#31049
Composing Across Multiple Media 
This is a qualitative case study of two students' composing processes as they developed a documentary video about the Dominican Republic in an urban, public middle school classroom. While using a digital video editing program, the students moved across multiple media (the Web, digital video, books, and writing), drawing semiotic resources from each as they did so. Using sociosemiotic and dialogic-intertextual theoretical frameworks, the author examines how the interface of the video editing program influenced the students' composing by making new types of semiotic resources available and new means of combining these resources. As they moved across these media in a nonlinear fashion, the students created an interactive context for composing that transcended the individual possibilities of each respective medium. This suggests that multimedial composing environments offer a rich intertextual landscape and unique ways of making meanings.
Ranker, Jason. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Writing>Multimedia
#23545
Composing Organically With Reader Engagement: The CORE Method 
The CORE method of teaching technical writing begins with a short core document and builds up from there. The method follows advances in writing technology and pedagogy, realizing the advantages of computer-assisted writing as well as the 'process' approach to teaching composition. The workshop creates opportunities for participants to evaluate the CORE method and apply it to their own teaching or training tasks.
Killingsworth, M. Jimmie. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#23336
Composition Teachers: No Experience Necessary?
It's Monday, September 8, your first day in law school. Tonight you'll start your classes. You'll be taking Criminal Law and Procedure on Mondays, Basic Contract Law on Tuesdays, and Property and Law on Wednesdays. But before going to any of those classes, you are, at eight o'clock this morning, given your first task as a law student. You'll be trying a case in superior court. It doesn't matter what the case is; the defendant's future is on the line, and you are responsible for it. The fact that you've never taken a law course before and basically have no idea what to do in court also doesn't matter. After all, the way to learn to do something is by doing it. And if this defendant gets cheated out of the right to the best lawyer possible, and if the next several defendants also get cheated, does that really matter? Someday, chances are, you'll be a great lawyer. The above scenario is nothing less than ridiculous, yet in English departments across the country a similar scenario takes place at the start of every semester.
Webster, Janice Gohm. ADE Bulletin (1989). Articles>Education>Writing
#23831
Since 1949, when the Conference on College Composition and Communication was founded in Chicago, the terms composition and rhetoric have been linked in a social-constructionist move that is now ubiquitous in many United Statesian English departments as well as in many free-standing composition-rhetoric programs.
Welch, Kathleen E. Enculturation (2003). Articles>Education>Writing>Rhetoric
#13344
Computer and World Wide Web Usage of WSU Undergraduates
At Wichita State University (WSU), computers and the Internet continue to be incorporated into the course curriculum. We have noticed At Wichita State University (WSU), computers and the Internet continue to be incorporated into the course curriculum. We have noticed there are a wide range of computer skills and web experience among the students enrolled in courses offered in the Dept. of Psychology. We were interested in surveying our undergraduate students at Wichita State to determine just how much computer and web experience they actually have. To do this, we conducted a survey to 488 undergraduates (32% male and 68% female) enrolled in our Introductory Psychology course in the Fall of 1999. Fifty-one percent of the participants were freshmen with a mean age of 21.7 (range 16 to 54 yrs). at Wichita State to determine just how much computer and web experience they actually have. To do this, we conducted a survey to 488 undergraduates (32% male and 68% female) enrolled in our Introductory Psychology course in the Fall of 1999.
Chaparro, Barbara S., Michael Bernard, P. Moseley and B. Bartelloni. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Education
#29015
A Computer Writing Environment for Professional Writers and Students Learning to Write
While some models of computer writing environments have emerged in the literature on writing, most of them are done with the purpose of helping writers in an academic context and very few, if any, with the aim of facilitating the work of professional writers or students in professional writing. We think, however, that we can learn from the previous models to build a multi-purpose computer writing environment that will take into account the needs of the professional writers as well as those of the students learning to write. We will begin by looking at some models of writing proposed by Hayes and Flower in 1980 and also at the model of White and Arndt. Afterwards, we will review the model of professional writers developed by Clerc and link it with the previous models. We will then have to look at some computer writing environments described in the literature and see how these environments take into account the process and tasks identified in writing. Finally, we will suggest our model.
Bisaillon, Jocelyne, Isabelle Clerc, and Jacques Ladouceur. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Education>Computers and Writing>Writing
#10562
Computer-Assisted Grading of Essays and Reports
Someday computers may grade our students' essays and reports, but until then they can assist human graders in this onerous task. I wrote a program composed of three major sections: the first is a simple test editor for writing original comments; the second section consists of pre-written commentaries on common writing errors, principally in mechanics and organization; section three keeps track of bookkeeping. Questionnaire results show that students prefer this type of grading over traditional hand-written methods because it doesn't involve marks on their papers, and it produces more extensively detailed comments.
