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…

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)

Argues that since invention in scientific research is discovery of the unknown, and since invention in writing is discovery of ideas within existing knowledge, then scientific research cannot be viewed as a part of prewriting in the scientific writing process. (KEH)

Explores the benefits of a hermeneutic orientation to technical writing instruction. Examines the historical and philosophical sources that have influenced technical writing pedagogy, and describes the usefulness of hermeneutic inquiry and its potential for technical writing teachers. (SG)

Maintains that criteria development--the process of creating standards against which to measure options--is not an objective process, but a subjective one in which criteria need to be revised in light of available options. Revises E. Banset and G. Parsons' problem-solving heuristic to more accurately reflect this subjectivity. (SR)

Explores how word processing affects thinking and writing. Examines two myths surrounding word processors and invention in technical writing. Describes how word processing can enhance invention through collaborative writing, templates, and on-screen outlining. (MM)

Technical writing instructors lack a framework for evaluating pedagogical materials. One framework for classification divides the pedagogical materials into three groups: those locating their heuristics in form, context, and method. Formal pedagogies (the modes, sentence generation) can produce generic writing, separated from audience, purpose,…

Discusses a means of differentiating pedagogical materials on the basis of heuristics and theory. Discusses and evaluates three pedagogies that locate their heuristics in (1) form, (2) context, and (3) method, and suggests that materials combining pedagogies are the most adaptable. (FL)