Summer Workshops for Technical Writing Teachers

1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
CJSDW Editorial Staff
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Teachers

Moby-Dick: A Whale of a Handbook for Technical Writing Teachers

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Kilgore
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
Moby Dick ◽  
Writing Teacher ◽  
Teaching Resource

Moby-Dick is a classic of technical literature as well as a classic of American literature. But for the technical writing teacher, its relevance goes beyond this: Moby-Dick can also be a valuable teaching resource. It provides pertinent examples for teaching students the concepts of audience, purpose, research and sources, use of background experience, and thoroughness in compiling data. It also supplies ample models of technical definitions, descriptions, processes, and theories. Finally, Moby-Dick demonstrates the kind of energetic technical writing that is so needed today.

Another Look at Paragraphs in Technical Writing

1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Selzer
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
World War ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
The Status ◽  
Writing Instructors ◽  
The Given

Because of doubts about the status of paragraphs after World War II and the influence of readability formulas which emphasize sentence length and word length, technical writing teachers and texts have not been concerned very much with stylistic matters, especially at the paragraph level. However, recent research advances in the fields of linguistics, discourse analysis, cognitive psychology, and readability all redirect our attention to matters beyond the sentence in technical writing. A familiarity with such advances—including an understanding of cohesion elements, the “given-new contract,” and tagmemics—can enable technical writing instructors to improve student writing.

Meeting Corporate Needs: How Technical Writing can Prepare Students for Today's Changing Work Place

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Gerson ◽  
Sharon J. Gerson
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Organizational Teams

How can Technical Writing teachers better prepare students for their careers? Corporations suggest that they want employees who can work together on teams, solve problems, and communicate. This requirement is due to the changing nature of business which is no longer industrial, employing a top-down managerial hierarchy. Today's businesses focus on information and employ a horizontal management which leans heavily on the employee who works in inter-organizational teams. First, we show our students how writing is a problem-solving activity. Next, we emphasize this point by assigning numerous short and long team projects which require problem solving and communication.

Research Commentary: Technical Writers as Part-Time Teachers in Two-Year Colleges

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye Angelo ◽  
Nell Ann Pickett
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Two Year Colleges ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Two Year College ◽  
Important Link ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Part Time

Part-time technical writing teachers who responded to a 1986–87 survey of two-year college technical writing teachers were found to be committed to teaching, well-qualified, experienced, personally involved, and typically employed full time as technical writers or editors. This finding calls into question the unfavorable stereotypical view of part-timers held by individuals and professional organizations. Because of their unique position as full-time practitioners of the skills they teach, part-time technical writing teachers can serve as an important link between teaching technical writing and business/industry.

From Prose Paladin to Peer Editor: Teaching Engineers (and Others) to Write and Communicate

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Scheiber
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Editorial Review

Many engineers and other technical/managerial professionals continually generate writer-centered memos, letters, and brief reports. Because such documents often contain needless repetition, excessive detail, and chronology-based information, an approach for encouraging writers to produce clear, well organized, rhetorically sound prose was developed. Technical writing teachers and communication trainers must 1) make these prose “paladins” aware of the essential ingredients for generating reader-centered prose, 2) familiarize these writers with the major steps involved in the writing process, and 3) operationalize the process through face-to-face writer-editor collaboration — involving peer editorial review. Only through frequent drafting and rewriting and the regular sharing of peer editorial response (oral and written) will clear, rhetorically effective prose accrue value. And only then will technical/managerial writers routinely generate reader-centered documents that communicate.

Rewriting the Engineering Curriculum: Professionalism and Professional Communication

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Youra
Keyword(s):  
Professional Training ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Across The Curriculum ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Professional Programs ◽  
Oral Presentations

Although engineers spend a substantial amount of their time writing or delivering oral presentations, the typical engineering curriculum segregates communications instruction from technical coursework. But out of an increasing sense of responsibility to provide more authentic professional training, engineering educators are developing programs which bring “real-life” contexts into the classroom. As a result, technical communications instruction is changing in significant ways. Writing clinics are tailoring their services to the precise needs of those they serve and expanding the range of professional support they offer. Furthermore, writing across the curriculum has significantly influenced engineering by linking composing and understanding. New communications courses parallel professional classes, and some redesigned engineering courses actually integrate verbal communication with “subject matter” instruction, Since these broad structural renovations are paradigmatic for other professional programs, technical writing teachers can and should facilitate and support such developments.

Bringing Teachers of Technical Writing and Teachers of Literature Closer Together

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay R. Gould
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
English Departments ◽  
The Past

Within the past few years have appeared a number of journal articles about a rift between technical writing teachers and literature teachers. At this point there seems to be some improvement in containing this rift between these two groups, uneasy partners in many English departments. At the same time, the problem continues as new people enter the teaching profession and older people are forced to change their direction.

Helpviewer or Textbook? The Case of Ganesh Helper

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bas A. Andeweg ◽  
Jaap C. De Jong
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
Advisory System ◽  
Course Material ◽  
On Line

Using new media in supporting students learning to write is a challenge for technical writing teachers. In this article we describe our effort to convert the paper course material to an on-line advisory system, called Ganesh Helper. Through the logging of students' actions and observations it was possible to assess some aspects of the use of Ganesh Helper (searching, browsing, and switching between writing and reading) while the students were writing part of a report. A questionnaire taught us that a majority of the students found the helpviewer easy to use and useful. But in the case of Ganesh Helper most of the students still preferred the textbook to the helpviewer.

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