/28953.html http://tc.eserver.org/28953.html The main objective of this class is to help you gain the skills needed to think through writing tasks, analyze the audience(s) involved, secure various types of resources, generate documents, and present those documents in an effective manner. http://tc.eserver.org/28954.html http://tc.eserver.org/28954.html This interdisciplinary course focuses on studying and researching the role of rhetoric in the development of visual elements in texts. Students will be asked to both analyze and design visual texts, to analyze and critique ways in which visual rhetoric is defined, and to conduct primary research on an element of visual rhetoric. http://tc.eserver.org/28730.html http://tc.eserver.org/28730.html Many colleges and even some high schools have courses in technical writing; some even ask people from the industry to share their experiences. Could you be one of those industry insiders talking up our profession? http://tc.eserver.org/28566.html http://tc.eserver.org/28566.html These are the golden days of JavaScript, which was warily used in the not too distant past because of the browser wars (still being waged). With enhancements to JavaScript in recent years and the advent of AJAX, interest in Javascript has taken a new turn, a turn for the better. Early on with AJAX it was recognized that there was a contender for XML for handling data which was stable, faster, and portable. This was the beginning of JSON. This article gives you a good explanation. http://tc.eserver.org/28287.html http://tc.eserver.org/28287.html The web site for a Master's level course on Usability Testing in the Technical Communication department at the University of Washington. http://tc.eserver.org/27796.html http://tc.eserver.org/27796.html A manual to introduce new instructors to issues they must consider during the term prior to teaching Technical Communication. http://tc.eserver.org/27490.html http://tc.eserver.org/27490.html An introduction to technical writing, with outlined notes about writing clearly. http://tc.eserver.org/27424.html http://tc.eserver.org/27424.html A guide to using MiniDV digital camcorders to record student presentations, then to review them on a computer and copy them to DVD for later review. http://tc.eserver.org/27357.html http://tc.eserver.org/27357.html In this class, you will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design. http://tc.eserver.org/27356.html http://tc.eserver.org/27356.html In this class, students will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design. Finally, students will learn about the profession of editing and develop pieces to support their careers. http://tc.eserver.org/26990.html http://tc.eserver.org/26990.html A video documentary about the appropriate use of computer technologies in the workplace, which may be useful in talking about workplace ethics. http://tc.eserver.org/26933.html http://tc.eserver.org/26933.html Technical writers provide information enabling users to learn and apply various technologies. In the endeavor to enable users, technical writers often need to use different strategies of classification, presentation, and structuring for the different types of information. However, in most cases such classifications or decisions about the best method of presentation and optimum structure are guided by instinct and are rarely heuristic. In this article, we present an established classification of information called Bloom’s taxonomy (of educational objectives), which can help technical writers make decisions about content classification. http://tc.eserver.org/26900.html http://tc.eserver.org/26900.html This course is designed for upper division students in a business field who will write in their future employment. Successful employees know how to communicate clearly and effectively, changing writing style and content for varying audiences and purposes. This class will focus on the difficult task of meeting readers' needs while simultaneously representing your best interests and those of your employer. To meet that end, the assignments will cover a variety of tasks produced under different circumstances, some done quickly during class and some polished and perfected over time. Students completing the semester's work should see a visible improvement in their writing, especially in terms of clarity and precision. http://tc.eserver.org/26797.html http://tc.eserver.org/26797.html An article about community among students in online higher education programs. http://tc.eserver.org/26667.html http://tc.eserver.org/26667.html The Internet has become an immensely pervasive and powerful form of communication, one that despite its quick rise has yet to reach most of the world's population. This class is a survey that will trace the Internet's history, reception, audience, industries, rhetorics, fictional and filmic narratives, and potential as a purveyor and transmitter of culture and values. We will focus on the intersections between Internet and old media culture, popular culture, and critical theories of identity. http://tc.eserver.org/26551.html http://tc.eserver.org/26551.html This studio/seminar course will contribute to students' practical and theoretical knowledge of user-centered interface design. In the move from Engineering English to Technical Communication, technical communicators increasingly work with and within computer interfaces, as content developers, as human-factors and usability experts, and as information designers. This course examines both the work of interface design, focused on web and multimedia interfaces, and the theory of such work, particularly where it intersects with critical and cultural theory. We'll be looking at the development of user-centered and participatory design (Johnson, Ehn, Winograd), critical theories of technology (Foucault, Feinberg), and design strategies for critiquing or politicizing design (Laurel, Kolko). http://tc.eserver.org/26553.html http://tc.eserver.org/26553.html In this course, students