#31628
Document Engineering and Information Architecture
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.
Glushko, Robert J. University of California Berkeley (2008). Academic>Courses>Document Design>Information Design
#20378
These are links to all the resources that appeared on the handout (except for this site, of course).
Marques, Michele. DigitalEve Toronto. Academic>Education>Web Design>Dreamweaver
#19234
Dyslexia, Technology and E-Learning 
It is perhaps unfortunate that enabling technologies do not come with an 'ability warning', as they generally require the user to already have acquired a certain level of IT skills, in a similar way that online courses require users to have a certain level of prior IT knowledge. Accessing a computer and making the most of e-learning materials requires support at both the curriculum and technological levels, and some students find it easier to work with computers than others. Dyslexic students are no different, and often have the added cognitive load of having to use enabling technologies to access these materials, examples being text to speech facilities, magnification, changes in desktop settings and various methods to help with the input of text. These added technologies can be liberating, but only if they have been chosen with the specific requirements of that particular student in mind, and the student has gained adequate skills to make the most of the technologies' attributes.
Draffan, E.A. TechDis (2003). Academic>Accessibility>Education>Online
#18152
In this course, you will become familiar with the responsibilities of a technical editor. We will spend much of the semester practicing editing skills but will also consider the job of the editor, including the relationship of editor and writer and the organizational aspects of being an editor. These aspects include organizational style guides, forms of technical editing in different industries, the role of the technical writer and editor in organizational culture, and technology and its impacts on editing and style.
Pringle, Mary Margaret. University of Minnesota (2001). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate
#14270
Editing Documents Collaboratively 
In this exercise, you will work in a group of four students to collaboratively edit an information sheet about your campus library. As a group you will decide what type of collaborative relationship will work best for this exercise. After reviewing and editing the document, you will individually prepare a short report about the exercise for your instructor.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials
#19167
Educational Programs in Information Design
More than graphic design, more than technical writing, but not really in the information architecture or interaction design space, the ideal information design program combines coursework that may touch all of these fields. This can make it hard for those interested in learning ID to find a suitable degree program (or course, as our friends across the pond like to say). Below are some programs that may be of interest.
STC Information Design SIG. Academic>Education>Information Design>Interaction Design
#18710
An intensive training session on how to write clear, crisp, persuasive copy for letters, memos, proposals, reports, and other business documents.
Bly, Robert W. Bly.com. Academic>Course Materials>Writing>Business Communication
#18709
An intensive training session on how to write clear, crisp, technically accurate copy for letters, memos, proposals, reports, articles, papers, and other technical documents.
#22470
Electronic Documents and Publications
English 413 presents principles of Web-based document design, creation, layout, editing, and posting to the Internet and on corporate intranets.
Jablonski, Jeffrey. UNLV. Academic>Courses>Undergraduate>Technical Writing
#19067
Embracing Digital Media in Engineering 
New models for program development in technical and scientific communication are imperative. Demand for communicative expertise continues to expand rapidly yet traditional approaches for supporting student competence fall far short of expectations.
Atkinson, Dianne. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Engineering
#15046
ENGL XXX: Technical Communication
A sample syllabus for instructors who plan to use Mike Markel's Technical Communication textbook.
Markel, Mike. Bedford-St. Martin's. Academic>Course Materials>TC
#28953
English 3301: Principles of Professional and Report Writing
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.
Garza, Susan Loudermilk. Texas A and M University (2007). Academic>Courses>Writing>Reports
#21540
This course is designed for undergraduates and graduates interested in the professional writing and publishing of both print based and electronic documents. Through a variety of projects, we will cover advanced theories of document design, web-based publishing, educational media, information delivery, and multimedia production. The course is designed so that students will have opportunities to work on both electronic and print based projects.
Bay, Jennifer. Purdue University (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication
#28954
English 5369 Topics and Genres in Rhetoric and Composition: Visual Rhetoric2007
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.
Garza, Susan Loudermilk. Texas A and M University (2007). Academic>Courses>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
#26503
EPD 397: Technical Communication
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.
