http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Academic/Education A listing of the most recently indexed works about Academic and Education 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/Education 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/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/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/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/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/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/26797.html http://tc.eserver.org/26797.html An article about community among students in online higher education programs. 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/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/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/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/23370.html http://tc.eserver.org/23370.html Those who find themselves the solo technical writing faculty in their department often have to deal with infrastructural issues as well as curricular and programmatic concerns. Infrastructure involves creating learning environments conducive to building skills students need to be qualified technical communicators, and such learning environments often require access to technology. http://tc.eserver.org/23382.html http://tc.eserver.org/23382.html As a new director of a new Professional Writing program, my colleagues and I spent much of our time designing curriculum. The sequence and content of our courses, we felt, were the only real way to make our program more than the sum of its parts. http://tc.eserver.org/23327.html http://tc.eserver.org/23327.html During the last few years the growth of technical communication courses and programs in departments of English has been unprecedented. While this development has generally been viewed as healthy, not only for technical writing but for English departments themselves, the success of these courses and degree programs will depend on how well the administrations and faculties of the departments face up to a number of problems. What follows is an effort to identify these problems and suggest possible solutions. http://tc.eserver.org/23066.html http://tc.eserver.org/23066.html Makes the argument that research into the impact of media on learning often misses the impact of genre choices on learning. The article presents a series of studies that imply that genre choices are more important than media choices. http://tc.eserver.org/22617.html http://tc.eserver.org/22617.html This course covers the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching the technical communication service course in particular, and the teaching of technical communication in general. Topics covered include technical communication pedagogy (social, literacy-based, cultural, and constructivist) and pedagogical methodology (including service-learning), theoretical approaches to ethics, genre studies and workplace writing, relations between academia and industry, and various theoretical approaches to assessment of courses, programs, and instructors. http://tc.eserver.org/21550.html http://tc.eserver.org/21550.html What's happening to all of the things our students in the different strands once shared in common? When I taught the research methods class last fall, I was struck when my students in both strands commented on how they had not realized until then how much they shared and how happy they were to be able to help each other and to inform each other's work. These comments, and the tangible evidence I had of their truthfulness in my students' productive exchanges, are at the heart of my concerns. I am curious if other writing programs with multiple strands are also encountering these issues. Is becoming more separate a natural response to developments and progress in our respective fields? Is it the best response to those developments and progress? http://tc.eserver.org/20881.html http://tc.eserver.org/20881.html The main objective of this practicum is to encourage your pedagogical, technical, and professional development. http://tc.eserver.org/20378.html http://tc.eserver.org/20378.html These are links to all the resources that appeared on the handout (except for this site, of course). http://tc.eserver.org/19507.html http://tc.eserver.org/19507.html Recounts the experiences of seven professionals entering the field and the ways their perceptions of the profession and roles within it have changed. Explores the variety of roles technical communicators are expected to assume http://tc.eserver.org/19481.html http://tc.eserver.org/19481.html In June 2000, FORUM 2000 was held in London. As the founding member of INTECOM, one of the sponsors of the FORUM conferences, Germany has experienced a major growth in the technical communication profession. As of 1999, there were more than 2000 members in tekom, the German Society for Authors and Writers of Technical Documentation (5). Likewise the number of institutions offering technical communication programs is growing. In 1991, Fachhochschule Hannover began offering the first technical communication program. The purpose of this article is to describe some representative German technical communication programs. http://tc.eserver.org/19243.html http://tc.eserver.org/19243.html The purpose of this study by Staffordshire University was to identify problems encountered by disabled students in using Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and to identify solutions where possible, making the appropriate recommendations to improve accessibility. The work done in compiling the report was underpinned by Staffordshire University’s commitment to, and contributes to the development of, a learning and teaching strategy called “Building a Learning Community [1]” (which is detailed in this report). http://tc.eserver.org/19234.html http://tc.eserver.org/19234.