Classroom Talk: Part II  

Want tips for organizing your first class, handling small groups, and facilitating large group discussion? Campbell's column provides useful tips.

Campbell, Alexa. Intercom (2006). Articles>Education

"Coffee Stains": How to Remove the Blots Quickly and Easily  

Trainers and others in the professional development field have a dual mission (among other responsibilities): to identify written 'coffee stains' and, equally important, to find and use as many effective approaches as possible to get the word out to the largest number of users.

Houser, Barbara J. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Writing

Collaborating with Student Interns and Graduates in Research that Contributes to the Development of Programs in Technical Communication  

In what significant and distinctive ways is writing enmeshed in the professional sites our students will enter after graduation (or earlier, if they work as interns in such sites prior to graduation)? How can we distinguish between general, transportable aspects of writing expertise that can be developed in school and later applied effectively in a range of different workplaces and other, local aspects of writing expertise that are specific to particular professional environments and can only be acquired through on-site experience once there?

Smart, Graham. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Education>Workplace

Collaboration via Desktop Videoconferencing: Designing Interactive Environments  

Recent studies suggest that classroom collaboration is not always successful. We designed a course that motivates students to provide adequate help for writers. In this course college students studying to become technical communicators mentored high school students in language arts and content area courses. In order to overcome barriers of schedules, distances, and resources, we created a multimedia system that combined face-to-face communication and networking in one configuration. We collaborated with University of Minnesota groups, local high school personnel, US WEST Communications, Inc., and Compression Labs, Inc. in the development of the system.

Duin, Ann Hill, Linda A. Jorn and Lisa Mason. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Online>Videoconferencing

Collaborative Configurations: Researching the Literacies of Technology  

Discusses the electronic literacies of individuals from other countries who travel to the United States to study at colleges and universities in this country.

Hawisher, Gail E. and Cynthia L. Selfe. Kairos (2002). Articles>Education>Technology

Collaborative Portfolio Assessment in the English Secondary School System    

In the last decade, several groups in the US have also been working toward performance assessment that is tied to the curriculum and assessed by collaboratively by teachers: the New Standards Project, the College Board Pacesetter Project, and several state assessment projects. This paper describes the English system not as a model to be imitated—there are profound differences in the two societies and their education systems—but as a point of reference, a means of seeing the US system and the recent reform efforts in comparative perspective.

Russell, David R. Iowa State University (1995). Articles>Education>Portfolios

Collaborative Projects in a Technical Writing Class: A Cost/Benefit Analysis    

With the shift in writing pedagogy from product to process, from emphasizing the individual writing--in a vacuum--to emphasizing the social context and social nature of writing, collaboration of some sort has found a place in most writing classes. The inclusion of collaborative projects in technical writing courses has a second, practical justification: the idea that these courses should prepare students for writing on the job, where collaborative writing is common.

Brumberger, Eva R. NCTE TETYC (1999). Articles>Education>Collaboration

College Curriculum and the Assessment of Recent Graduates  

Technical communicators and academics share an interest in higher education program assessment because the quality offiture employees is at stake. If universities fail to adequately educate, on-the-job training must pick up the slack. This paper describes Michigan Tech's efforts to learn what skills their recent graduates use, and where they learned these skills.

Jobst, Jack W. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>TC>Assessment

College Writing Assessment: Online Community and Resources

College Writing Assessment is a website containing research and information on the evolving field of teaching of technical communication at the college level. It will include the results of our yearly assessments at New Jersey Institute of Technology, changing technical communication criteria, and our collaborations with other institutions.

New Jersey Institute of Technology (2005). Resources>Education>Assessment>Technical Writing

A Collegiate Writing Program for the 1980s

The two growth areas right now are the English as a second language (ESL) courses and the business and technical writing courses. The ESL courses fall outside the province of this paper, but the business and technical writing courses are very pertinent.