Jobst, Jack W. Computers and Composition (1984). Articles>Education>Reports>EPSS
#22917
Computer-Based Training that Really Communicates
To design and develop effective computer-based training screens, take advantage of visual psychological impact. Treated as a grid, the screen has high and low impact areas, Position the elements of the message to take advantage of these. Use visual cues to create planes and layers for emphasis. Decide on the content types which make up your message. These include concept, principle, process, procedure, and fact. Build screen sequences to make the purpose of the content clear to users. Add application Ievel questions to keep users involved.
Warlum, Michael E. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Online>Cognitive Psychology
#18829
Computer-Mediated Communication as a Component of Technical Communication Education
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) involves the application of compute r- based tools to transfer information among people over computer networks. CMC is becoming more prevalent with the rapid growth of the global network of networks known as the Internet. Because of this growth, the ability to communicate using CMC on the Internet is an important part of technical communication education. Communicating effectively using CMC involves appreciating the technical, social, and psychological factors of network use; gaining competence in using tools for Network Information Retrieval (NIR); and understanding how to communicate in CMC forums by analyzing audience, distribution medium, access methods, information-sharing practices, and social context. The rapid growth of computer and information technologies worldwide and their potential for advancing the functions of scientific and technical communication dramatizes the need for technical communicators who are competent in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). In this paper, I first describe CMC as a means of communicant ion on the Internet. Then, I review reasons for teaching CMC as a part of technical communication education. Finally, I outline a skill set for CMC.
December, John A. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>TC>Online
#20121
Computer-Mediated Conferencing: Teaching in a Virtual Classroom
Asynchronous desktop conferencing, or computer-mediated interaction, is one of the new technologies in education. A videocourse with an interactive conferencing component was used successfully in a distance course for graduate students in technical communication. The technology allowed students to collaborate, peer review, and conference at their own pace without coming to campus. Computermediated conferencing has promise as a teaching tool for technical communication.
Coppola, Nancy W. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#19505
Confronting Illiteracy with Scientific Communication
Explains how workplace principles of effective scientific communication also have an important role in literacy outreach programs for schools.
Girill, T.R. STC East Bay (2003). Articles>Education>Scientific Communication
#29023
Confusion in the Classroom: Does Logos Mean Logic?
The redefinition of logos as an appeal to logic is a mistaken association found all too often in the technical communication classroom. Logic inheres in all three proofs of persuasion; moreover, Aristotle used <em>logos</em> within the context of classical rhetoric to refer to the argument or speech itself. In this light, the proofs of persuasion represent the set of all logical means whereby the speaker can lead a "right-thinking" audience to infer <em>something</em>. If that <em>something</em> is an emotion, the appeal is to <em>pathos</em>; if it is about the character of the speaker, the appeal is to <em>ethos</em>; and if it is about the argument or speech itself, the appeal is to <em>logos</em>. This interpretation reinstates all three proofs of persuasion as legitimate, logical means to different proximate ends and provides a coherent definition of <em>logos</em>, consonant with Aristotle's <em>Rhetoric</em>, to the next generation of technical communicators.
Little, Joseph. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>TC>Education>Rhetoric
#24095
The Content Expert as Designer - Empowering the Novice to Develop Effective Interactive Media
The field of visual communication design has the capacity and the responsibility of establishing effective communication tools for the untrained. This article will address the widening gap in the sophistication of design and content creation in the digital realm. The benefit of improving the online communicational space will be discussed along with the role of the creative professional. Finally, I will propose two solutions to the problem.
Bertsch, Blaine. University of Alberta (2003). Articles>Education>Interactive
#13508
Contexts and Criteria for Evaluating Student Writing 
Of all responsibilities you have as a composition instructor, evaluating student writing occupies most of your time and has furthest reaching material effects. Though you may spend lots of hours preparing for class, conferencing with your students, and actually teaching, chances are you'll spend many more grading. Though we instructors often place the highest value on the content and methods of our classrooms--be they critical pedagogy and Marxist interpretations of Clinton's impeachment trials or traditional grammar drills and a New Critical reading of Paradise Lost, the grades that we assign our students are the only concrete, as well as the most valuable, cultural capital that our teaching creates.
Hindman, Jane. Lore (2001). Articles>Education>Writing>Rhetoric
#31787
To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better teach workplace writing, technical writing teachers also need to contextualize how they assess student writing. To this end, this article examines some of workplaces' best assessment practices and critically integrates them into an introductory technical writing classroom through a method called student-centered assessment instruments. This method engages students, as workplaces engage employees, in the assessment process to identify local requirements for writing tasks. Aligned with theory and practice, this method is not only an effective classroom assessment method, but becomes an integrated part of students' genre-learning process within and beyond the classroom.
Yu, Han. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Technical Writing>Assessment
#24181
Perhaps the most overlooked teaching principle is the one stating that we learn by linking new material to known material. If we cannot connect what we must learn to what we already know, we can hardly anchor it in our mental schemata and thus make it our own, at least durably. Moreover, our motivation for learning would at best be extrinsic (some sort of obligation, perhaps): Why would we want to learn material to which we cannot relate? Even if we could learn the material without context—by memorization, for instance—we could not recognize situations where this unconnected knowledge applies. For all practical purposes, it would be useless.