University of Wisconsin (2005). Academic>Courses>TC>Wisconsin
#25413
EqWorld: The World of Mathematical Equations
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.
Polyanin, Andrei. Russian Academy of Sciences (2004). Resources>Education>Academic>Mathematics
#18472
Because the role of the modern technical writer and communicator is expanding rapidly and will continue to do so, the ethical scope of the technical writer's responsibility is comparably expanded too. The technical writer is now seen as an information developer in the formative stages of creating technical information, as a communicator in disseminating information, as an interpreter in explaining information, and as a usability expert in guiding the application of information. As a result, ethics becomes in involved in technical writing in many ways both traditional and new, obvious and non-obvious. In this course we will study the role of ethics in technical writing and communication at various levels. Ethics is the study of what is right and good, whether as abstract theories or as concrete actions, usually involving deciding a course of action in a dilemma offering several possibilities. Ethics here is understood broadly as encompassing both conventional theories of ethics and values and value systems.
Dombrowski, Paul M. SUNY Institute of Technology (2002). Academic>Courses>Ethics>Technical Writing
#14284
The ability to recognize effective correspondence is valuable. It will not only allow you to assess what may have gone wrong in a transaction, but also to plan for better communication in the future. Professional communicators understand the importance of being critical about their writing. They are able to evaluate the documents they produce, recognize potential problems, and make the necessary adjustments. They can also appreciate well written documents, learning communication strategies that they might use in the future. In this exercise you will practice your ability to evaluate correspondence. Using the criteria outlined in Chapter 14 (“Correspondence”) of Technical Communication, 5e, you will analyze a letter sent to a professional journal in your discipline. You will present your analysis in a memo written to your instructor, so you will have an opportunity to develop your own correspondence writing style.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Correspondence>Evaluation
#10763
Evaluating Sources of Information
We live in an information age. The quantity of information available is so staggeringly huge that we cannot know everything about a subject. For example, it's estimated that anyone attempting to research what's known about depression would have to read over 100,000 studies on the subject. And there's the problem of trying to decide which studies have produced reliable results.
#30237
Expanding the Learning Community: Using Electronic Mentoring to Build Academic/Industry Partnerships
New technologies provide technical communicators with opportunities to expand their learning communities. Establishing and maintaining an electronic mentoring forum will benefit students and teachers.
Fink, Bonnie L., Leslie K. Gasser and Kara L. Schubert. STC Proceedings (1996). Academic>Internships>Industry and Academy>Education
#14282
Process explanations have become an important part of the workplace. However, professionals don’t create process explanations only for auditors. Process explanations are used to communicate sequential activities to a variety of audiences and for many different reasons. As Technical Communication, 5e illustrates in Chapter 12 (“Creating Process Explanations”), several forms of process explanations exist, though they have some common characteristics that you should be familiar with. In this exercise you will revise a set of detailed instructions into a process explanation. You have to decide what type of information is most appropriate for your audience and the purpose of your document.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Writing
#29135
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.
Yohon, Teresa and Donald E. Zimmerman. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Academic>Computing>Assessment
#19081
The Extension of Technical Writing into Performance Consulting
Perhaps the trouble for academic programs that teach workplace writing begins with the term 'technical communications.' Perhaps the trouble grows with those programs’ focus on the teaching of writing rather than on the development of professionals who bring complex, strategic writing/thinking processes into work communities.
Hile, Julie. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#30238
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.
Rosenquist, Deborah J. STC Proceedings (1996). Academic>Internships>Education
#13737
Finding a Home for Technical Communication in the Academy 
The placement of technical communication within an academic curriculum presents an interesting challenge for university administrators and faculty. Technical communication is a young discipline that borrows content from several older, more established disciplines. As a younger discipline, technical communication must combine its borrowed ingredients from other areas into a new and complete offering that can attract research funding for professionals in the academy and deliver job opportunities for its students preparing to enter industry. The credibility of technical communication as a new discipline is dependent on its ability to develop a cohesive body of basic and applied research, its ability to manage technological change, and its ability to promote its identity among an army of competing disciplines.
Carver, Michael. ACM SIGDOC (1998). Academic>Education>Assessment