Corbett, Edward P.J. ADE Bulletin (1989). Articles>Education>Writing

A Column Sponsored by the ABC Teaching Committee    

If you asked your students whether they'd rather listen to a lecture, take notes from PowerPoint slides, or work with classmates on a project, most would probably opt for the project. Although definitions vary, active learning strategies are classroom techniques that engage students with the subject they're studying by discussing it, writing about it, applying it in some meaningful context, or otherwise working it into the fabric of their own experience and prior knowledge. They become active creators of knowledge rather than passive recipients of information.

Worley, Rebecca B. Business Communication Quarterly (2007). Articles>Education>Methods

Combining Interpersonal and Technical Communication Courses to Improve How Teams Function  

Research indicates that teams are more effective when they satisfy the social goals of their members. Therefore, teams that focus on interpersonal communication (the internal performance process) as well as the team's objective (the external product) improve their chances for success. It follows, then, that classroom instructors can enhance team success by adding interpersonal communication components to courses that use teams. This paper shows how we used this research to design an innovative NSF program. The program incorporated an interpersonal communication component to motivate student teams to succeed.

Barchilon, Marian G. and Donald G. Kelley. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Collaboration

Come Play! Using Games to Teach, Motivate, and Engage  

What have you done lately to make your training lively, fast-paced, innovative, participative, and imaginative? Baranich and Currie discuss using games in learning and business environments.

Baranich, Karen L. and Cynthia C. Currie. Intercom (1995). Articles>Education>Multimedia>Games

A Comment on Greg Wilson's "Technical Communication and Late Capitalism: Considering a Postmodern Technical Communication Pedagogy"    

We find Wilson's argument compelling insofar as it emphasizes the importance of technical communication pedagogies that are informed by changing workplace conditions.

Fox, Catherine and David Fisher. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2001). Articles>Education

Commentary on International Learning  

This article, subtitled “Audience Analysis and Instructional System Design for Successful Learning and Performance,” by Margaret Martinez is a must-read for all committed to seeing to it that technologies keep their promises and achieve their potential. There is a propensity among technology proponents to disregard, or at least to minimize the importance of, individual differences among learners and the impact of differences in learning. While the research design, execution, and fi ndings are significant it is important to recognize this work for what it is—a meaningful addition to a less-than-adequate body of knowledge. In our (still) instruction-centered educational environment it is still frustratingly diffi cult to elicit recognition that we are all different in many ways and that includes how we learn. Ms. Martinez has provided us with a contemporary update on individual difference data which flows well from her excellent historical review.

Russell, Thomas L. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>International

Comments on Lab Reports by Mechanical Engineering Teaching Assistants: Typical Practices and Effects of Using a Grading Rubric    

Many engineering undergraduates receive their first and perhaps most intensive exposure to engineering communication through writing lab reports in lab courses taught by graduate teaching assistants (TAs). Most of the TAs' teaching of writing happens through their comments on students' lab reports. Technical writing faculty need to be aware of TAs' response practices so they can build on or counteract that instruction as needed. This study examines the response practices of two TAs and the ways the practices shifted after the TAs began using a grading rubric. The analysis reveals distinct patterns in focus and mode, some reflecting best practices and some not. It also indicates encouraging changes after the TAs started using the grading rubric. The TAs' marginalia became more content focused and specific and, perhaps most important, less authoritative and more likely to reflect a coaching mode. The article concludes with implications for technical writing courses.

Taylor, Summer Smith. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>TC>Engineering

A Commitment to Excellence: A Systematic Approach to Training Editors  

Creating and maintaining a high quality work environment that attracts and retains talented editors requires a commitment to excellence at all levels of a company or organization. A company dedicated to a nurturing work environment for its employees provides systematic training opportunities for professional growth. This paper describes how a company can meat its ongoing training needs for editors by offering formal and informal training programs and fostering learning at the group, department, division, and company levels.

