Building a Swan's Nest for Instruction in Rhetoric    

When a composition teacher incorporated community-based writing assignments into her course, she found that the curriculum did not support students’ transitions to nonacademic settings. Her success in transforming the curriculum suggests that the writing classroom can function not only as a site for “general writing skills in-struction” but also for analysis of rhetorical variation.

Bacon, Nora. CCC (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Rhetoric

Rhetorical vs. Instrumental Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication    

Survey and anecdotal evidence indicates that universities do not prepare students well for writing in the workplace. One important reason for this failure is that rhetorical theory dominates the teaching of technical communication in the academy. Though extremely influential in the academy, rhetorical theory is inappropriate for teaching some kinds of important workplace communication (instructions, online documentation, computer-human interfaces, indexes), and it does not address important skills that practicing technical communicators need. Instrumental discourse differs from rhetoric in its purpose, in its absence of reasons and argumentation, in its task-oriented approach, in its emphasis on accessibility, and in its emphasis on economics. As a result, instrumental discourse is much more appropriate for the genres and skills that practicing technical communicators use, and it offers significant advantages to students, and in the long run, to the academy itself.

Moore, Patrick. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Rhetoric

Testing Visual-Based Modules for Teaching Writing    

A study of novice writers shows that instructional materials about writing that incorporate basic principles of visual design are more effective than those that are primarily verbal. Less-capable writers benefit most from materials that include the extra text-processing cues provided by the visual design. Narrative comments about the instructional materials show that writers are aware of the design elements and appreciate them. Technical communication practitioners, researchers, trainers, and instructors have a large role to play in improving the way writing is taught.

Markel, Mike. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Visual Rhetoric

Toward an Ethics of Teaching Writing in a Hazardous Context—: The American University  

The following essay is a collaborative effort by a writing teacher and a writing student to make sense out of a situation we experienced together when Sandy Moore, the writer, responded to an assignment given by Michael Kleine, the teacher. In an advanced persuasive writing course, Michael asked students to experiment with the major Aristotelian categories of persuasion: ceremonial, forensic, and deliberative discourse. For the ceremonial assignment, Sandy chose to write an essay of blame about patrons of her workplace, a restaurant/bar. Though ceremonial discourse aims to praise or blame its subject before a public audience, Sandy did not intend to publish the essay outside the context of the classroom. Aware of the charged nature of her essay, Sandy wanted to use the university classroom not as a place from which to launch a public attack on a private workplace; instead, she hoped that the classroom would provide a safe place in which to practice persuasive discourse and to develop her rhetorical skills.

Moore, Sandy and Michael Kleine. JAC (1992). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Rhetoric

Visual Thinking in the Technical Communication Curriculum: Establishing Connections and Building Understanding    

The role of the technical writer is expanding, partly in response to technological and societal changes; it is encompassing a broader variety of communication tasks and media. One individual, the technical communicator, often plays the roles of designer, writer, editor, and producer. As these rolesconverge, visual thinking and visual communication are becoming critical skills for many technical writers.

Brumberger, Eva R. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Visual Rhetoric