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This article examines the construction of the pedagogical missions of professional and technical communication (PTC) programs, focusing on two forms of professional discourse. Specifi- cally, I look first at discussions and debates about our pedagogical missions in the internally directed or private conversations of scholarly journals. Then, I examine the externally directed or public discourse of 123 PTC program websites. To compare these two discourses, I frame their differences in terms of the doxa, or unspoken beliefs, upon which they ground their approaches to teaching students the techne, or principled practice, of PTC. The main conclusion of my study is that these differences reflect more than mere genre variations; they reflect important internal conflicts within the attitudes and perspectives on the role of PTC programs as sites of pedagogy. I conclude with the recommendation that we consciously resist the doxa that values pre-professionalism for its own sake by designing websites that refer directly to the topics and themes that arise in professional journals.
Gordon, Jay L. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Academic>Education
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Designing Collaborative Learning Spaces: Where Material Culture Meets Mobile Writing Processes 
In May 2007, the Department of English at Utah State University (USU) redesigned its computer lab to increase mobility and collaboration during writing projects. Our study shows that despite the Professional and Technical Communication (PTC) field's efforts to promote writing as a socially active, collaborative practice, many students view computer labs as spaces for conducting isolated, single-authored work. In this article, we discuss how a combination of movable furniture and mobile technology, including wireless access and laptops, can enhance student collaboration in group-based writing assignments. The lab included both desktop and laptop seating areas, so the authors created a modified worksite analysis designed to evaluate team collaboration in this new layout. These material changes in the lab allow students to configure the space according to their needs, offering them some measure of control over three crucial elements of successful collaboration: formality, presence, and confidentiality.
Bemer, Amanda Metz, Ryan M. Moeller and Cheryl E. Ball. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>Collaboration>Workplace
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Mutual Mentoring: An Editorial Philosophy for a New Scholarly Journal
Aside from Writing Program Administration, the WPA journal, very little scholarly work about—or interest in—the topic of academic program administration has been manifested in the rhetoric-related disciplines. We believe that a mutual mentoring approach is an effective way to develop our community’s sense of the importance of program administration work as a scholarly endeavor in its own right.
Kitalong, Karla Saari. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>Mentoring>Collaboration
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Designing the Total User Experience: Implications for Research and Program Development
Information design has traditionally focused on usability as measured by functionality and efficiency in the execution of user tasks. Newer approaches to experience design and new communication technologies such as the so-called Web 2.0 platform and its Ajax engine emphasize total user engagement with the technology and richer collaborations among users. These developments complicate traditional notions of agency by highlighting the role of technology as mediator between and among users. A project in Tech-Mediated Communication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, funded by the Society for Technical Communication, illustrates how these developments impact the development of novel and creative information resources, with several experiments in cross-cultural, community-oriented, and educational systems design. This work also emphasizes the need to develop research agendas and programmatic initiatives that support interdisciplinary collaborative design activities and thus help technical communicators to meet their collective responsibility to influence and shape the mediating technologies of the future by creating more engaging and more collaborative total user experiences.
Zappen, James P. and Cheryl Geisler. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>Information Design>User Experience
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The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the emergence of programs in rhetoric, technical, professional, and scientific communication (RTPSC) during the past twenty years through a personal narrative of experiences from graduate study to the present. Using a method of inquiry based in rhetorical meditation, the article presents a story of these experiences at Purdue University, Miami University-Ohio, and Michigan Tech University and then moves outward toward national concerns and, finally, suggests a selected “inventory” of challenges the RTPSC field faces in the coming years.
Johnson, Robert R. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>Rhetoric>History
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Building on the 1996 retrospective by Pearsall and Warren, the authors examine the decade that followed for the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). As the world became more closely knitted together through trade agreements and advancements in communication technology, CPTSC took up its mission in response as it helped promote program growth internationally. During this period, the organization added many more members beyond the United States, as it hosted a series of roundtables in Europe and Canada, working to diversify the ethnic make-up of its membership through scholarships.
Maylath, Bruce A.R. and Jeffrey Grabill. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>TC>History
