Using mechatronics to teach mechanical design and technical communication

It is commonly accepted that hands-on experiences increase both learning and enjoyment during coursework. Mechatronics projects provide both interesting and relevant hands-on experiences for a wide range of topics including design processes, basic mechatronics concepts, technical communication, and working in a group environment. ME2110: Creative Decisions and Design at Georgia Tech integrates mechatronics and technical communication into a sophomore level mechanical design class. This paper describes the course in detail, highlighting the course goals and layout, tools provided to the students, industry involvement, and the main challenges of administering such a course.     

Audience awareness: leveraging problem-based learning to teach workplace communication practices

Research on the transition from school to work suggests that students entering the workplace struggle to adapt their writing and speaking to individual audiences. To address this problem, the article presents principles for using problem-based learning to design assignments that teach students to tailor communication to the needs of audiences. The approach focuses not on specific workplace documents but on the higher order workplace practice of effectively connecting documents and presentations to audience needs, and designing communication accordingly. A two-year study of capstone design courses suggests that the approach encourages students to explicitly consider audience needs when composing.     

A computer-network-supported cooperative distance learning systemfor technical communication education

The paper discusses applying computer networks to cooperative distance learning for technical communication education. It first outlines applications of communication technologies employed in distance learning, and describes the design strategies of the applications. The paper's main focus is on the CORAL (Cooperative Remotely Accessible Learning) system for promoting cooperative distance learning currently under development in Taiwan. The CORAL system is a collective and collaborative project intended to integrate four major components in concept and construction: an interactive learning environment, educational foundations and implications, domain knowledge; and research efforts. One of CORAL system's goals is to aid science and engineering students in learning communication technology courseware. The CORAL development process, including its design approach, structure, courseware, and evaluation, is reported. Research issues are also addressed     

Exploring quality: what Robert Pirsig's `Zen and the Art ofMotorcycle Maintenance can teach us about technical communication

The author argues that the major reason why Robert Pirsig's `Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', first published in 1974, continues to attract so much interest lies in the way Pirsig challenges our values. Pirsig shows that we have lost our understanding of quality, and he explores how we can restore a sense of quality to our lives. The author suggests that technical communication could benefit from Pirsig's idea     

STUN技术通信问题的研究

采用NAT设备后,可以缓解公网IP地址紧张问题。但是采用了NAT设备后,改变了局域网中计算机与外网的拓扑结构,使得计算机与外网中计算机通信问题变得复杂。目前STUN是解决NAT穿越问题的技术之一。STUN技术是利用计算机网络通信技术,解决了NAT穿越问题。本文提出在原来的STUN技术基础上,使用数据库技术解决发送信息方与接收信息方之间的通信。通过实验证明了改进后的STUN技术在信息传输的速度上有所改善。     

Genre analysis in technical communication

An increasing body of research relies on genre to analyze academic and professional communication and to describe how members of a community use language. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of genre-based research in technical communication and to describe the different approaches to genre and to genre teaching. While some research focuses on the textual analysis of genres, other studies focus on the analysis of the social context and the ideology and structure of the discourse community that owns the genre, and on the role of genres as social rhetorical actions of the community. These two perspectives are also reflected in the teaching of genre in technical communication.     

Predicting technical communication in product developmentorganizations

This work explores prediction of technical communication patterns within product development organizations. Our methodology involves first predicting the patterns of communication and then measuring the actual communications to see if the anticipated linkages are realized. We applied this methodology to a commercial product development project in the electronics industry. In this case study we found that: 81% of all coordination type communication linkages were predicted in advance; occurrences of frequent communications were more accurately predicted than infrequent communications; and two-way communication exchange was most often observed, even where oneway information transfer was predicted. For the management of product development projects, these results imply that certain aspects of organizational design can be planned by anticipating the technical communication linkages required for project execution. Finally, a critical analysis of our methodology suggests improvements for future work     

Designing and managing virtual learning communities

There is a tendency to view education on the Internet as simply a more efficient way to access information and to communicate, but the Internet is much more than just another tool. The Internet has the potential to create communities where students participate in robust discourse and rituals of communication, establish their identities, and traverse community boundaries. We believe we need to design on-line courses with sound pedagogical frameworks and with a sense of promoting community values of diversity, connectedness, and civic responsibility. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe a framework that we use to design virtual learning communities. We explain community activities to consider, describe how we used our framework for designing three classes, and pose issues that arose when using this framework. We hope our thoughts will direct discussion toward the creation of innovative learning communities     

Effective communication: tips on technical writing

The impact of a technical article may have as much to do with how well it is presented as with the engineering or scientific significance of the work. A well-written article is easier to understand and easier to remember; the more readers that remember your work, the higher the likelihood it will get cited. This article reviews some basic principles and discusses a few tips (dos and don'ts) about writing technical papers.     

