#19962
Making the Grade, or How to Upgrade an Online Class 
Because online technical communication classes, as well as classes with several online components, are no longer a novelty, teachers must plan coursework and technology use to better meet students’ needs. To improve my online teaching methods and plan future courses, I follow these guidelines: 1. Prepare students to use e-mail efficiently; 2. Prepare students to use the class chat room for meetings, office hours, and required discussions; 3. Maintain a flexible assignment schedule while enforcing the final deadline; 4. Help students gain access to computers; 5. Develop pleasant working relationships with technical support personnel; and 6. Develop course information for students with different learning styles.
Porter, Lynnette R. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#29539
Making the Strange Familiar: A Pedagogical Exploration of Visual Thinking 
Scholarly conversation within the field of professional communication increasingly has focused on the practice, research, and pedagogy of visual rhetoric. Yet, visual thinking has received relatively little attention within the field. If our programs produce students who can think verbally but not visually, they risk producing writers who are visual technicians but are unable to move fluidly between and within modes of communication. This article examines the literature and pedagogical practices of visually oriented disciplines to identify strategies for helping students develop the ambidexterity of thought needed for the communication tasks of today's workplace.
Brumberger, Eva R. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#24853
Managing and Teaching in an Electronic Classroom: Oklahoma State's Experience
The computer has been called the single most important invention since Gutenberg introduced movable type and the printing press in the fifteenth century. 'Computers have changed the way we perform scientific research, conduct business, create art, and spend our leisure time.' They have also changed the way we train students for the workplace.
Rudin, Judy E. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Online
#21817
Service learning and client-based projects more generally are widely recognized as effective methods of engaging technical communication students in the complexities of workplace writing. But administrators of large technical communication programs often face an uphill battle when attempting tointegrate these projects into the curriculum.
Smith Taylor, Summer. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Service Learning
#20355
Mapping the Expanding Landscape of Usability: The Case of Distributed Education
As the environments in which we use technology become more complex and more diverse, we need to extend and expand our notion of usability to include a broad spectrum of users and user activities. We take as an example the case of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's distributed education program for human-computer interaction (HCI). While HCI is the subject matter for the courses, the courses themselves present a challenging case study in HCI usability.
Grice, Roger A. and William Hart-Davidson. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Usability>Education>Online
#29864
Meet the Future: Leveraging Multimedia for Professional and Educational Outreach
This article, as well as the conference presentation, recounts the trials, tribulations, and ultimate triumph of a dedicated research team in the Orlando Chapter and at the University of Central Florida who parlayed an $8K STC Special Opportunities grant into 55 minutes of fully narrated, animated multimedia in support of the chapter’s and the Society’s outreach initiative to secondary education. The grant was performed by current and former technical communication students at UCF, under the oversight of Dr. Dan Jones and Dan Voss. Four research assistants contributed to the project: Cindy Hauptner, Bob Stultz, Suzanne Shomate, and John Donovan. Cindy and Bob created the immortal Shanna the Hip and Dan the Nerd.
Hauptner, Cindy, Bob Stultz, Dan Jones and Daniel W. Voss. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Multimedia
#26592
This case study documents how a small business school, as part of a strategic planning initiative to improve career services, added a career planning lab to an existing managerial communication course. The lab guides students through a series of self-directed activities such as reading assignments, worksheets, Internet site visits, and completion of instruments. The process results in a summary document and a targeted resume that are reviewed during a one-on-one meeting with the school’s academic advisor and graded for course credit. The study includes a summary of student evaluations along with reflections on lessons learned.
May, Gary L. Association for Business Communication (2005). Articles>Education>Business Communication
#26573
Meeting the Challenges of Grading Online Business Communication Assignments
Marking and grading assignments submitted in an online environment require the use of different methods than the traditional on-campus counterpart. The best method to accomplish this marking and grading depends on personal preference and the accessibility of various hardware and software choices. These choices include printing and hand marking papers, using word processing software, Adobe Acrobat software, or specialty software designed specifically for marking writing assignments. Each of the choices has advantages and disadvantages.
Jennings, Susan Evans and Melane Z. McCuller. Association for Business Communication (2004). Articles>Education>Online
#29865
Mentoring the Next Generation: Ethics and Professionalism for Engineers
Freshman engineering students are bombarded with classes in chemistry, physics, math and other highly technical and demanding courses. This intense schedule leaves little time for learning other important subjects critical to future engineers such as ethics and professionalism. The College of Engineering and the Writing Program at the University of California Santa Barbara offer a unique sequence of courses that meet general education requirements while also addressing the development of ethics and professionalism in future engineers by using a combination of case studies, practical applications and readings.
