Crossing Institutional and Programmatic Identity Boundaries: The Possibilities of an Online Graduate Consortium  

Should institutional boundaries prevent online students from learning from the best professors available? What is the effect of employing remote professors on a program's identity, and how do remote or distant professors fit into a faculty's programmatic and pedagogical profile?

Cargile Cook, Kelli. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Online

Crossing the Boundaries of Instruction: Assessing Web-Based Courses

We recently conducted survey research to discover students' responses to our web-based courses and online programs. We wanted to know their reactions to the course materials, teaching methods, interactions with faculty and other students, as well as their own competence in the particular subject area following such as course. While we are discovering that students are generally satisfied with all aspects of the courses, they express valid and noteworthy concerns.

Tovey, Janice and Michelle F. Eble. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Assessment>Online

Crossing the Chasm: The Quest to Bring the Best of Academia and Industry to the Technical Communication Profession  

Crossing the two worlds of academia and industry is a precarious, yet exhilarating, “communication odyssey.” This paper charts the channels that teachers in academia and technical communicators in industry can use to access these two worlds, and describes the challenges and rewards in making the journey. It relies on both primary sources (my personal experiences, and those shared by others) and secondary research in the technical communication profession’s trends. Such crossings are similar to the “foreign exchange” programs we advocate for students: the resulting insights and “cross pollination” from academia and the workplace will help our profession to flourish. industry can benefit both worlds through “crosspollination” and will help our profession to flourish.

Kryder, LeeAnne G. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Education

The Culture of Distance Education: Implementing an Online Graduate Level Course in Audience Analysis      

This essay details the experience of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course in audience analysis at the graduate level. Through a discussion of the culture of this online course, I describe how the educational culture of the Land Grant Mission flowed into our efforts to create a quality learning experience, and how the Web modules and asynchronous (listserv) and synchronous (MOO) conversations influenced communication and learning.

Duin, Ann Hill. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Education>Audience Analysis>Online

Current Status Of Business And Technical Writing Courses In English Departments

We have heard a great deal of talk in recent years about the growth of business and technical writing courses in English departments. But very little, if any, factual information exists on how much enrollments have grown and whether they are expected to grow in the near future. Furthermore, no study has attempted to assess the impact these relatively new, rapidly expanding courses are having and will continue to have on English departments and their faculty members.

Rivers, William E. ADE Bulletin (1985). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Technical Writing

Current Trends and Issues in the Qualitative Research Literature: A Bibliography

A review of publications which employ qualititative research in the study of education.

Artemeva, Natasha. Newsletter of the CASLL (2003). Resources>Bibliographies>Education

A Curriculum for a Corporate Technical Writing Department: Providing Cost-Effective, Ongoing, Quality Training  

This paper develops a cost-effective, ongoing, process-oriented writing curriculum for a technical writing department. This curriculum meets the needs of adult learners and the corporation and provides training for all experience and expertise levels while also allowing writers to meet the demands of their projects.

Gyure, Gloria M.D. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

A Curriculum for the Research and Practice of International Technical Communication  

It is no secret that businesses around the world need to compete globally in order to survive. What is a secret is that technical communicators in every county in the world are untrained to deal with the issues, deadlines, standards, and quality measures necessary to address the needs of global businesses. This paper offers some ideas and justification for a curriculum in international technical communication.

Hoft, Nancy L. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>International

A Curriculum for the Research and Practice of International Technical Communication    

It is no secret that businesses around the world need to compete globally in order to survive. What is a secret is that technical communicators in every country in the world are untrained to deal with the issues, deadlines, standards, and quality measures necessary to address the needs of global businesses. This paper offers some ideas and justification for a curriculuum in international technical communication.

Hoft, Nancy L. Technical Communication Online (1995). Articles>Education>Globalization

Curriculum Re-design for Web-Based and Distance Learning: The 'Search' for Online Models  

This paper discusses the work in progress at the Illinois Institute of Technology/Program in Technical Communication and Information Design in web-based instruction and distance learning. Part I is a case study of issues involved in the re-positioning of a traditional classroom course in online design to Internet delivery. Part II discusses issues in the design of instructional materials for the web and cognitive principles for designing these materials.

