Using an evaluative approach within a professional communication service course, we used student documents and instructor feedback to uncover how students and instructors were understanding the rhetoric student learning outcome (SLO). Because rhetoric is central to the course, our driving questions were, Can we locate language that actualizes the…

At Ciudad Community College (pseudonym) and across the Colorado Community College System, the course competencies for Technical Writing I (ENG 131) have more than tripled to accommodate ENG 131 as a guaranteed transfer course equivalent to ENG 121: English Composition I. Unfortunately, this has had the effect of increasing the workload for…

ETC 408/508: Technical Editing is a cross-listed undergraduate and graduate course at Missouri Western State University, an open admissions public university with approximately 6,000 students. 508 is an elective course for students in the Master of Applied Arts in Written Communication degree and highly recommended for those in the Technical…

Points out that teaching technical writing to students whose specialties differ can be more interesting than teaching the conventional composition courses. (RB)

Instructional objectives for a junior college course in technical report writing for police science students are presented. The objectives are offered as samples that may be used where they correspond to the skills, abilities, and attitudes instructors want their students to acquire. They may also serve as models for assisting instructors to…

Argues that technical communicators must be prepared to communicate via multiple media, including video. Describes a technical scriptwriting course that develops skills useful in several media. Discusses pedagogical strategies, three major assignments, reading assignments, client assignments, production diary assignment, and new technology. (SR)

The specific communication tasks required of "middle level" or vocational-technical employees are reviewed. Guidelines for planning a technical communication course to meet those tasks are recommended. (HTH)

At Clackamas Community College, a system of contract learning has been adapted for use in a technical writing class. The course focuses on teaching the essentials of technical writing (i.e., clarity and organization in report writing); the basic employment attitudes that local businesses and industries expect; and the form of writing that the…

Creative writing and technical communication are distinct yet similar forms of writing that require time, patience, and disciplined creativity to be effective. Other qualities shared by these two writing forms that should be emphasized in technical writing courses are: (1) effective information sharing, a process that depends on audience analysis,…

Although role-playing is an effective way to create the atmosphere of "real" business situations, technical writing teachers should continue to concentrate primarily on student writing problems and the development of such composition skills as brevity and audience awareness. (RL)

"Engineering Report Writing," a required course in the Civil Engineering Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, combines both pragmatic and innovative assignments that teach the techniques of technical writing. Course design and success are discussed. (LBH)

A statement of course objectives for a first-year course in legal writing is proposed. Its uses are described and problems that arise in the context of a legal writing course are noted. A statement of objectives in a form appropriate for distribution is appended. (Author/MLW)

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…

In order to help science students communicate more effectively with people outside their field, a two-semester technical writing course was developed with an emphasis on thinking rather than on blind adherence to the rules and forms of technical writing. The initial test group was composed of freshman science majors with exceptional writing…