Codone, Susan K. Intercom (2004). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
#21091
Continuing eBook Classroom Studies
Acceptance of eBooks improves at Ball State University. Improvement of visual quality and 'no testing' helps a higher percentage of graduate students recommend eBooks for further classroom use. Many students found reading text material "satisfying & easy." More studies planned for the K-12 population.
Wiggenhorn, Susan. Usability Professionals Association (2003). Articles>Education>Online>eBooks
#18479
[Continuing to] Mind the Gap: Teaching Image and Text in New Media Spaces
Our panel presentation for Computers and Writing 2002 was consciously modeled on conversations that we have had with each other over the past several years as our paths have crossed in our individual journeys from the edges of our own distinct disciplines into the nebulousness of interdisciplinarity. We have made this journey as scholars, teachers, and students, and have discovered along the way that new media spaces have blurred the traditional boundaries between academic disciplines and the hierarchies that support them. Because the connections forged between disciplines can be tenuous in nature, their maintenance requires continuous conversation and exchange of ideas and resources.
Gossett, Kathie, Carrie A. Lamanna, Joseph Squier and Joyce R. Walker. Kairos (2003). Articles>Education>Multimedia
#13842
A Contrary View of the Technical Writing Classroom: Notes Toward Future Discussion
Rather than acting as training departments for students’ future employers (a mission reflected in most textbooks and journal scholarship), technical writing programs should be teaching skepticism, critical thinking, and paradigm-breaking. They should be highlighting the agendas and “narratives” inherent in any text, rather than sustaining a positivist faith in neutrality and objectivity, because students who understand the power of language to shape the workplace (not simply to transmit information) turn out to be the most effective, most successful professionals. This article questions the widespread, largely uncritical importing of corporate paradigms into the technical writing classroom and calls for the university to remain separate from the corporation in its purpose. The article goes on to describe a recently developed senior seminar that challenges students’ assumptions about scientific and technical writing, including their own. Through courses like this, it is hoped that students will enter their professions as savvy, questioning thinkers rather than simply as efficient, problem-solving doers.
Bushnell, Jack. Technical Communication Quarterly (1999). Articles>Education>Writing
#22216
Cooperative Learning in Technical Courses: Procedures, Pitfalls, and Payoffs
As part of the longitudinal study, Dr. Felder and Dr. Rebecca Brent, a professor of education at East Carolina University, adapted or devised procedures for implementing cooperative learning in courses that stress quantitative problem solving. These procedures are summarized in this report. The objectives of the report are to offer some ideas for using cooperative learning effectively in technical courses, to give advance warning of the problems that might arise when CL is implemented, and to provide assurances that the eventual benefits to both instructors and students amply justify the perseverance required to confront and overcome the problems.
Felder, Richard M. and Rebecca Brent. North Carolina State University (1994). Articles>Education
#13753
Corporate Software Training: Is Web-Based Training as Effective as Instructor-Led Training?
Web-based training has been both acclaimed as a self-paced, consistent, stand-alone alternative to traditional instructor-led training and disparaged for its high development costs and dearth of qualified trainers. Critics especially question its effectiveness. This case study tests the effectiveness of a stand-alone web-based training program and compares the results to that of an identical instructor-led course. The course provides highly task-oriented instruction for a computer software package and was developed using a proven instructional design methodology. The data from this study show that web-based training is as effective as instructor-led training for stand-alone software application training in a corporation.
Coppola, Nancy W. and Robert Myre. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#22212
The particular concern facing my institution of affiliation (U Houston-Downtown) is how to maintain prudent Technical Communication (TC) program expansion in the face of rapid growth, high demand, and scarce resources.
Hundleby, Margaret N. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>TC
#14984
Course Authoring Systems: A Review
Many instructor-led courses are being considered for conversion to electronic or distance delivery. A recent HRD survey by the American Society for Training and Development predicts that by the year 2000 only an estimated 54.8% of training will be instructor-led, compared to 80% in 1996. By contrast, the market for training delivered via new technologies is expected to go from 10% in 1996 to over 35% by the year 2000. Web-Based Training (WBT) is expected to account for a sizable portion of these electronic course developments and conversions.
Phillips, Vicky. GetEducated.com (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#15103
Describes a college course on content editing--editing that focuses on clarifying content. Emphasizing career opportunity, the course touches on new technologies that have transformed editing, the editor-author relationship, and the editing of user manuals.
Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2000). Articles>Education>Editing
#25608
Crafting a User Experience Curriculum
It isn’t often that one has the opportunity to create a course about user experience, let alone an entire sequence of user experience courses. Jason Withrow's opportunity forced him to examine his perceptions of the user experience industry.
Withrow, Jason. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Education>User Experience>User Centered Design
