The 21-Course Undergraduate Program: Strength Through Diversification  

How can diversification strengthen a professional communication program? By capitalizing on faculty backgrounds, a broad variety of courses, and student experience. Here’s how that combination of factors works in the 21-course undergraduate major in professional writing at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Jennings, Ann S. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Undergraduate

ACM Crossroads

Crossroads is a student-run publication of the ACM.

ACM. Journals>Technology>Graduate

Administrative Decisions in Online Graduate Education  

Much of the discussion about online education appropriately focuses on pedagogy and technology. Any planning for online education must consider teaching methods and the technology to support them as well as the appropriateness of these methods and technology for the students and course materials. However, administrative decisions also influence the success of the course or degree program. This paper reviews these issues based on the experience of Texas Tech University in five years of offering an online Master of Arts in Technical Communication. Issues include course concept, costs, administrative authority within the university, and student selection and retention. The paper looks briefly at legal issues and at the concern about impersonality in online education.

Rude, Carolyn D. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Graduate

Advanced Interactive Multimedia

A website from an undergraduate course on designing complex interactive multmedia for technical communicators.

Sauer, Geoffrey. University of Washington-Seattle (2002). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate

Advanced Technical Communication

English 497 offers you the opportunity to enhance your skills in planning, inventing, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing technical prose. Most students will develop these skills as they complete a single large project consisting of several parts--perhaps including a technical report and articles written for professional and popular journals. We will emphasize the importance of and strategies for accommodating your presentation to your audience. We will also devote much attention to editing technical prose, yours and your classmates'. Finally, we will recognize that the Web has altered the way that professionals communicate. You will learn to take advantage of the new electronic resources in discovering information and communicating it to others.

Harwood, John T. Pennsylvania State University (1997). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate

An Alternative to a Master's Program    

Discussions concerning the structure of technical communication programs raise a multitude of questions: how do we include both theory and practice? How much theory is appropriate for a program in an applied area? What do our students need and want? How can we meet our students’ needs and ourown academic goals? These questions can become even more intense when they relate to master’s degree programs and the demanding students they attract. We are faced with decisions about what thenature of a master’s program in technical communication should be.

Allen, Nancy J. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Graduate

Audience Analysis and the Rhetoric of User-Centered Design

This online course packet, along with the texts and lectures, should provide all the information you need for completing RHE 330C/TLC 331. It includes conventional information, such as a syllabus and course schedule, as well as links to articles and examples. See the navigation bar above for more information.

Spinuzzi, Clay. University of Texas (2004). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate

The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communicators Talk Ten Years After Their Master's Program    

Recounts the experiences of seven professionals entering the field and the ways their perceptions of the profession and roles within it have changed. Explores the variety of roles technical communicators are expected to assume

Wilson, Greg and Julie Dyke Ford. Technical Communication Online (2003). Academic>Education>Graduate

Do We Know Who We Are and Where We Belong? Challenge in the Midst of Change    

Over the past few years, we have been re-thinking the focus and direction of the graduate program in technical and science communication at Drexel University. At the same time, we are also dealing with a disciplinary change, as we have split from our long-time home in the Department of Humanities and Communication and formed a new Department of Culture and Communication with our colleagues from sociology and anthropology.

Friedlander, Alexander. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Graduate

Doctoral Research in Technical, Scientific and Business Communication, 1989-1998    

This article is an update of the article by Rebecca S. Kelly and me in an earlier issue of Technical Communication (Rainey & Kelly 1992). My purpose here is the same as we had then: …we focus on making known the wide variety of doctoral research in professional communication emanating from many academic institutions. Specifically, we look at doctoral research in professional communication with a view to learning what academic institutions sponsor it, what methods researchers employ, and what topics doctoral candidates explore. (553) In this article, I use 'professional communication' to mean technical, scientific, and business communication.) In what follows, I first summarize the findings of this current search and then discuss the method of collecting information. Next, I identify the academic institutions that have doctoral programs in technical, scientific, and business communication, what methodologies the researchers use, and what topics they have researched in the period since 1989.

Rainey, Kenneth T. Technical Communication Online (1999). Academic>Education>Graduate>History

Doctoral-Level Graduates in Professional, Technical, and Scientific Communication 1995–-2000: A Profile    

Reports the results of survey research profiling 1995–2000 doctoral graduates in professional, technical, and scientific communication. Explores implications for recent graduates, prospective doctoral students, faculty, and administrators in the field.

Cargile Cook, Kelli, Charlotte Thralls and Mark Zachry. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Education>Graduate>PhD

Electronic Documents and Publications

English 413 presents principles of Web-based document design, creation, layout, editing, and posting to the Internet and on corporate intranets.

Jablonski, Jeffrey. UNLV. Academic>Courses>Undergraduate>Technical Writing

Graduate Program Perspectives and Perceptions  

The panelists agree that the primary reason to pursue an advanced degree is professional improvement. There are many graduate programs in technical and/or professional communication with focuses ranging from practical application to theoretical development. Because of individual and program differences, graduate students have different perceptions even within their respective programs. This panel focuses on the perceptions of graduate programs from three panel members perspectives.

Jeansonne, Jerold, Lynn A. Perry and George J. Vivrett. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Graduate

Graduate Programs in Professional Writing, Technical Writing and Rhetoric

An international directory of graduate academic programs in PW, TW and Rhetoric.

GradSchools.com. Academic>Education>Graduate

Graduate Research in Technical Communication: Preparing Students to Use the National Information Infrastructure  

Graduate researchers in technical communication help prepare other students for using the National Information Infrastructure, known as the super information highway. Here graduate students report recent research on the importance of logical screen sequences in hypertext, eight types of information to include to make proposals persuasive, and a profile of surveyed university computersupported writing facilities to point out needs such facilities have.

Battle, Mary V. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Graduate>Online

Here Comes That Song Again: The Theory and Practice Blues  

An issue that continues to affect our strategies for developing undergraduate programs is the old contest between theory and practice, or, as it frequently occurs in technical communication programs, between theory and tools. Should we focus our undergraduate programs on understanding principles of communication in the technical world or should we focus on teaching the tools that are called for in the job ads for technical communicators?

Allen, Nancy J. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Undergraduate>Theory

Information Design

This graduate course was taught in the Spring 2001 term in the MS program at the University of Washington. The students published four anthologies of papers resulting from their study of information architecture.

Sauer, Geoffrey. University of Washington-Seattle (2001). Academic>Courses>Graduate

Information Design

This graduate course was taught in the Winter 2001 term in the evening MS program at the University of Washington. The students published five anthologies of papers resulting from their study of information architecture.

Sauer, Geoffrey. University of Washington-Seattle (2001). Academic>Courses>Graduate

Information Design and Usability Testing

This online course packet, along with the texts and lectures, should provide all the information you need for completing RHE 379C/TLC 331. It includes conventional information, such as a syllabus and course schedule, as well as links to articles and examples. See the navigation bar for more information.

Spinuzzi, Clay. University of Texas (2002). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate

Introduction to Technical Communication

English 2309-Technical Communication-is an introductory course to the kinds of documents produced and used in business, industry, and technology. The assignments and the way they are evaluated reflect different audiences and purposes than those normally addressed in English 1301 & 1302. However, you should be reasonably proficient in the writing skills normally acquired in these two courses. We are a community of writers from various disciplines sharing our work and insights about writing with one another. This course is designed to create an environment in which you can develop and exhibit professional work habits. These habits include meeting deadlines, satisfying all assignment criteria, and attending class on a regular basis.

Chandler, John and Dean Fontenot. Texas Tech University (1995). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate>Technical Writing