Effective writing happens when the values of a genre and the desires of a writer match. Studying the blog entry as a genre has strengthened the author's assumptions about the possibility of using blogs as examples of emplaced, agency-granting writing and as bridges to academic writing. Because blogs are a relatively new form of communication, the…

Includes Thomas Dukes' rebuttal to Elizabeth Tebeaux's "The Trouble with Employees' Writing May Be Freshman Composition" (v15 n1) and Tebeaux's response. Dukes argues that inept freshman composition experiences are not the fault of the course itself. Tebeaux contends that freshman composition courses overemphasize expressive discourse.…

Describes a course in which technical writing students write letters to themselves stating goals they want to accomplish within the next 10 years, which the teacher promises not to read and to mail to them in exactly 10 years. Discusses purposes and actual results of assignment. (EL)

Asserts that technical writing students can have creative fun in following a successful teaching strategy using Tinker Toys. (PRA)

Discusses the problems of teaching writing to students in the two-year college and suggests several approaches that proved effective. (RB)

For students who have difficulty finding material for writing formal business and technical reports, suggests keeping a file folder of clippings about new products and services taken from a leading newspaper.(NH)

In technical writing classes, audience is one of the most important concepts. Technical writing is typically written to a specific audience for a specific purpose. In addition, as audiences change, so must the way a document is written. An audience's lack of knowledge in a technical area, for example, would require more background information or…

Describes a business writing course outline, and suggests using student writing to teach students to write clearly and effectively in a business writing course. (MKM)

The author's experiences teaching writing to students in a technical college point to the need for such students to have a general writing course rather than one restricted to technical writing. (MKM)

Today, students other than biology, computer science, or physics majors are enrolling in technical writing. English and communication students, seeking lucrative careers as professional writers or editors, are increasingly signing up for the course. Lacking extensive scientific backgrounds, these students may have a difficult time writing about…

Suggests duplicating the depth and texture of real-life writing in the classroom by using the college organization and its functions to create more accurate writing assignments. (CRH)

The standard organizational features of an essay (title, introduction, main body, and conclusion), together with their specific functions, constitute an established but neglected convention that enables students to write conventional essays and to appreciate the uses of variation in essay form. (HOD)

Describes the writing of the formal technical report as a project for students in technical writing courses. Includes grading criteria for such a report. (HTH)

A method for adapting a technical writing course to the needs of students from a variety of majors is summarized. (HTH)

Summarizes a project that resulted in an experimental, multimedia, mastery learning course entitled "Writing for Industry." (MKM)