http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute A listing of works published by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute http://tc.eserver.org/26553.html http://tc.eserver.org/26553.html In this course, students work on collaborative projects to design innovative human-computer interactions (HCIs) aimed at transforming the way people do things in their everyday lives at work, in the home, and at play. Students work with activity analysis to observe and analyze everyday practices, with object-oriented modeling to represent and transform those practices, and with UI prototyping for selected implementation. The course serves as the capstone in the HCI MS Certificate but is open to any junior or senior with technical skills seeking an opportunity to engage in an extended design studio leading to an HCI design. Prerequisites: In general: at least one course in one of the following areas: web design, database design, graphics design, document design, or software engineering design. For those completing the MS Certificate in Human-Computer Interaction: Fundamentals of HCI Usability, Electronic Coaching Systems, and Communication Design for the Web. http://tc.eserver.org/26552.html http://tc.eserver.org/26552.html This course focuses on media, techniques, and formats of writing that are used in professional environments. Students explore the assumptions that govern writing in their fields and practice the writing skills and styles applicable to communicating effectively. http://tc.eserver.org/25693.html http://tc.eserver.org/25693.html The Bakhtin/Vygotsky listserv invites subscribers to post information relevant to Bakhtin/Vygotsky scholarship, including announcements of publications, conferences, seminars, calls for papers, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/25313.html http://tc.eserver.org/25313.html This course is designed for students who expect to write in their future employment. Successful employees know how to communicate clearly and effectively, changing writing style and content for varying audiences and purposes. This class will focus on the difficult task of meeting readers' needs while simultaneously representing your best interests and those of your employer. To meet that end, the assignments will cover a variety of tasks produced under different circumstances, some done quickly during class and some polished and perfected over time. Students completing the semester's work should see a visible improvement in their writing, especially in terms of clarity and precision. http://tc.eserver.org/25312.html http://tc.eserver.org/25312.html The practice of effective electronic group communication has evolved as a primary consideration for efficient management of engineering and other creative group projects, in similar lines of those handled by EMAC students and in other engineering disciplines http://tc.eserver.org/20944.html http://tc.eserver.org/20944.html With the adoption of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) on the rise, researchers in academia and industry are seeking to leverage the descriptive power of metadata to better understand the semantic structure of information (e.g., see Berners-Lee, 1998). But most interaction on the World Wide Web is what Geisler (2001) calls “document-centered,” involving the exchange of discourse a great deal larger and more complex than the basic units of meaning that semantics deals effectively with. As a result, the tools of semantics fall short of providing adequate metadata schemes which capture the most compelling features of effective discourse in any medium: emotional and ethical appeals which work in conjunction with appropriate logical and semantic structures. http://tc.eserver.org/19773.html http://tc.eserver.org/19773.html In the course of developing a report, essay, memo, etc. writers are often called upon to define their terms. Some of the more common definitional techniques used in professional and academic writing are described below. http://tc.eserver.org/18921.html http://tc.eserver.org/18921.html Traditional notions of the rhetorical community as the locus of shared beliefs and values have been challenged increasingly and from several directions--from radical and post-liberal democratic political theory, from cultural studies and cultural criticism, and, most recently, from the perspective of the ill-defined and elusive 'place' called cyberspace. At the heart of these challenges is the problem of the relationship of the community to those outside it or on its margins, an uneasy relationship that is variously characterized as a tension between communitarianism and liberalism, between ourselves and Others, between a culture and its marginalized individuals, and as a complex relationship between the One and the Many. Contemporary notions of the rhetorical community characterize this community less as the locus of shared beliefs and values than as a public space or forum within which diverse and sometimes conflicting beliefs and values can be articulated and negotiated. We believe that new computer-mediated communication environments have the potential to become contemporary rhetorical communities--public spaces or forums--within which limited or local communities and individuals can develop mutual respect and understanding via dialogue and discussion. We recently tested our belief in a colloquium at Diversity University MOO, an electronic 'place' or cyberspace where individuals can 'meet' and 'chat' in real time.2 Our colloquium revealed to us a kind of rhetoric and a kind of community that seems quite unlike anything that we have seen before--seventeen 'voices' from different places all 'speaking' at once in the same 'place' and 'speaking' in fragments rather than complete discourses. http://tc.eserver.org/12977.html http://tc.eserver.org/12977.html An abstract is a stand-alone statement that briefly conveys the essential information of a paper, article, document or book; presents the objective, methods, results, and conclusions of a research project; has a brief, non-repetitive style. Although an abstract appears as the first section of a paper, it should be written last. You need to have completed all other sections before you can select and summarize the essential information from those sections.