Moell, Patricia G. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Editing>Education

Commonwealth Fellowship on Education and Technology: A Program Supporting Sustainable Professional Development in the Open Access Era    

Commonwealth Scholarship Commission encourages mid-career professionals to update their knowledge in sectors regarded as making an important contribution to the development of Commonwealth countries. The programs are very intensive and challenging, and demand very hard work to complete successfully the varieties of activities within the time limit. This paper describes the program and activities of a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship (CPF) in the United Kingdom in education and technology and its contribution towards sustainable professional development undertaken between 1 November and 31 January 2006.

Ghosh, Maitrayee. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>Regional>United Kingdom

Communicating Across the Curriculum in an Undergraduate Business Program: Management 100: Leadership and Communication in Groups    

Educating undergraduate business students in the 21st century requires more than addressing the quantitative side of business; rather, it calls for including the more qualitative 'soft skills,' such as speaking and writing. This article examines the design, delivery, and effectiveness of an undergraduate program dedicated to leadership, teamwork, and communication and describes this program within the context of the communication across the curriculum movement.

Tuleja, Elizabeth A. and Anne M. Greenhalgh. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Communication

Communicating Emotions Effectively in Online Learning Environments  

This paper presents an analysis of the various textual and visual ways that emotions are typically communicated in online learning environments. It also looks at the importance (and limitations) of both verbal and nonverbal online communication from the perspective of Daniel Goleman’s concept of “emotional intelligence.” Descriptions of three case studies demonstrate situations that involve emotionally-based student-instructor interactions that could have become problematic without the instructor’s awareness of the actual emotional issues involved. The paper concludes with a set of recommended guidelines for instructors addressing emotions in online learning situations.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Education>Online>Emotions

Communicating with the Press Release: Teaching Undergraduates the Basics  

Communicating with stakeholders is a concern for every organization. The press release allows firms to convey a message to the public without exorbitant advertising fees and has greater impact than a paid ad because it appears less one-sided. As undergraduates leave academia for the workplace, they become more valuable to employers if they have had practice composing clearly written press releases that achieve the goals of an organization. Teaching the press release allows business communication instructors to reinforce key writing skills such as audience awareness, purpose, clarity, and conciseness. It can be integrated into the syllabus as part of a unit on persuasive writing or taught as a separate genre. Instructors who teach the press release will need to address its core elements: the concept of newsworthiness; conveying the company's main message in the headline and first paragraph; composing in the "inverted pyramid" style typical to journalism; creating compelling quotes for attribution; and designing the document. Classroom activities and assignment ideas are provided.

Mizrahi, Janet. Association for Business Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Press Releases

Communication as the Foundation of Distance Education  

Communication plays a vital role in learning, not only with respect to expository and discussion methods of instruction, but at a more consequential level in the development of higher mental processes through acquiring and learning to manipulate symbols. This has been so at least since the early days of Greek society where education of the citizen primarily was concerned with the ability to express oneself in a thoughtful manner in order to develop a better society. Isocrates, one of the first Western educators, stressed the relevance of speech in sharpening thought and judgment; his emphasis on the relationship between education and speaking well became the standard throughout the ancient Western world.

Brooks, Robert F. Kairos (2002). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Communication Patterns Between Organizations: Implications for the Classroom  

Because many corporations now outsource significant portions of their business to external companies, it is important to study and understand the role of writing and, more generally, differing communication structures between organizations. In my experience, this is not a topic that is discussed in most technical communication classrooms.

McCord, Michael. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Communication>Collaboration

A Communications Renaissance: Developing Tomorrow’s Developers  

Mathematics and computer science can be difficult subjects for the communications teacher to penetrate. In 1997, the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo initiated the development of a pilot course in communications for Mathematics and Computer Science students. This paper explores the research and discoveries that built a successful course: a definition of “numeracy” that equates with academic “literacy” as knowledge creation; perceiving the students as “end users” and doing ongoing “usability tests” during the pilot course; and using case studies as social action to empower students and envision math and technology as dynamic, socially rich fields through communications.

McKenzie, Andrea. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Scientific Communication>Mathematics