Eiler, Mary Ann, Susan Feinberg and Margaret Murphy. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Deafened to Their Demands: An Ethnographic Study of Accommodation  

After a semester of working with the population of Deaf students on a larger southwestern, suburban University campus, it became clear that the institution would not be able to provide reasonable accommodations requested by deaf students. As I witnessed students, rightfully fighting for reasonable accommodations (as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act), I saw individuals both inside and outside the institutional structures attempt change only to find themselves rebuffed. The institution itself was not able to accommodate the reasonable and lawful demands of the deaf population of students at the university, but interestingly the efforts of reformers inside the institution were similarly unable to enact significant change. The institution was unable to hear the pleas of its students but was equally unable to accommodate the demands of members of the administration seeking to provide services to these students.

Salvo, Michael J. Kairos (2002). Academic>Accessibility>Education

(Deeply) Resisting Arrest: Beyond the Either/Or of Information Technology in Technical & Scientific Communication Programs  

If I choose to walk or ride a bicycle to work in the morning, will I be perceived as an anti-technology Luddite because I have resisted driving my car? Probably not. In fact, I might be seen as someone who is environmentally aware and health conscious. When it comes to information technology, however, such resistance is seen quite differently.

Johnson, Robert R. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Technology

Delivering Effective Web-Based Education  

Delivering effective Web-based education is a challenge more communication professionals will face in the near future. While many approaches exist for solving this problem, one expedient solution is videotaping traditional stand-and-deliver classes, compressing the video for streaming off the Web, synchronizing important visual material to key points in the video, and placing everything in a well-designed and easy-to-use Web site.

Gange, Charles and Mary Ellen Coleman. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Demanding of Our Students, Demanding of Ourselves  

Students and faculty alike need to develop critical and practical technological literacies. Steps can be taken by programs and institutions to encourage faculty to develop critical technological literacies that are comparable to the literacies they demand of their students. Computing is everyone’s job. Com$uting will-in fact, already has-changed technical communication research, pedagogy, and practice. Likewise, technical communication can and will change the contexts andpractices of computing. Therefore, the responsibility for computing needs to be shared throughout our institutions.

Kitalong, Karla Saari and Wiliam J. Williamson, Jr. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>TC

Design and Assessment of Web-Based Learning Environments: The Smart Engineering Project and the Instructional Software Development Center at U.M.R.  

We present a framework for web-based learning design, which 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. Finally, design should include an evaluation component (accountability), which should in turn impact design modification via feedback. We review research that relates to the components of the framework, including a recent assessment on Web-Based modules as part of the PsychConnections project. We also pose recommendations and provide examples from the Smart Engineering Project and other instructional multi-media developed under the auspices of the Instructional Software Development Center at the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Hall, Richard H., Steve E. Watkins, Robert Davis, Abdeldjelil Belarbi and K. Chandrashekhara. University of Missouri-Rolla (2003). Articles>Education>Online

Design Guidelines for Written Assignments

This paper discusses design guidelines educators can use to format their assignment instructions. The purpose of formatting is to avoid students' misinterpretation of the assignment and to receive more readable papers. Topics covered are design awareness and formatting tips on using headings, chunking information, and using special features.

Dyrud, Marilyn A. University of Pittsburgh. Articles>Education>Style Guides

Design Once: Use Again and Again and Again…  

You can either do it over and over again; or, you can design it once and use it again and again. The decision to create reusable learning modules need not be an expensive one. It just requires modular design.

Horton, William K. III. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Design, Results, and Analysis Assessment Components Nine-Course Program    

The case for assessment of college writing programs no longer needs to be made. Although none of us would have chosen the words, we all have come to accept the truth of Roger Debreceny’s words: the 'free ride' for America’s colleges and universities is indeed over (1). All writing programs face difficulties in selecting the means for the most effective evaluations for their individual programs. Key concerns include how appropriately, practically, and cost effectively various assessment tools address this problem.

Carson, J. Stanton, Patricia G. Wojahn, John R. Hayes and Thomas A. Marshall. LLAD (2003). Articles>Education>Writing>Assessment

Designing Accessible Web Based Courseware with Authoring Tools

Creation of Web based courseware has become easier and quicker, particularly, for non-Web experts with the advent of authoring software which allows authors to put together resources without requiring to learn HTML. However, there are problems regarding the accessibility of resources produced by such software, and this article discusses the nature of these problems and how they can be overcome.