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19167.html http://tc.eserver.org/19167.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19192.html http://tc.eserver.org/19192.html Web accessibility is a hot topic, and now there is a brand new place to gain the knowledge and credentials you need to succeed in this increasingly important field. Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts-- already well known for its technical writing program-- is now offering a graduate certificate program in Interactive Design. This new program, one of the first in its kind, focuses specifically on topics surrounding web accessibility and design for interactive media of all kinds. http://tc.eserver.org/19085.html http://tc.eserver.org/19085.html How can diversification strengthen a professional communication program? By capitalizing on faculty backgrounds, a broad variety of courses, and student experience. Here’s how that combination of factors works in the 21-course undergraduate major in professional writing at the University of Houston-Downtown. http://tc.eserver.org/19068.html http://tc.eserver.org/19068.html We should not pursue specialization in our programs. We should not become the multimedia development program, or the computer documentation program, or the medical writing program, or the environmental communication program, or even the critical literacy program. We should build programs around a broad, useful rhetorical education, coupled with a skill set that all students share in writing and document design. We should make sure all students develop productive relationships with communication technologies. And we should allow students to follow their interests and to find the kind of specialization that is rewarding to them individually. http://tc.eserver.org/19083.html http://tc.eserver.org/19083.html Increased support for greater accountability and assessment of engineering communication programs have led many schools of engineering and technology to initiate methods of assessing the quality of their students’ engineering communication abilities. In my institution, I have spearheaded the pilot year of such a program, and, as anticipated, have learned several valuable lessons that may be of interest to others interested in developing assessment procedures for engineering communication programs. http://tc.eserver.org/19073.html http://tc.eserver.org/19073.html When many of us began to establish our programs in Scientific and Technical Communication our main concerns were establishing a balance between technology and communication, establishing internships, and getting acceptance in whatever department in the university we happened to be part of. While those concerns still remain, we are faced with new, additional issues, as well as new problems associated with the older, but still present issues, in establishing and maintaining programs. This paper will note some of those issues and will make some suggestions for helping to approach them. I will not presume to have solutions, just ideas about which we can talk to perhaps help focus some discussion leading to some solutions. Rather than focus on each specific problem, I want to focus on a specific approach to new programs which, I think, might be a way to approach many of the problems and challenges we face in a global, electronic environment. The approach to a solution, which I'm proposing is developing 'joint ventures' or 'Consortia.' I'll herein explain my definition of joint venture or consortia programs. http://tc.eserver.org/19069.html http://tc.eserver.org/19069.html In the last few years, both scholars and practitioners have considered the place of technical communications in relation to new information technologies. Most in the field agree that technical communicators bring a broad base of expertise, along with the ability to make a wide range of contributions to this realm. However, technical communicators still question the impact they might have and the roles and functions they might adopt in this area. In addition, they are still often plagued by an identity crisis brought on by a lack of recognition from other fields. http://tc.eserver.org/19064.html http://tc.eserver.org/19064.html While most academics are familiar with strategic planning (at least at a broad institutional level), many may be unfamiliar with the process of compact planning--a more narrowly focused, resource-driven planning model that can help programs identify and reach short-term goals. Because of the technological components of technical communication programs and the rapidity with which those components change and, consequently, affect our programs, shorter-term planning models may be particularly useful in helping our programs remain nimble, competitive, and distinctive. Further, since the compact planning process is a grass-roots initiative (rather than a top-down planning model), it is particularly effective at the program and department levels for its inclusionary properties. http://tc.eserver.org/19066.html http://tc.eserver.org/19066.html Our