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     

The technical article assignment: a work-world method for teachingaudience analysis

The journal article is a uniquely effective case assignment for teaching technical communication students a central, work-world, writing demand faced by all professional writers: accurately defining and effectively writing to multiple, hierarchical audiences. The author examines how two technical communication students successfully construct journal articles based on research from analytical reports completed earlier in the term. The students analyze their target audience(s) and revise their reports into technical articles by assessing their purposes in writing the article; by selecting the most appropriate journal and audience for the article; and by adjusting the article's topical slant, organization, content, and style to fit both the target journal's editorial needs and the interests of its audience(s)     

Technical writing and computer programming

It is argued that technical writing and computer programming are based on similar principles, perhaps because both are mechanisms for efficiently organizing and communicating complex information. Both technical writing and programming are multistep processes involving planning, drafting, and revising. Moreover, six key aspects of computer programming (modularity, modifiability, user interface, failsafe presentation, style, and debugging) have analogs among such technical writing principles and practices as report sectioning, audience analysis and adaptation, and editing. These similarities are discussed and a course that builds on these likenesses to teach technical writing to programming students is described     

From start to finish: approaches to introductions and conclusionsin technical writing textbooks

The varied treatments, introductions and conclusions receive in technical writing textbooks are explored from the dual perspective of the students who must incorporate the advice into their work and the professors who must present the material to students. The books attempt to focus on specific techniques for generating clear, concise writing, delineate methods of authorial analysis and offer student and professional examples of technical reports. It is concluded that these textbooks are successful when the structure of introductions and conclusions is tied closely to the context of the actual report     

Teaching the air midwest case: a stakeholder approach to deliberative technical rhetoric

What constitutes a cause is a particularly important question for those who teach or study technical writing. This article describes a case that helps students look beyond the technical "causes" of a commuter airplane crash in order to address the complex web of policies, practices, actions and events that contributed to the crash. Using an approach grounded in stakeholder theory and ethical theory, students use real documents ranging from news accounts to FAA policies to NTSB hearing exhibits to identify systemic problems that contributed to the disaster. Working from particular stakeholder perspectives, they work collaboratively to develop and argue for policy changes that will prevent future tragedies. The abundance of real documents that drive this case make it an especially useful tool for engaging students in difficult-to-teach subject matter including the role of writing in the failure of technical systems, deliberative and judicial rhetoric, stakeholder theory, visual rhetoric, and ethics.     

Textbooks versus technology: teaching professional writing to thenext generation of technical communicators

The study used quantitative and qualitative measures to determine differences in learning outcomes between two sections of an advanced technical writing course taught by the same instructor. The instructor used traditional textbook methods in one and technology-enhanced methods in the other. The findings upheld those of previous studies in that students in the experimental group rated both the course and their learning higher than that of their counterparts in the control group. Although fewer significant differences than expected resulted from the many measures taken, substantive positive differences in the writing submitted by students in the experimental group did occur. In order for such changes in performance to emerge as statistically significant differences, evaluation criteria for technical communication students may need to change     

Broadening employment horizons: transferring proposal writingskills from for-profit to nonprofit organizations

When faced with the need to seek employment, technical communicators with expertise in proposal writing may want to extend their job-seeking horizons beyond the for-profit world and also consider nonprofit organizations as potential employers. The skills required of proposal writers and the situations in which they work are similar whether the writer is employed by a for-profit corporation or a nonprofit organization such as a private college or social service charity. In developing proposals, writers employed in either setting use similar proposal formats, rely on good interpersonal skills while working under deadline pressures, and work with teams of experts from a variety of fields. The article concludes with information on careers with nonprofit organizations, including typical salaries, benefits, and job titles     

The problems that I have with writing

The author describes the senior design project he developed as a partial fulfillment of the mechanical engineering technology degree and his experience with the senior design communication curriculum provided to assist students in writing the technical reports for their projects. He discusses the particular writing problems he encountered and how the writing course helped him overcome them. He illustrates his points with quotes from his report     

Metaphor, frame, and nonverbal communication: an ethnographic studyof a technical writing classroom

Professional educational philosophers C.A. Bowers and D.J. Flinders (1990) describe the classroom as an ecology comprising interrelated linguistic and cultural patterns that determine how information is communicated in the classroom. their classroom ecology model centers on the observation of three interconnected areas: the metaphors that the teacher and the textbook use to introduce students to the formal and informal curriculum, the manner in which the teacher frames student expertise and classroom relationships, and the nonverbal communication between teacher and students. Using Bowers and Flinders' model, a technical writing class taught by a teacher who emphasizes relationships, understanding and acceptance, and collaboration was studied. The teacher's metaphorical language, framing of instruction and student relationships, and nonverbal language are shown to reflect a rhetorical approach to technical writing, a caring approach to teaching, and a supportive, community environment for learning. This ethnographic study provides a snapshot of how one teacher defines technical writing and how he answers the question of how is should be taught     

