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 and recommends the use of rhetorical cases and K. Burke's pentad for teaching communication strategies. (SRT)

Describes a four-week business communication course in which students visited companies. They prepared a formal report describing the companies in general terms, the activities they engaged in on the visit, and the presentations they made at each of the companies. (EL)

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)

Describes a course that gives students the kinds of writing and oral communication experiences they will need on the job. The course gives students information about effective speaking and teaches them how to write business letters, prepare simple visuals for written and oral reports, and write formal proposals. (EL)

The process of designing a program teaching technical and professional communication skills should begin with a definition of the problem. An analysis of community needs and student backgrounds and interests should be made to effectively tailor the course to students and their career fields. Such consideration was given to two technical…

Describes a class project designed to introduce students to the actual environment in which professional-level communication takes place, put them in close contact with an expert who must exercise communication skills, and finally require them to put these skills into actual practice. (EL)

A communication course dealing specifically with interviewing theory was designed to meet the needs of technically oriented university students. Several communication theory, interviewing, and interpersonal communication texts were chosen. Additional library searches on interviewing in the areas of vocational rehabilitation, home economics…

This publication contains materials for four courses in Applied Communications in the Applied Academics program at South Seattle Community College. It begins with the article, "Community College Applied Academics: The State of the Art?" George B. Neff), which describes the characteristics, model, courses, and coordination activity that…

Prepared by representatives of industry, government, and the educational community, the papers in this collection were drawn from a conference that addressed a variety of issues of interest to the field of technical communication. Specific topics discussed in the papers are as follows: (1) the role of the Society for Technical Communication in…