Draws on both workplace and academic sources to offer a flexible technical communication education model (TC model). Describes 10 attributes that meet industry's changing needs, and describes a recent National Science Foundation technical communication summer program that used the TC model. (SR)

Outlines a broad-based rationale for the role of rhetorical study as a means of linking the student technical communicator's understanding of both knowledge and practice, making the technical communicator a valuable contributor to and member of the workplace. (SR)

States that Patrick Moore's commentary (published in this issue) claims that technical communication pedagogy does not adequately prepare students for the workplace because current theory overemphasizes the rhetorical uses and ideological implications of technical communication, while condemning the "nonrhetorical," instrumental uses as…

Analyzes how culture influences the rhetorical strategies writers employ to represent expert knowledge in the workplace. Examines the problems of risk communication in a cross-cultural context at three levels. Analyzes the problems writers face in applying generalized models of communication practice to solve technical problems in a culturally and…

Suggests that scholars interested in the gendered relations of technology examine women's use of technologies in their daily work lives. Draws on a four-year study of how eight women, first as students and then as technical communicators, used one simple rhetorical technology in their work. Suggests future research directions as well as…

Addresses a particular paradox isolated by Cathy N. Davidson, that our gift to the world can be a curse to ourselves. Names this "gift" as a critical, intense, trained, sometimes skeptical but always skilled habit of attentive reading. Suggests administrators and professors respond to the "text" of the English profession as a creative work. (SG)

Describes six initiatives pursued by the Orlando Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication, intended to advance education and professional development. Discusses developing procedures and avenues of communication; instituting a scholarship program; conducting a high school writing competition; providing instructional support to secondary…

This article addresses key considerations in preparing special education research articles for submission to professional journals in which the preferred style guide is the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association." The guidelines are drawn from special education literature, from editors, and from authors experienced in…

Introduces a hybrid method for abstracting Chinese text that integrates the statistical approach with language understandings, incorporating some linguistics heuristics and segmentation into the abstracting process. Initial responses from application to Chinese newspaper articles show that the method contributes much to the flexibility and…

Typeface personality impacts the rhetorical effect of students' documents, yet it receives little attention in textbooks. Technical writing students should stand the definition of "appropriate" in relation to typeface selection, the difference between type's functional and semantic properties, the difference between type family and personality,…

The story to improve student enthusiasm for writing reports about the chemistry behind events reported in the news and movies were chosen as the source material. The use of movies in the chemical classroom helps an instructor move the subject of chemistry from abstract, general themes to the personal and subjective arena of human interactions.

The history of writing to learn college science is tied to the development of laboratory methods. Such student-centered learning was widely hailed in the 1890s as student enrollments increased dramatically and a backlash grew against lecture and recitation methods. However, as the author shows using archival examples from Dartmouth College,…

Adapted primary literature (APL) refers to an educational genre specifically designed to enable the use of research articles for learning biology in high school. The present investigation focuses on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of four high-school biology teachers who enacted an APL-based curriculum in biotechnology. Using a…

Intended for students in upper-division technical communication courses and professionals in business and government who want to learn how to edit technical writing, this book describes what technical editors do and how they do it. Throughout the book are exercises that students can use as self-tests; answer keys are provided for checking work.…

College English faculty should consider the benfits of business writing consulting. Personal fringe benefits for consultants include traveling and meeting interesting people, and generally having attentive students. Writing consultants enhance their knowledge of business writing, improve their teacher competency, and improve their writing and…