Kryder, LeeAnne G. and Janet L. Mizrahi. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Ethics>Engineering
#26574
Learning no longer has to depend solely on text resources when learners have access to multimedia resources and developing technologies. The lecture is now encapsulated and available for replay and, like a novel, provides the user with direction not just destination. This paper highlights how technology adds value to the academic learning experience/environment for business communication with a focus upon televised courses, streaming videos, instant messaging and Web-based resources. Implications for the learning experience are: (1) oral and written language use become more dynamic; (2) learner outcomes are audience- and message-centered; and, (3) content instruction is analytical.
Fortune, Mary F. and John J. Staczek. Association for Business Communication (2004). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Multimedia
#32013
Messy Problems and Lay Audiences: Teaching Critical Thinking Within the Finance Curriculum
This article investigates the critical thinking difficulties of finance majors when asked to address ill-structured finance problems. The authors build on previous research in which they asked students to analyze an ill-structured investment problem and recommend a course of action. The results revealed numerous critical thinking weaknesses, including a failure to address the client's problem, use analytical tools systematically, construct rhetorically useful graphics, or translate finance concepts and methodologies into lay language. The present research aims to understand more deeply why students struggle with ill-structured problems. Using think-aloud protocols, audiotaped interviews, and other strategies, the authors explore causes of finance students' difficulties and suggest strategies for addressing them. The results suggest that the homework tasks typically given them, such as quantitative problem sets using algorithmic procedures, do not prepare them to confront ill-structured problems requiring disciplinary arguments aimed at specified audiences. Research further suggests that teaching audience adaptation--especially for nonexpert audiences--is helpful in promoting critical thinking.
Carrithers, David, Teresa Ling and John C. Bean. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Financial>Business Communication
#26412
Mixed Nuts: Atypical Classroom Techniques for Computer Science Courses
Unlike lecturing and giving homework, these unorthodox techniques can also keep students attentive and target preferred learning styles. This article presents some experimental and anecdotal evidence to support the theory that the use of these techniques improves students' learning in an introductory Computer Science (CS) class.
Stamm, Sid. ACM Crossroads (2004). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
#29281
With already over three times the number of mobile phones on the planet than desktop or portable computers the Web was destined to go mobile. For developers versed in standards-compliant markup the most immediate and obvious opportunity to render an existing site for the mobile web is via a the addition of and alternate stylesheet.
Search and Go (2007). Articles>Education>Wireless Web
#25406
A Model of Web Based Design for Learning 
Reviews a model that serves as a framework for the design of web-based learning environments. The model consists of seven basic components: directionality, usability, consistency, interactivity, multi-modality, adaptability, and accountability. We propose that effective design begins with a clear delineation of the intended audience, usage context, and learning goals and that all further design occurs within the context of these factors (i.e., directionality). The design factors themselves can be seen as representing the fundamental contrasting goals of simplicity (usability and consistency) and complexity (interactivity, multi-modality, and adaptability). We propose that effective design consists of the proper balance of simplicity and complexity. We also introduce a method we refer to as “progressive complexity”, which is one potential method of achieving such a balance effectively, by offering the user a systematic set of options. Finally, design should include an evaluation component (accountability), which should in turn impact design modification via feedback. Evaluation, within this model, consists of learner variables, experimental methodology, outcomes, and measures. We review research that relates to the components of the framework, and also pose recommendations for development.
Hall, Richard H., Steve E. Watkins and Vicky M. Eller. University of Missouri-Rolla (2003). Articles>Education>Online
#28110
This paper documents an ongoing experiment designed to integrate the teaching of college algebra and college rhetoric and writing at Montgomery College in Conroe, Texas. These are the first two college-level math and English courses that students take within the college's core curriculum. Our approach focuses on the concept of models and model building and might be easily adapted to a variety of math and writing classes. We believe we have maintained the necessary rigor of both disciplines while providing a foundation which links them.
Heckelman, Ronald J. and Will-Matthis Dunn III. LLAD (2006). Articles>Writing>Education
#30524
Modified Information Theory: A Tool for Analyzing Classroom Communication
Information theory began as a mathematical study of the process of communication. Originally associated with telecommunications, information theory proposes that information is the number of messages required to completely reduce the uncertainty of the situation. To apply this postulate to telecommunications, Shannon and Weaver developed a model which describes the communication system as a source formulating a message consisting of signals to be transmitted over a channel (where they are distorted by noise) to a receiver.
Miller, Jefferson D. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
#23445
More on Education for Technical Communicators
For most readers of TC-Forum, technical communication is an activity undertaken by dedicated technical communicators, for whom writing, editing, illustrating, or page-making is their chosen vocation. Yet there is also a much larger community for whom technical communication is only a secondary activity, although it remains an essential part of their work.