discussion will consider the ways in which we conceptualized an engineering enterprise initiative’s 'communication component,' alternate ways in which it could be conceptualized, and our efforts to maintain pedagogical and programmatic integrity while addressing the very practical needs of this ABET-driven curricula change. We feel that these questions must be addressed if we are to truly participate in a 'systemic change' in engineering education and its integral communication challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/19088.html http://tc.eserver.org/19088.html If I choose to walk or ride a bicycle to work in the morning, will I be perceived as an anti-technology Luddite because I have resisted driving my car? Probably not. In fact, I might be seen as someone who is environmentally aware and health conscious. When it comes to information technology, however, such resistance is seen quite differently. http://tc.eserver.org/19080.html http://tc.eserver.org/19080.html Designing and directing technical communication programs requires special skills. Clearly faculty taking on these roles must be well-versed in the scholarship of the discipline. But they face additional challenges not often faced by other department chairs or program directors, especially those in liberal arts disciplines. Here’s a brief overview of some of these challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/19067.html http://tc.eserver.org/19067.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19081.html http://tc.eserver.org/19081.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19100.html http://tc.eserver.org/19100.html Going it alone, the SFSU program has integrity as a community, yet struggles a bit within an institutional structure designed for established discipline departments. http://tc.eserver.org/19099.html http://tc.eserver.org/19099.html It is not industry collaboration that has caused the Wayne State program to founder. Indeed, many in the English Department might bristle at that term, believing the program is thriving. Nevertheless, contradictions within the department that reflected and repeated historical patterns have allowed the program to wither. http://tc.eserver.org/19093.html http://tc.eserver.org/19093.html This paper lists recruitment strategies that technical communication programs can use. Its purpose is to prompt discussion at the CTPSC conference in response to the following question: Which strategies bear the most promise for recruiting sufficient numbers of students to supply the growing need for technical communicators? http://tc.eserver.org/19065.html http://tc.eserver.org/19065.html An issue that continues to affect our strategies for developing undergraduate programs is the old contest between theory and practice, or, as it frequently occurs in technical communication programs, between theory and tools. Should we focus our undergraduate programs on understanding principles of communication in the technical world or should we focus on teaching the tools that are called for in the job ads for technical communicators? http://tc.eserver.org/19075.html http://tc.eserver.org/19075.html Having the department of technical communication located within the School of Engineering has a significant impact on the program’s development. http://tc.eserver.org/19097.html http://tc.eserver.org/19097.html Although the field of technical/professional writing continues to grow apace with the demand for its graduates, a large number of people, especially students, have never heard of it, or, if they've heard of it, have no idea what it is. Consequently, our program has begun an aggressive promotional campaign. http://tc.eserver.org/19074.html http://tc.eserver.org/19074.html Anyone who presumes to use language for workplace tasks and problem-solving will need literacies beyond the formal ones traditionally and historically at the center of technical communication programmatic instruction. Today’s technical and scientific communication students must possess multiple literacies to be successful in the dynamic workplaces they will enter, no matter what their chosen specialties&endash;environmental, safety, medical, information technology, or multimedia writing. To meet students’ needs whether they enter programs for a single course or a course of study, I propose a pedagogical frame for articulating technical communication program goals. This frame is defined in terms of six key literacies--basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical. http://tc.eserver.org/19076.html http://tc.eserver.org/19076.html As faculty and administrators responsible for program implementation continue to explain to each other how engineers, computer programmers, business managers, and technical communicators view the world, I hope that a new and genuinely collaborative, interdisciplinary program will emerge. The resulting opportunities for students will--I hope--be worth the trouble. http://tc.eserver.org/19106.html http://tc.eserver.org/19106.html As society increasingly inhabits digital spaces in addition to physical places, the environment in which technical communication programs are developed undergoes fundamental change. To a large extent, these changes occur because networked digital spaces exhibit different dynamics, dimensions, and characteristics than do physical places. For example, while physical places have three dimensions, digital spaces are unlimited in their dimensions, connections, and