Engaging in argument from evidence is a fundamental science practice. However, preservice elementary teachers have difficulty constructing arguments. They need effective experience with argument construction in science. Written argumentation is crucial in the process of science learning. One of the approaches for learning science through…

Visual elements such as graphs, tables, and diagrams are essential components of scientific writing. Although scientific writing textbooks and guides often contain information on how to design such visuals, little has been written on how to effectively discuss those visuals within the text. This article offers a novel heuristic for teaching…

In science disciplines, students need sufficient and well-designed support to successfully gain writing competence along the different stages of their writing development. This study examines effective inquiry-based writing pedagogies and the contextualization of scientific writing instruction for supporting student writers in the scientific…

This article proposes a heuristic that teachers and students can use together to create a vocabulary for discussing the aesthetic aspects of color and typography in document design work. By using this framework, teachers and students can generate a collection of shared "visual topoi" or commonplaces for describing the aesthetic value of…

This article details how we integrate Jody Shipka's approach to creativity and rhetorical awareness into a Professional Writing, Rhetoric, and Technology major at the University of South Florida. We situate Shipka's pedagogy alongside postpedagogy, differentiating the latter from postcomposition. In short, we argue that postpedagogy echoes…

A significant problem for practitioners of technical communication is to gain the skills to compete in a global, multicultural work environment. Instructors of technical communication can provide future practitioners with the tools to compete and excel in this global environment by introducing heuristics of cultural dimensions into the…

Current scholarship tells us that skills in teaming are essential for students and practitioners of professional communication. Writers must be able to cooperate with subject-matter experts and team members to make effective decisions and complete projects. Scholarship also suggests that rapid changes in technology and changes in teaming processes…

Demonstrates how the tragedy of the 1986 space shuttle "Challenger" provides an example of how communication through memos and letters concerning O-ring problems went awry. Presents some methods by which the technical writing teacher might incorporate this material into their writing curricula. (HB)

Argues that problem-solving assignments whose only purpose is to train students to report technical details ignore much of the real-world context of a problem. Presents an approach to give students a broader sense of problem solving. (MS)

Presents an overview of principles and heuristics for designing minimalist instruction, with examples and theoretical or empirical arguments. Provides a starting point from which to create minimalist instruction to suit a variety of uses. (SR)

Investigates how college students in an upper-division professional writing course respond to user input at the draft stage of writing computer documentation. Finds that writers perceive user input in different ways and suggests that draft-stage user testing produces better documentation. (PRA)

Argues that the portfolio deserves at very least a re-evaluation throughout academic (to say nothing of quotidian) life as an indispensable tool of the spirit of pedagogy. Suggests that Portfolio Process as a class or seminar should be integrated into undergraduate curriculum. Notes that the goal of the course is to link technical design education…

Offers a methodology for letter and memoranda writing which exchanges an emphasis on forms for one on rhetorical analysis, employing the use of the classical enthymeme. (MS)

Proposes that technical writing teachers have a special responsibility to use their subject matter to advance the critical reasoning processes required in the composing process, the disciplines, and the professions. Suggests 10 critical thinking skills to encourage in technical writing courses. (MS)

Claims that rhetorical voice is strategically vital for persuasion but that it is rarely discussed in business communication textbooks. Identifies aspects of the rhetorical situation that shape voice. Presents a heuristic that writers can use to construct their personae. (HB)