Blicq, Ronald S. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#24356
Moving from Knowledge-Based to Performance-Centered Learning
Combining training and documentation departments was the first step in one organization's move to true support for its clients' performance. This paper explores some of the success factors of that move and examines briefly two projects that exemplify how successful performance-centered learning support can be developed.
Hillegas, Julian and Alice Preston. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
#13897
Moving Instruction to the Web: Writing as Multi-Tasking
This study evaluates the effectiveness of presenting Web-based assignments within the technical communication service course. Current research on using the World Wide Web (Web) and Internet as a teaching resource investigates online writing courses, Distance Education (DE), and hypertext authoring. The literature indicates good reasons for moving instruction to the Web, but there is little description of why this migration is needed in terms of the kinds of learning achieved through Web-based writing, nor is there much specific discussion of what type of useful instructional space can be built with the Web. This study is intended to provide support for centering more instruction within the environment of the Web. This article describes a study using a Web site designed for technical communication instruction. It defines the types of learning students experienced when using the site and presents samples of student work representing a wide range of skill development, both traditional and digital, that support moving instruction to the Web in immediately useful ways.
Kramer, Robert and Stephen A. Bernhardt. Technical Communication Quarterly (1999). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#25478
Moving to the Public: Weblogs in the Writing Classroom
Given that students have access to the Internet, weblogs can easily replace traditional classroom uses of the private print journal. While weblogs are normally public, free tools such as Blogger can be used for private, expressive writing.
Lowe, Charles and Terra Williams. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Education>Content Management>Blogging
#22494
Up goes that hand and out pops that dreaded can-opener of a question: 'Why aren't we learning programming in this class?' A litany of responses begins to unfold in my now Prozac-pleading brain: Because it's not graphic design; because it's too specialized; because graphic designers won't be doing it or shouldn't be doing it because they'll end up as hacks if they do it and the profession will go to hell; or because it's another program - maybe even a department-unto itself. I'm feeling queasy. It used to be so simple, so clear: We knew what graphic design was and what it wasn't.
Sandhaus, Louise. AIGA (2004). Articles>Education>Graphic Design
#28114
Mutual Support: CAC Programs and Institutional Improvement in Undergraduate Education
Writing- and communication-across-the-curriculum programs often develop as independent initiatives focused on improving students' writing and/or speaking by incorporating these activities into coursework and helping teachers to use them more effectively in their instruction. However, there is now much anecdotal evidence of the conditions that work against the cultivation of cross-curricular programs: faculty complacency; the weakening of a program's original spirit; reduction or elimination of funding; and the continued avoidance of involvement by some programs, administrators, or faculty (see White).
Anson, Chris, Michael Carter, Deanna P. Dannels and Jon Rust. LLAD (2002). Articles>Education>Writing
#25580
NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing
Just as the nature of and expectation for literacy has changed in the past century and a half, so has the nature of writing. Much of that change has been due to technological developments, from pen and paper, to typewriter, to word processor, to networked computer, to design software capable of composing words, images, and sounds. These developments not only expanded the types of texts that writers produce, they also expanded immediate access to a wider variety of readers. With full recognition that writing is an increasingly multifaceted activity, we offer several principles that should guide effective teaching practice.
#18770
Needle - Haystack + You: How Undergraduates Search and Use the Internet
This paper considers the current trends in information literacy in higher education and presents some of the results of a survey of in-coming college freshmen that sought to measure their information literacy in the area of Internet use. The twenty-question survey gathered responses from 1,184 students in a total population of 2,345. The data sought to determine students’ patterns of Internet use, their attitudes toward the reliability of information that they found via the Internet, and their competencies in structuring an Internet search and evaluating the data retrieved. The complete results and their implications are still being analyzed. Preliminary data analysis demonstrates that although many students self-report that they are advanced in their Internet expertise, they could benefit from systematic and cumulative information literacy instruction and be tutored in the important difference between research in a traditional library and research on the Internet.
Stern, Caroline M. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Search>Online
#13959
The New Frontier: Conquering the World Wild Web by Mule
This article offers a close examination of the effects that teaching hypertext markup language (HTML) has on students’ perceptions of class goals in a networked composition classroom. A networked classroom that requires students to send documents using a file transfer protocol (FTP) by command line and view the World Wide Web with a textual browser shifts the emphasis of the class from writing to coding. Helping students to identify a balance between computer technology and writing goals becomes essential to a successful classroom.
Gresham, Morgan. Computers and Composition (2000). Articles>Education>Computers and Writing