relationships. In such spaces, different entities, such as people, agents, objects, technologies, and information relate to each other in unlimited numbers and ways. With this capacity, digital spaces allow for the nearly instant aggregation of mega-structures called portal technologies, which command the lion's share of traffic in these spaces. According to Adamic and Huberman, digital spaces thus follow what they call a 'universal power law,' resulting in a winner-take-all environment. http://tc.eserver.org/19109.html http://tc.eserver.org/19109.html Although we only used Durst's model as an initial starting point to help us articulate one of the main tensions in our revision process and then basically abandoned it, the final reading list we generated--although not perfect--does reveal a degree of 'reflective instrumentalism.' Students who have seen the new list make positive comments about it because the list manages to bring what seem to be opposite poles--reflection and instrumentalism--into a single reading list that represents the current state of our discipline. Although we seemed during the process have lost sight of our model, our list, though not perfect, does seem to represent reflective instrumentalism. http://tc.eserver.org/19078.html http://tc.eserver.org/19078.html Whether the answer to this question is a resounding yes or no, we need to address this question when we consider models for strategic development. My own experience is that technical communication is drawing closer to issues present in both academia and industry, issues such as visualization of data, usability and field testing of products, design of instructional material for the web, and other research issues. But as the two domains need each other to begin to solve problems, the collaboration is fraught with perils, perils such as who states the problem, who manages the project, what resources are available for working on the project, and who owns the results? As we begin to try to strengthen the bond, do we currently have models for successful collaborations? Are there strategies in place that lead to success? Are certain approaches doomed to failure? http://tc.eserver.org/19091.html http://tc.eserver.org/19091.html This question, posed as one of many in the annual call for papers, asks further if we should, in developing our technical communications programs, focus on such niches as environmental, safety, or medical writing, writing on the Web, on computer documentation, or on multimedia. As someone who has been asked to coordinate a rethinking of our school’s technical writing curriculum, such a question is paramount. From the perspective of one such as myself, who teaches at a small institution, the answer to this question hinges on three primary considerations: first, how does one balance the need to serve a small university’s duty to serve the general, liberal education requirements of a small body of students with the need to turn out graduates who have specific, marketable skills (a particularly important consideration in technical writing)? Second, how specialized can we make a class in a college like mine before enrollment figures for these classes dry up? And third, are the categories of the niches listed above really mutually exclusive, or can we say that some of them, such as writing for the Web, could be seen as a focus area that could incorporate some of the others? http://tc.eserver.org/19079.html http://tc.eserver.org/19079.html Our presentation will explore four potential sites of critical action for programs in technical and professional writing/communication: community, corporation, curriculum, and computing. Some of these sites have already received attention in the field (e.g., corporation); other sites are relatively un(or under-) examined (e.g., community). http://tc.eserver.org/19072.html http://tc.eserver.org/19072.html Undergraduate technical communication programs are found across the spectrum of American colleges and universities, from the 2-year community college to the tier-one research university. Technical communication programs find themselves in the enviable position of being in a field where demand exceeds supply. The ratio of jobs to graduates in the workplace is greatly in favor of our students. Why then do many programs have difficulties recruiting students? Why do we not produce the graduate pool needed to meet the needs of industry? One reason for this problem is that most undergraduate technical communication programs do not employ systematic and informed recruitment strategies. In this presentation, I present a recruitment-strategy model based upon JoAnn Hackos’s process maturity model&emdash;a procedure which will give institutions a way to enculturate recruitment and to meet program and student needs. This model is informed by research I conducted in the spring of 2000. http://tc.eserver.org/19082.html http://tc.eserver.org/19082.html Effective technical writing/training in my organization involves a model of performance that goes beyond traditional ideas about documentation and passive training methods. It involves a practice which, in a single word, I would call facilitating. Documents are part of it and new or changed behaviors by people in the organization are part of it, but a traditional writer or a traditional trainer, whether alone or working together, will not be able to achieve what we ask of them in our organization. Essentially, the model we have found successful and that