#13213
Teaching Teachers at the Institute in Technical Communication: A Special Report on Our Pilot Project 
In STC’s first special opportunity grant, seven STC-funded high school teachers attended the Institute in Technical Communication, held at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi in June, 1999. Originally developed for teachers at two-year colleges, the 19th Institute became a small experiment, combining high school teachers and 13 other teachers from community and technical colleges.
Chisnell, Dana E. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design
#13485
Teaching Technical People How to Think (About Graphical User Interface Design)
Advances in technology have opened up new opportunities for technical communicators in the area of graphical user interface design. This paper describes our effort to take advantage of these opportunities. We have educated ourselves in the core issues of current research; we have leveraged our expertise in page layout and design; and we have participated in the development of standards for GUI design. Although progress has been slow, we are encouraged by early feedback from our management.
Janicko, Raymond P. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>User Interface>Instructional Design>Education
#13483
The new hire training program for Technical Communication staff at Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories (BNW) consists of a team approach where several individuals have defined roles and responsibilities for ensuring that all new hires receive the information and support required to be successful in their positions. This paper describes our training program.
Edler, Sandra K. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Collaboration
#26524
Technical Communication Research: A Call for Action
Argues for an increased emphasis on research in technical communication education.
Spilka, Rachel. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Research
#26533
Theory, Pedagogy, and Program Design
Four presentations about the integration of theory and pedagogical innovation into the design of academic programs.
Gibson, Keith, Margaret Hundleby, Alan Chong, Amy Franklin, Robert Irish, Katherine Tiede and Deborah Tihanyi, Kendall Kelly and Katrine Dahl. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Theory
#29146
To Slideware Or Not To Slideware: Students' Experiences With PowerPoint vs. Lecture 
This study analyzes the performance and attitudes of technical writing students in PowerPoint-enhanced and in non-PowerPoint lectures. Four classes of upper-level undergraduates (n = 84) at a mid-sized, Southern university taking a one-semester technical writing course were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course about their perceptions of PowerPoint. Of the four sections, two classes were instructed using traditional lecture materials (teacher at podium, chalkboard, handouts); the other two sections were instructed with PowerPoint presentations. All four classes were given the same pre- and post-test to measure performance over the course of the semester. Traditional lecture or PowerPoint presentations consisted of at least 50% of the course, with the remaining time spent on exercises and small group work. Results reveal that while most students say they preferred PowerPoint, performance scores were higher in the sections with the traditional lecture format.
Amare, Nicole. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Articles>Education>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint
#13118
Usability Bootcamp Session Plan
The usability bootcamp is for developers of information technology products who want to implement low-cost usability assessment and customer-focusing tools to ensure that their product development plans meet unmet business needs and contribute efficiently to an overall enterprise architecture plan.
White, Basil J. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Usability
#13692
The Virtual Classroom: Real-life Experiences of Distance Learners
Distance Learning is becoming the way of the future in education. Today, many universities offer graduate level education through distance learning programs. This panel will examine Mercer University and Utah State University’s online graduate Technical Communication programs. Panelists will share their experiences and discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and costs of Mercer and USU’s online programs.
Evans, Jeanette P., Susan Gonzalez, Becky Roberts and Betty Roberts. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Education>Online
#18212
With books and manuals, users decide what information 1. they want and when they will acquire it. With training materials, however the writer/instructional designer controls the flow of information and the way in which it is presented. To write training materials requires careful consideration of adult learning principles, the possibilities and limitations of presentation media and, for classroom training, the difference between written and spoken language. A training writer also needs to distill from complex concepts the main points that participants will remember after the training.
Urbick, Dolores. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Writing
#32370
Lecture Capture: No Longer Optional?
Lecture capture has been gaining momentum in recent years, but that momentum is being outpaced by student demand. According to new research released this week by the University of Wisconsin-Madison involving about 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students, an overwhelming 82 percent of students said they would prefer courses that offer online lectures over traditional classes that do not include an online lecture component. The researchers also pointed out the implications for these findings extend well beyond the classroom.
Nagel, David. Campus Technology (2008). Articles>Education>Presentations>Video
#32543
Show and Tell: Building Usability into E-Learning
Most major producers of e-learning are not doing substantial usability testing. In fact, we don’t seem to even have a way to talk about usability in the context of e-learning.
Barnum, Carol M. STC Proceedings (2008). Presentations>Education>Online>Usability
#34200
Mavericks: The Ultra-Collaborative Composition Classroom
A case study of a course in which students used collaborative online tools such as Google Docs for major writing assignments, and the results the instructor discovered.
Meloni, Julie. SlideShare (2009). Presentations>Education>Writing>Collaboration
#34839
Challenges of Multimedia Self-Presentation: Taking, and Mistaking, the Show on the Road 
One privilege enjoyed by new-media authors is the opportunity to realize representations of Self that are rich textual worlds in themselves and also to engage the wider world, with a voice, a smile, imagery, and sound. Still, closer investigation of multimedia composition practices reveals levels of complexity with which the verbal virtuoso is unconcerned. This article argues that while technology-afforded multimedia tools make it comparatively easy to author a vivid text, it is a multiplicatively more complicated matter to vividly realize and publicize an authorial intention. Based on analysis of the digital story creation process of a youth named 'Steven,' the authors attempt to demonstrate the operation of two forces upon which the successful multimodal realization of the author's intention may hinge: 'fixity' and 'fluidity.' The authors show how, within the process of digital self-representation, these forces can intersect to influence multimodal meaning making, and an author's life, in consequential ways.
Nelson, Mark Evan, Glynda A. Hull and Jeeva Roche-Smith. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Presentations>Education>Multimedia
#34972
When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom
A study published in the April issue of British Educational Research Journal found that 59 percent of students in a new survey reported that at least half of their lectures were boring, and that PowerPoint was one of the dullest methods they saw. "The least boring teaching methods were found to be seminars, practical sessions, and group discussions," said the report. In other words, tech-free classrooms were the most engaging.
Young, Jeffrey R. Chronicle of Higher Education (2009). Articles>Presentations>Education
#35583
Why Learning from PowerPoint Lectures is Frustrating
I’m in my third year of college now, and by this point I have the hang of determining what constitutes a good class and a bad class. In a good class, I have fun and learn a lot; in a bad class, I don’t have a good time and don’t learn very much.
Carolyn Blogs (2009). Articles>Education>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint
