Describes three graduate and undergraduate pilot courses in technical writing directed toward students in environmental design, engineering, and business. (HOD)

As one of four options under English 105 at Western Michigan University, the course "Writing and Science" is intended to help students become better communicators as they enter college. The first assignments are in technical writing--descriptions of a mechanism, a process or a mechanism in operation, and a behavior. Emphasis in these exercises is…

Presents several assumptions about scientific writing and from these derives teaching methods for a year-long sequence of writing courses for science freshmen. (DD)

This paper focuses first on the educator, Ralph W. Tyler, who serves as a model and ideal for curriculum development and implementation. The paper states that in 1949, Tyler, in creating a syllabus, created a small book of 128 pages, and in so doing, he set a benchmark in the field of education. The paper then provides an extended syllabus for a…

Draft specifications for an undergraduate course in professional writing, designed to teach practical writing skills, are presented in this paper. The paper notes the need for such a course to prepare professional personnel for the writing they do in their jobs, and it suggests that the course be aimed at juniors and seniors in liberal arts,…

Presents two assignments that show (1) how George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" can be applied to business writing and (2) how structured student-teacher conferences can generate enthusiasm for oral expression in a business communication course. (AEA)

A course in technical writing has justification for appearing in a college English department curriculum if course content as it is currently taught is somewhat modified. In general, business or technical writing has been primarily a study of a wide variety of letter and report writing forms. To be taught as a liberal arts course, a technical…

The use of interpretive reporting techniques and programs offering real world training to writers may provide solutions to the problems encountered in writing about science for the mass media. Both science and environmental writers have suggested that the problems they face would be decreased by the use of more interpretive and investigative…

Designed specifically for graduate assistants teaching composition at Michigan State University (MSU), this handbook provides a general information base for teaching assistants, offering practical advice and discussing various aspects of course design, classroom practice, and the logistics of teaching at a large public university. A section on…