The self-service nature of today's society means that technical communicators are needed more than ever before since users may find themselves struggling to make sense of online documentation with minimal support from the institutions that provide it. Certain demographics within the user population (older adults, disabled persons, non-native…

Describes a civil engineering program at Aston University that integrates successfully the development of communication skills with technical training. Explains how the course on Public Sector Planning includes instruction and student work in written, oral, and decision-making skills. (KEH)

The first part of this article shows that research in the history of technical communication has increased in quantity and sophistication over the last 20 years. Scholarship that describes how to teach with that information, however, has not followed, even though teaching the history of the field is a need recognized by several scholars. The…

Surveys perceptions of technical writing held by department heads at a technological university regarding: (1) content, instruction, and assessment of a technical writing course; and (2) writing products and processes. Calls for writing program administrators to study the institutional context for courses and programs in technical writing. (SR)

Claims that technical or business communications courses need to be interculturalized to prepare students for the global marketplace. Defines three problems: ethnocentrism, language barriers, and cultural differences. Provides strategies, assignments, and resources for implementing an interculturalized communications course. (HB)