Researchers Find Social Bonds to Be Important in Distance Education

An article about community among students in online higher education programs.

Carnevale, Dan. Chronicle of Higher Education (2000). Academic>Education>Online

Should Academic Programs in Technical Communication Try to Strengthen the Bond between Academia and Industry?  

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?

Feinberg, Susan G. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Industry and Academy>Collaboration

Should We Concentrate on Developing Specialized Programs to Fill Particular Niches?  

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?

LaGrandeur, Kevin. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>WPA

Sites of Critical Action for Technical & Professional Writing: Community, Corporation, Curriculum, Computing  

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).

Grabill, Jeffrey T. and James E. Porter. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC

Speaking to a Tech Writing Class

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?

Bronson, Lisa M. Tech Comm Pros (2007). Academic>Education>Presentations

Student Perceptions of the Value of WAC  

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.

Hawthorne, Joan I. LLAD (1998). Academic>Education>Faculty>Writing

A Student Recruitment Model for Undergraduate Technical Communication Programs  

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.

Butler, Brad. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC>Marketing

Teaching Business and Technical Communication

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.

Burnett, Rebecca E. Iowa State University (2003). Academic>Courses>Education>Technical Writing

Teaching Technical Communication

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.

Barker, Thomas. Texas Tech University (2004). Academic>Courses>TC>Education

Technical Communication Programs in Asia  

A report on the growth of technical communication in Asia, with an emphasis on China and South Korea.

Li, Xiaoli. Intercom (2002). Academic>Education>Regional>Asia

Technical Communication, Engineering, and ABET's Engineering Criteria 2000: What Lies Ahead?    

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.

Williams, Julia M. Technical Communication Online (2002). Academic>Education>Engineering>Assessment

Technical Writers and Trainers as Facilitators of Change  

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.

Hotz, Glenn. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Collaboration

Technical Writing in the English Department: An Outside Perspective

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.

Coney, Mary B., Judith A. Ramey and James W. Souther. ADE Bulletin (1984). Academic>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

Thoughts on Designing a Master's Certificate Program  

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.

Bridgeford, Tracy. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Graduate

Timing is Everything: Integrating Low-Profile "Concentration" Courses into a High-Profile Master's Degree  

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.

Hundleby, Margaret N. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Graduate

United We Stand, Divided We Fall? Thoughts on Cohesiveness in the MA in Writing    

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?

Blakeslee, Ann M. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Academic>Writing>Education

Untangling a Jigsaw Puzzle: The Place for Assessment in Program Development  

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.

Munger, Roger H. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Assessment

Usability Testing and User-Centered Design in Technical Communication Programs: Current and Emergent Models  

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.

Kitalong, Karla Saari. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Usability>User Centered Design

Using the Web for Graduate Courses in Technical Communication with Distance Learners    

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.

Leonard, David C. Technical Communication Online (1996). Academic>Education>Instructional Design>Online

The Value of Seeking Interdisciplinary Models for Smaller Professional Writing Programs  

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.

Blythe, Stuart. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education

What About Writing?  

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.

Praetorius, Pete. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>WPA>Marketing

What Can Technical Communication Programs Learn from Corporate Universities?  

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.

Faber, Brenton D. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education

What's the Balance? Technical Communicator or Technical Communicator?  

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.

Little, Sherry Burgus. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Technology

Why and How Our Institutional Home Matters: Strategic Program Planning in a Specific Setting  

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.

Schnakenberg, Karen R. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Rhetoric