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)

Presents a more practical orientation for the composition classroom that would allow technical students to demonstrate and improve competency in the realm of technical employment while at the same time improving their written communication skills. (HTH)

Suggests that to learn the effective facets of style in technical writing, students should read Walter Miller's "What Can the Technical Writer of the Past Teach the Technical Writer of Today?" in which the styles of 12 outstanding technical writers are analyzed, and examples of the various stylistic techniques of each writer are cited.…

Describes a technical writing class assignment in which students read reviews published in journals of their professions, emulate the style of those published reviews, and submit a review of their own to a journal. Suggests sources of new books to review and provides an annotated bibliography. (MKM)

Discusses how to teach a first-year composition course, expository writing, required of most students at Rensselaer Polytechnic. Considers how to motivate students and help them to see connections between writing and their technical work. Offers various techniques for getting the students to write comfortably. (PA)

Describes five writing activities for college writing courses: (1) a documented opinion paper exercise; (2) breaking writing rules; (3) trip reports from absentees; (4) case studies to promote writing for particular audiences for pragmatic purposes; and (5) an organizing strategy for studying, using a chart format. (SR)

Explains why instructors need to make report writing an integral part of courses in business and technical writing. Discusses the advantage of group projects on campus-related issues. (EL)