work on collaborative projects to design innovative human-computer interactions (HCIs) aimed at transforming the way people do things in their everyday lives at work, in the home, and at play. Students work with activity analysis to observe and analyze everyday practices, with object-oriented modeling to represent and transform those practices, and with UI prototyping for selected implementation. The course serves as the capstone in the HCI MS Certificate but is open to any junior or senior with technical skills seeking an opportunity to engage in an extended design studio leading to an HCI design. Prerequisites: In general: at least one course in one of the following areas: web design, database design, graphics design, document design, or software engineering design. For those completing the MS Certificate in Human-Computer Interaction: Fundamentals of HCI Usability, Electronic Coaching Systems, and Communication Design for the Web. http://tc.eserver.org/26552.html http://tc.eserver.org/26552.html This course focuses on media, techniques, and formats of writing that are used in professional environments. Students explore the assumptions that govern writing in their fields and practice the writing skills and styles applicable to communicating effectively. http://tc.eserver.org/26547.html http://tc.eserver.org/26547.html This class focuses on effective writing and design for online environments--with particular emphasis on the Web. While grounded in relevant theory, this course has a workshop format, with an emphasis on hands-on, collaborative learning. http://tc.eserver.org/26503.html http://tc.eserver.org/26503.html Communication for engineering, science, and technology; theory and practice in planning, preparing, and critiquing reports, proposals, instructions, and business correspondence; research strategies, collaborative work; oral presentations. http://tc.eserver.org/26501.html http://tc.eserver.org/26501.html How could four letters strike such fear in the hearts of normally stalwart faculty? Why would administrators loathe the mere mention of the word 'accreditation'? The source of their fear and frustration is a cycle of evaluation, assessment, and reporting that constitutes a six-year accreditation period. http://tc.eserver.org/26483.html http://tc.eserver.org/26483.html Post announcements about job openings in this forum. Posters are encouraged to send their announcements to WPA-L as well. http://tc.eserver.org/26018.html http://tc.eserver.org/26018.html This course will help those employed within technical fields (scientists, engineers, medical professionals, etc.), as well as those who address technical audiences, to effectively plan, research, write, and present technical information. http://tc.eserver.org/25988.html http://tc.eserver.org/25988.html This course is a variation of Utah State University's twice-annual Technology and the Writer Course. The Technology and the Writer course is based on research done in the 1990s to determine which writing professions demanded the best salaries and were most likely to survive overseas outsourcing. http://tc.eserver.org/25881.html http://tc.eserver.org/25881.html One definition of rhetoric is the study of relationships between writers and readers. This course will review changes in publishing from 1688 to the present, considering implications for writers (particularly professional communicators), publishing, and reading audiences. The course will learn about, then examine in detail, the social impact of key innovations from this period. http://tc.eserver.org/25880.html http://tc.eserver.org/25880.html This course will investigate how the digital challenges our perceptions of what we have come to call literacy (and thus, composition). Is literacy a relevant term for digital production, or do we need a new term to describe the process of acquiring and producing knowledge? http://tc.eserver.org/25677.html http://tc.eserver.org/25677.html This course offers students in various disciplines a critical view of the technologies now shaping workplace communication and our society as a whole. Using rhetorical theories of technology, we will examine the historical roots of communication technology and explore a number of economic and ethical issues spawned by the computer revolution. Students will gain a deep understanding of how technology impacts the decisions of technical communicators in an increasingly electronic workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/25676.html http://tc.eserver.org/25676.html This graduate course will study theoretical constructs and issues that inform workplace professional communication. Inherently a multi-disciplinary activity, professional comm-unication draws on theories from fields as different as rhetoric and science, psychology and philosophy, sociology and linguistics. This term we will focus specifically on rhetoric, on the relationships between author, text and reader, and on philosophies of science and language as they apply to workplace practice. http://tc.eserver.org/25650.html http://tc.eserver.org/25650.html This scholarship is granted by the society to a student or students of photographic or imaging science or engineering for use in continuing their studies as graduate or undergraduate students. This grant is made for academic study or research in the theory or practice of image formation by radient energy. http://tc.eserver.org/25563.html http://tc.eserver.org/25563.html This course is designed with several goals in mind: to analyze web sites & understand effective web design principles; to understand information architecture & its importance in relation to web sites; and to use those principles to design web sites—one of your choosing & one for a client. http://tc.eserver.org/25578.html http://tc.eserver.org/25578.html This is a course about writing and the World Wide Web in at least two different and related ways. First, we will be reading, 'browsing,' and writing about the World Wide Web in order to understand how the