we expect our technical writer/trainers to be able to implement involves the following. http://tc.eserver.org/19096.html http://tc.eserver.org/19096.html Assessment is a thorny issue, but a vital one. Accreditation teams not only want to see assessment plans in place, but also data gathered from them. ABET is a good example. Further, faculty, administrators, and students need formal rather than informal documentation of the growth or demise of either new or existing programs. http://tc.eserver.org/19071.html http://tc.eserver.org/19071.html Despite the success of internship components, however, a common complaint from industry professionals still exists: that students still don't know how to write. Part of this complaint could be explained by specific industry practices for which students still need to be trained. Another part could rest in the need for more research about industry contexts. Still another, and probably the most likely, is the perceived differences in academe and industry expectations for theoretical components of curricula. Academics assume that industry professionals seek practical skills dealing with 'correctness' in language (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation) at the expense of theory; while industry professionals assume academics seek more conceptual components (e.g., philosophy) at the expense of practice. I think both parties are asking for the same thing: they seek students/employees who can develop an understanding of the how and the why of their work (Miller, 1979); that is, students who possess productive knowledge about a particular craft. In other words, they exemplify a techne (Atwill). In classical rhetoric, techne is associated with the 'knowledge of arts and crafts associated with the making of things' (Johnson, 1998, p. 51). In Technical Communication, one way to think of techne is through genre knowledge, that is, knowing which form suits a particular situation and why. http://tc.eserver.org/19084.html http://tc.eserver.org/19084.html This paper discusses the phenomenon of a sense of timing as a sense of timely design and of timing as active response to unfolding demands as the key elements in making any program effective and durable. Indeed, I claim that timing is everything. Auburn's extended experience developing a new, high-profile Master's degree out of beginnings as a low-profile adjunct to a deeply conservative 'Great Books' English department has shown this clearly. Across the chronological stretch of a decade occupied with paying close attention to program elements, not only was effort required for time-keeping, or chronos, to establish and stabilize program elements, but a strong sense of timing, or kairos was also needed to meet and adjust to shifts in academic, political and industrial climates in and around the program. Rather than following a model or sticking to a set design, our decade of experience in transforming a 'concentration' program primarily serving undergraduates to a fully professional Master's degree has been a decade of improving our sense of timing. http://tc.eserver.org/19095.html http://tc.eserver.org/19095.html Assessment has long been a topic of conversation among technical communication teachers and program coordinators. Much has been written about how we assess and respond to work students do in our classrooms. We have also discussed methods to assess programs in technical and scientific communication (TSC). In fact, CPTSC offers a comprehensive self-study and program review. The purpose of the review 'is to help develop strong programs. . . not to compare or rank programs, and not to establish certification for programs or their graduates.' Of course, a focus on developing strong programs rather than ranking programs is an appropriate focus for an organization such as CPTSC. http://tc.eserver.org/19089.html http://tc.eserver.org/19089.html In recent years, technical communication programs have begun to introduce students to the principles of usability testing. A natural outgrowth of the traditional technical communication emphasis on audience analysis and user advocacy, usability testing also serves as an interesting and potentially lucrative career path for some technical communicators, and introduces a fascinating research trajectory for students and faculty alike. It’s no surprise that technical programs are incorporating usability testing instruction in one of two ways: some offer separate courses in usability testing at the undergraduate or graduate level. Specialized labs and corporate collaborations are often associated with such curriculum designs. Most incorporate usability into specific courses in a 'usability across the curriculum' model. Typically, existing computer labs double as usability testing facilities. These efforts are admirable, but leading scholars and practitioners agree that usability testing alone, because it occurs late in the product development cycle, no longer suffices. A gradual movement toward continuous user involvement at all stages of product development is underway. http://tc.eserver.org/19070.html http://tc.eserver.org/19070.html Technical communication strains disciplinary boundaries, which can make program development difficult. In a time when we are experiencing what Richard Lanham calls 'a complete renegotiation of the alphabet/icon ratio upon which print-based thought is built,' no traditional departmental home (e.g., English) seems appropriate. One look at the classified