电子通信系统关键技术问题

本文主要根据电子通信系统的基本信息,对电子通信系统关键技术在各个领域当中的应用进行概括,了解电子通信技术基本运行状况.本文主要概括电子通信技术在移动通信和卫星通信当中发挥的作用,对人们生活和生产带来了重要影响,通过电子通信系统的研究可以为我国现代通信技术存在的问题进行分析,解决电子通信技术在运行中的阻碍因素,促进电子通...     

Using genre theory to teach students engineering lab reportwriting: a collaborative approach

Beginning Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students often have difficulty learning the genre of lab report writing. This difficulty can be alleviated through genre theory strategies and research, which writing center consultants, for example, can use to focus on the specific form and content of engineering writing, which then can be taught to students in a writing center environment. Genre theory provides a means (1) for humanities writing center consultants to learn specific characteristics about engineering writing, (2) for interdisciplinary collaboration between writing professionals and engineers to take place, and (3) for students to have increased opportunities to learn the discourse of their field. All of these benefits are enhanced by discipline-specific writing programs that support and facilitate them. In addition, the collaboration provides a stimulating, fluid, creative environment in which to discuss engineering writing, an environment which reflects the changing needs of engineering education as a result of technological advancements. As technology continues to influence engineering education, prompting evolutions in both technical and communication skills and knowledge, genre theory and interdisciplinary collaboration will continue to gain importance as strategies for initiating students into the communication demands of their field. The discussion focuses on the integration of genre theory with writing instruction in the ECE Department at the University of South Carolina. This integration stimulated interaction among ECE faculty, composition and rhetoric faculty and students, and ECE students     

Preparing technical communication students to play a role on the translation team

Technical communicators need to be prepared for the challenges of international communication. This tutorial focuses on the need for technical communication faculty to prepare students to be skilled intercultural communicators and to play a role on the translation team. The tutorial begins with a discussion of the importance of writing for translation in the international workplace and then presents specific assignments designed to instruct students in intercultural communication and give them experience writing for translation. In addition to introducing students to the cultural issues that impact the creation of documentation for international audiences, these assignments also serve to reinforce core skills recognized as vital to professional success in the field of technical communication. Taken together, these assignments can be used as the basis for a course in international technical communication. An appendix to the tutorial includes numerous resources available to faculty who want either to develop a course in international technical communication or to include some of the assignments in existing technical communication courses.     

Moving toward maturity: research in technical communication

Research in technical communication in 1989 is assessed. The analysis indicates that systematic research in technical communication is still in a limited stage of development. One major problem is the lack of a clear distinction between an illustrative case and a case study in the empirical sense. In the few articles presenting systematic research, the most frequently used methodology is survey/questionnaire. Problems include sample selection and generalizability. In several studies, however, surveys were just one of several tools in a qualitative approach. While some projects were carefully designed, overall, the quality of the methodology is uneven. A comparison of the areas being researched with those designated by technical communicators as needing research revealed that more research is needed in management. Also needed is more systematic research into visual aspects of technical communication     

Going beyond the native speaker in technical communication

Vivian Cook, University of Essex, advises his fellow EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers to view their students as multicompetent language users rather than as deficient native speakers. The same advice can readily be given to technical writers and editors who may occasionally struggle to adapt the writing of nonnative speaking (NNS) engineers, researchers, and programmers to style book norms. This approach certainly applies to those of us who work with or manage NNS colleagues. Although addressed to language teachers, the author considers how Cook's observations have validity for many workplace interactions in the growing international community     

Inter-vehicle communication: technical issues on vehicle controlapplication

Mutual exchange of status data between vehicles in close proximity is the basis for safe vehicle operation. Application areas range from driver assistance/warning to fully autonomous driving. To enable this data exchange we need an intervehicle communication (IVC) system. Vehicles involved in mutual data exchange form a kind of local area network; however, the characteristics of this network are quite different from those of conventional networks. The configuration of this kind of network changes from time to time, in terms of organization, proximity group, group position, and relative position; therefore, it is very challenging to establish. The authors have been working on this problem from the point of view of communication media and protocol. The characteristics and requirements of IVC are discussed, and several preliminary communication protocols are proposed. The authors also present some experimental results from the implementation of a function integrating communication by infrared ray with a gap-measuring technique by the vision system     

Material culture analysis and technical communication: the artifact approach to evaluating documentation

Usability testing and documentation review are vital components of every documentation release cycle; yet some project timelines and budgets overlook these essentials. The art history process of material culture analysis can help alleviate this oversight. Applied to documentation, material culture analysis can provide insight into the writer's personal values to expose potentially detrimental mismatches between the values of the writer and of the intended audience.     

用TestStand构建通信产品并行测试平台

提高测试效率进而提高测试设备的使用性是当前测试仪器发展和设计的研究前沿。本文分析了利用测试管理环境TestStand 2．0功能强大的内嵌式同步工具来规划和管理并行测试系统,从而达到测试量和设备利用率之间的最佳平衡的实现方法,同时利用TestStand API定制并行测试用户界面,建立了一个并行测试平台,将其运用于通信产品测试领域。