A technical writing curriculum that brings art and science together

The author discusses the University of Central Florida's technical writing program, which has unusual ways of presenting technical subjects while emphasizing writing and literature. Students learn about science from the English instructors, and they also learn English from scientists by studying the writings of Lewis Thomas, Isaac Asimov, Michael Faraday, Thomas Henry Huxley, and many others. Because the program is English-oriented, the students get a broader view of science, and they learn how to make art and science work together in technical communication     

A project-based approach to teaching research writing to nonnative writers

It is commonly accepted that writing instruction should meet the specific needs of writers and that students in scientific and technical fields benefit more by learning to write to match the requirements of their specific fields. A variety of models for writing classes have been proposed to meet these needs, from genre-based approaches to courses targeting specific disciplines to general courses serving a heterogeneous group of students from many disciplines. Although persuasive arguments can be made for discipline-specific writing courses, many writing courses for nonnative writers at U.S. universities operate with two key constraints. First, monetary and curricular limitations mean that students from a variety of disciplines are placed in the same course. Second, these courses are staffed by instructors who, while well-prepared in addressing language needs of nonnative writers, may know very little about the content and conventions of engineering and science. This paper discusses a writing course which works within these constraints and has been developed for graduate students who are early in their program of study. In the course, groups of students carry out an original research project as a vehicle to learn professional writing conventions common to research papers in a variety of scientific and engineering fields. In addition, students analyze written conventions in published articles within their fields to raise awareness of how general conventions are worked out in their individual disciplines. General principles for the course are discussed, and samples of successful research topics are provided.     

Redefining collaboration through the creation of World Wide Websites

The paper argues that virtual communication spaces such as the World Wide Web (WWW) offer unique opportunities for collaboration within technical writing classrooms. Three common types of project scenarios are identified, along with the discourse communities and collaborative relationships that are supported and emphasized by each project scenario. A technical writing assignment is described that emphasizes the benefits of students collaborating within the WWW, an emerging, real world discourse community. In describing this assignment, we redefine collaboration to include activities used by WWW site developers and designers     

Images of technology and creativity: in opposition or harmonywithin technical communications programs?

Recent exit interviews of Clarkson University graduates majoring in technical communications revealed that students have a clear hierarchy of worth that places technology at the top because of its supposed objectivity. Further, students opposed technology to creativity, which they took to be the domain of writing. The author asks several pointed questions aimed at probing how technical communication curricula can show students that creativity and reason can be in harmony and help them better understand their own talents and skills     

From academic writing to job-related writing: achieving a smoothtransition

Do university writing experiences prepare students for future job-related writing tasks? If not, how can we create a smoother transition from the academy to the workplace? The author analyzes the differing discourse communities of academic writing and technical communication which may limit the transfer of skills from one arena to the next. The discussion considers the ways process, collaborative learning, writing across the curriculum, and language theories can form the foundation for constructive communication among disciplines. As the focus of academic writing moves from an emphasis on the individual to social context and wider audiences, it bridges the gap between disciplines and can ease the movement from the classroom to real-world settings     

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.     

Technical with a small `t': technology and the technicalcommunication major

A recent survey at Clarkson University showed that students consider technical communication the least worthy and the least difficult of the institution's majors. This prejudice is attributed to the student's high regard for technology and its quantitative, problem-solving analysis coupled with conversely low regard for writing. The author describes his experience with the misconceptions and how he came to understand that technical communication is not a contradiction in terms     

LED冰雪景观照明技术浅析

冰雪艺术景观是冰雪建筑与灯光艺术的结合体。文章讨论了冰雪景观照明的需求特点和LED冰雪景观照明系统设计方案需要考虑的问题,并根据大量实验和示范应用数据,总结了LED在冰雪景观照明应用上的主要技术指标和指导性数据,为LED冰雪景观照明在今后的推广应用提供了详细的指导性规范准则。     

Professional writers have a classroom role

Professional technical writers have a role to play as instructors in technical writing programs, as they are experts in the tools, procedures, and policies of a professional documentation department. When a writer enters the classroom, the writer, the writer's employer, the students, and the academic institution all benefit. Preparing to teach a course is not difficult, as the article explains