web works rhetorically. Second, we will be creating web sites that are good examples of effective web sites. http://tc.eserver.org/25570.html http://tc.eserver.org/25570.html This is the homepage for Steven D. Krause's Winter 2005 section of English 323: Writing in the Professional World. http://tc.eserver.org/25579.html http://tc.eserver.org/25579.html This course has two related goals. First, the course is an introduction to some of the theoretical and practical approaches to research taken by scholars in composition and rhetoric. Second, the course is designed to help prepare students to write a project proposal which will in turn help them as they begin work on their MA thesis or writing project. http://tc.eserver.org/25445.html http://tc.eserver.org/25445.html This is a course in the process and techniques used in the technical communication profession for developing and delivering instructional materials for software: computer applications programs. Instructional materials includes all forms of manuals, procedures, step-by-step, tutorials, getting started, booklets, online help, performance support, Wizards, and other methods of supporting the work of software end users. This course also represents a culmination of preparation for professional work. In this course we explore both professional issues and practical issues with the intention of giving you the chance to apply principles to representative projects. http://tc.eserver.org/25446.html http://tc.eserver.org/25446.html This form shows a generic, fill-in-the-blank evaluation form for small- and medium-sized projects. http://tc.eserver.org/25413.html http://tc.eserver.org/25413.html Information about various classes of algebraic, ordinary differential, partial differential (mathematical physics), integral, and other mathematical equations. It also outlines some methods for solving equations, includes interesting articles, gives links to mathematical websites, lists useful handbooks, textbooks, and monographs, and refers to scientific publishers, journals, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/25313.html http://tc.eserver.org/25313.html This course is designed for students who expect to write in their future employment. Successful employees know how to communicate clearly and effectively, changing writing style and content for varying audiences and purposes. This class will focus on the difficult task of meeting readers' needs while simultaneously representing your best interests and those of your employer. To meet that end, the assignments will cover a variety of tasks produced under different circumstances, some done quickly during class and some polished and perfected over time. Students completing the semester's work should see a visible improvement in their writing, especially in terms of clarity and precision. http://tc.eserver.org/25312.html http://tc.eserver.org/25312.html The practice of effective electronic group communication has evolved as a primary consideration for efficient management of engineering and other creative group projects, in similar lines of those handled by EMAC students and in other engineering disciplines http://tc.eserver.org/25144.html http://tc.eserver.org/25144.html Although many programs require one or more project-based course for their majors, most students never get to work with a real client on a project that will be used outside the classroom setting. We felt strongly that students would benefit more from both their communication and their software design courses if they could somehow connect their efforts across traditional curricular boundaries and work with a real audiences and purposes. And in fact, this is what we found—students understood the relationship between their technical and communication responsibilities much more fully in both classes than either of us had experienced in these same courses prior to linking them. http://tc.eserver.org/25142.html http://tc.eserver.org/25142.html In a time of declining resources and expanding needs, accurate assessments of WAC program value are of great interest to administrators and faculty across the curriculum. http://tc.eserver.org/25035.html http://tc.eserver.org/25035.html In this class you will learn the tools and design elements of multimedia for producing instruction on CD-ROM and the Internet. http://tc.eserver.org/25038.html http://tc.eserver.org/25038.html Course materials and teaching suggestions for the Technical Communication classroom (as taught at New Jersey Institute of Technology); website contains current assessment criteria and goals. http://tc.eserver.org/24599.html http://tc.eserver.org/24599.html The article discusses service learning in a women's natural health clinic in Josefa Dominguez, Mexico. The author also discusses how students in writing classes can learn from community service and learning. http://tc.eserver.org/24379.html http://tc.eserver.org/24379.html This panel will present a discussion of the purposes and activities of INTECOM, the international umbrella organization of technical communication societies. The panel will describe the organization of INTECOM, its major programs such as the international FORUM conference, and the value it offers to member organizations. http://tc.eserver.org/24288.html http://tc.eserver.org/24288.html During the course students examine more thoroughly the content areas of TC introduced on the Introduction course running paralelly. The work will include workshops, study circles both face-to-face and in the course web environment. The study will be documented and evaluated through a digital portfolio, which includes a personal coourse log, samples and summaries of the work done during the course and reflections upon them (one portfolio to cover all the courses on TC). http://tc.eserver.org/24157.html http://tc.eserver.org/24157.html Given here are free PowerPoint slides from The Craft of Scientific Presentations (Springer, 2003). These slides have been requested by more than 200 instructors around the world.