section of the Society for Technical Communication Web site suggests that a technical communication student should graduate with competence in information technology and visual rhetoric (among other possibilities) as well as writing. For many of us, however, those competencies fall outside the disciplinary boundaries as defined at our local institutions and in fact we may face penalties for developing such competencies. As a member of a department of English and linguistics, for example, my department has no way to reward me for learning CGI scripting or FrameMaker. http://tc.eserver.org/19098.html http://tc.eserver.org/19098.html Like many businesses, many academic programs in professional and technical communication attempt to promote themselves as unique and as fulfilling a particular niche. Such specific orientations can serve a marketing function. For instance, some professional and technical programs use their advertising literature to promote classes that train students in the uses of cutting edge technologies. And as this conference's call for proposals suggests, some programs may begin to focus primarily on a particular type of technical communication such as computer documentation, medical writing, or multimedia. http://tc.eserver.org/19077.html http://tc.eserver.org/19077.html As technical communications programs consider our own strategic program development it is important for us to consider a variety of program development models that exist both within and outside of traditional university contexts. This presentation will present alternative models for program development employed by leading corporate universities. These programs emphasize on-demand learning, immersion and experiential learning, and highly accountable educational experiences. The presentation will not argue that technical communication programs should simply import these models from corporate settings. Instead, it will suggest that corporate approaches bring many important issues to the table that strategic program developers need to evaluate and discuss as they consider their own program development. http://tc.eserver.org/19092.html http://tc.eserver.org/19092.html When developing a technical communication program, program developers need to determine how technical their programs will be. In my part of the country, for example, the prevailing philosophy for many years was that you could take technical people and teach them to write easier than you could take trained communicators and teach them the needed technical information. Ads for technical communicators across the country scream for knowledge and sometimes expertise in a wide range of computer software, and usually it is not only knowledge of formatting technical documents as in Frame, or Power Point, or HTML, but also knowledge of and again sometimes expertise about the scientific and technical subjects about which they write. http://tc.eserver.org/19103.html http://tc.eserver.org/19103.html My presentation will address the conference question of how institutional setting affects program focus and development. The answer, at least as we understand it so far, turns out to be fairly complex. In our case, for example, the recent changes to our Technical Writing degree have been directly responsive to rapid changes in the field of technical communication, in evolving technologies, and in the importance of information systems and web-related writing and design for technical communicators, At the same time, it is clearly the case that an equally strong influence has been the internal pressures we feel as we find ourselves competing with other departments at CMU for students who had once been a kind of private preserve, And this pressure involves more than competition for students. An equally important value at stake is our perceived status and role within our department and our university. http://tc.eserver.org/18999.html http://tc.eserver.org/18999.html The process of revising an English Communications emphasis proceeded smoothly for the most part because of good planning by a Curriculum Committee. However, unseen pitfalls and departmental politics hindered some aspects of the experience. It will be necessary to apply lessons learned to continue the revision process and create a successful emphasis. http://tc.eserver.org/14978.html http://tc.eserver.org/14978.html English 504 introduces students to varying perspectives about the design and implementation of instruction in business and technical communication—with primary attention to academic classroom instruction but some attention to workplace training. http://tc.eserver.org/14877.html http://tc.eserver.org/14877.html An international directory of graduate academic programs in PW, TW and Rhetoric. http://tc.eserver.org/14806.html http://tc.eserver.org/14806.html A list of graduate programs in technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/14763.html http://tc.eserver.org/14763.html A report on the growth of technical communication in Asia, with an emphasis on China and South Korea. http://tc.eserver.org/14427.html http://tc.eserver.org/14427.html Voici une liste de différentes formations au métier de Rédacteur Technique ou proche de la Communication Technique. http://tc.eserver.org/14285.html http://tc.eserver.org/14285.html Writing project reports is an important part of the engineering curriculum at Singapore universities. One important section of the formal report is the literature review. Most