Sloan, David. TechDis (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Designing Better Instructional Documents  

Demonstrates how principles of print design and visual literacy can improve the usability of course handouts.

Codone, Susan K. Intercom (2004). Articles>Education>Document Design

Designing Design Education

Designers today are involved in the development and design of new products and their interactions, software, virtual identities, web sites, strategic plans, wearable computers, digital libraries, games, and interactive exhibitions. The old monikers of graphic and industrial design aren't descriptive of the new fields of practice and research that are being explored today. These disciplines in fact have come to realize that they do not own the word `design.' The activity of design, as described by Simon (1969), is being practiced by a host of disciplines that include engineering, computer science, information systems, professional writing, and business. We encounter job titles such as software design, engineering design, human-computer interaction design, and systems design, to name a few. If design is so pervasive, who, then, is a designer and how is s/he educated?

Boyarski, Daniel. SIGCHI Bulletin (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Assessment

Designing for Motivation and Usability in a Museum-Based Multi-User Virtual Environment  

This National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research project is creating and evaluating graphical multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) that use digitized museum resources to enhance middle school students' motivation and learning about science and its impacts on society. MUVEs enable multiple simultaneous participants to access virtual contexts, to interact with digital artifacts, to represent themselves through “avatars,” to communicate with other participants and with computer-based agents, and to enact collaborative learning activities of various types. Initially, MUVEs were based only on textual descriptions); now, many MUVEs are graphical in nature, or use graphics to enhance textual descriptions. Our project's educational environments are extending current MUVE capabilities in order to study the science learning potential of immersive simulations, interactive virtual museum exhibits, and 'participatory' historical situations (http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/muvees/). To accomplish this, we have built our own MUVE shell based on the Sense8 WorldToolKit (http://www.sense8.com/).

Dede, Chris, Diane Ketelhut and Kevin Ruess. Harvard University (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Usability

Designing Institutional Space to Bridge Institutional Divides    

Professional/technical writing has long been an effective curricular site for off-campus outreach. Especially compared to other humanities' disciplines (not that that category provides any stiff competition), professional/technical writing has emphasized practical application and liaison between the university and business/industry. Two of the chief reasons I am attracted to this field are its pragmatic orientation and its focus on writing-in-the-world.

Porter, James E. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Business Communication

Designing Web Sites to Educate, Induce Action, and Promote Participatory Communication for Decision-Making  

Knowing more about how web site characteristics work to reach non-e-commerce goals can guide web designers working towards some of those goals. Environmental advocacy sites are apt to provide rich examples of how web sites try to educate, change behaviors and values, induce action, and promote participatory decisionmaking. Studying them, then, may help us understand how the characteristics of their web sites work. This paper explores how a particular advocacy group web site, www.seedcoalition.org, educates and induces action in its visitors. The site seems likely to effectively educate and induce action, but could do more to induce deliberation and encourage interpersonal communication and discussion about issues, which might better support the group’s long term goals.

Sehmel, Heather. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Web Design>Education>Participatory Design

The Desirability Paradox in the Effects of Media Literacy Training    

This study examines a paradox in findings regarding the effects of media literacy training on adolescents' decision making about tobacco use. Recent experiments have found that media literacy training successfully reduced participants' beliefs associated with risky behavior, whereas at the same time, their positive affect toward individuals portrayed in advertising increased. Study results confirm the hypothesis that media literacy training changes the way individuals think about the desirability of portrayals in the media. Although desirability usually represents individuals' affect toward portrayals, reports gathered after media literacy training also appear to reflect participants' increased awareness of the efforts made by advertisers to produce attractive portrayals designed to sell products and services. This awareness reduces or eliminates the impact that positive affect otherwise would have on decision making. Because this analysis suggests that individuals may respond to survey questions differently depending on their level of skill or involvement, the results raise important issues regarding issues of reliability and validity that may extend well beyond tests of this theoretical model or particular evaluation.

Austin, Erica Weintraub, Bruce E. Pinkleton and Ruth Patterson Funabiki. Communication Research (2007). Articles>Education>Scientific Communication>Risk Communication