#29010
Can This Marriage Be Saved: IS an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication? 
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.
MacNealy, Mary Sue and Leon B. Heaton. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism
#19069
A Case for Adopting an Integrated Approach to Program Development 
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.
Blakeslee, Ann M. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC>Crisis Communication
#19064
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.
Allen, Jo. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC
#19074
A Layered Literacies Frame for Articulating Program Goals
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.
Cargile Cook, Kelli. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC
#29144
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.
Moore, Patrick. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism
#19079
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
#19072
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
#22617
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