universities around the world provide guidelines on writing reviews, emphasizing that plagiarism is unethical. However, these guidelines do not offer explicit training on how to avoid plagiarism. In order to write academically acceptable reviews while avoiding copying from source materials, students face a major challenge and resort to employing various strategies to cope with the task. In this study, we examined the literature review sections of final year project reports to find out how engineering undergraduates in a Singapore university cope with writing reviews and to suggest ways in which they can extend their skills to improve their literature reviews. http://tc.eserver.org/14157.html http://tc.eserver.org/14157.html This section of the ATTW site allows visitors to view and post teaching tips, including effective class activities and course assignments. http://tc.eserver.org/13822.html http://tc.eserver.org/13822.html After a semester of working with the population of Deaf students on a larger southwestern, suburban University campus, it became clear that the institution would not be able to provide reasonable accommodations requested by deaf students. As I witnessed students, rightfully fighting for reasonable accommodations (as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act), I saw individuals both inside and outside the institutional structures attempt change only to find themselves rebuffed. The institution itself was not able to accommodate the reasonable and lawful demands of the deaf population of students at the university, but interestingly the efforts of reformers inside the institution were similarly unable to enact significant change. The institution was unable to hear the pleas of its students but was equally unable to accommodate the demands of members of the administration seeking to provide services to these students. http://tc.eserver.org/13737.html http://tc.eserver.org/13737.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/13539.html http://tc.eserver.org/13539.html The tools engineers use have changed so dramatically over the past 30 years, universities and colleges have adapted by offering their engineering students classes in the latest technologies so they are better prepared to enter the engineering workplace. Engineers often feel less prepared, however, for the nontechnical demands of their jobs. They may possess the technical skills necessary to solve a machine problem in a manufacturing line but feel less prepared to tell the owners of the line what needs to be changed and why. As a result, industry and business have complained to universities and colleges (and particularly to engineering programs) that engineering students are not ready to take on the nontechnical challenges of modern engineering work. And because engineering programs rely on industry and businesses to hire their students, they have taken these demands seriously. http://tc.eserver.org/13021.html http://tc.eserver.org/13021.html The Ad Hoc Committee on Accreditation recommends that the IEEE Professional Communication Society act as the sponsoring cognizant technical society to present technical communication program criteria to the Related Accreditation Commission (RAC) of Accreditation Body for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This report contains the background documentation for this recommendation. http://tc.eserver.org/10385.html http://tc.eserver.org/10385.html This article is an update of the article by Rebecca S. Kelly and me in an earlier issue of Technical Communication (Rainey & Kelly 1992). My purpose here is the same as we had then: …we focus on making known the wide variety of doctoral research in professional communication emanating from many academic institutions. Specifically, we look at doctoral research in professional communication with a view to learning what academic institutions sponsor it, what methods researchers employ, and what topics doctoral candidates explore. (553) In this article, I use 'professional communication' to mean technical, scientific, and business communication.) In what follows, I first summarize the findings of this current search and then discuss the method of collecting information. Next, I identify the academic institutions that have doctoral programs in technical, scientific, and business communication, what methodologies the researchers use, and what topics they have researched in the period since 1989. http://tc.eserver.org/10310.html http://tc.eserver.org/10310.html Though not a cure-all for society's ills, the Web is an important medium that is changing the way we work and learn. For graduate education in technical communication, the Web is a new tool that facilitates adult learning through electronic interactive communication. Using the Web as the medium for asynchronous distance learning allows for a high degree of learner exploration and interactivity, without the participants being captive to a particular location and time. In Mercer University's M.S. program in technical communication management, students communicate with each other and with the instructors through a course home page, which provides students with course syllabus, lectures, outlines, assignments, requirements, a listservice, and technical support. All graduate student research assignments are electronic and posted to the course home page on the Net. Additional improvements continue to be made to the electronic learning environment for these graduate courses.