This document describes the Software Technical Writing Program at Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts). The program is a "hands-on" course designed to develop job-related skills in three major areas: technical writing, software, and professional skills. The program was originally designed in cooperation with the Massachusetts High…

Although an Australian educator had taught isolated aspects of functional grammar for a number of years, she felt that she had not put enough energy into building field (topic) knowledge. With the unit featured in this PEN Digest she aims to focus on building a quite extensive knowledge of the topic--snakes. According to the Digest, the educator…

This book guides students through the entire writing process--prewriting, writing, and rewriting--developing an easy-to-use, step-by-step technique for writing the types of documents they will encounter on the job. It engages students in the writing process and encourages hands-on application as well as discussions about ethics, audience…

A project is described that aims: (1) to give undergraduate pharmacy students an understanding of the complexities of communicating medication information to patients, and (2) to teach skills in the design, analysis, and evaluation of written patient medication information. Materials students developed were evaluated by fellow students (MSE)

The problems that educational philosophers face in communicating with: (1) school of education faculty; (2) specialists in other areas of philosophy; and (3) educators and laymen involved in the schools are discussed. Four levels of discourse are proposed; the importance of tailoring abstraction level to audience needs is stressed. (PP)

Presents two assignments that show (1) how George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" can be applied to business writing and (2) how structured student-teacher conferences can generate enthusiasm for oral expression in a business communication course. (AEA)

A three-year study compared entry-level and junior-level clinically oriented reading and writing skills of 231 medical students. Entry-level skills were found to be the best predictors of clinical skills. Inclusion of communication skills training in admission criteria and/or medical curriculum are recommended. (Author/MSE)

Proposes that technical writing teachers ask their students to analyze the ethos--the revelation of a writer's character through the rhetorical choices a writer makes--of the profession they are preparing to enter. Provides examples of such analysis. (RL)

Design and content of a legal writing program are outlined: premises on which the curriculum is based, program overview, first semester skill elements, law office memorandum preparation, appellate advocacy, grading, legal skills notebook, student instructors. Available from Union University, 80 Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208; $2.50, entire issue.…

The use of a nonlawyer writing specialist to teach legal writing is advocated, based on the author's experience in this role at the University of Washington. The nonlegal perspective is felt to be especially valuable in this kind of communication. Available from Union University, 80 Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208; $2.50, entire issue. (MSE)

Defines the concepts underlying the semiotics of written texts and emphasizes the distinction between literary production (discourse) and technical writing (message), the former stressing the poetic and expressive functions, the latter the referential function. Describes the language of "messages" as based on unambiguous terms that reflect the…

Report-writing and consultation competencies of new students were compared with graduate students in order to evaluate a school psychology competency-based training model. Results confirmed success of the training program, although no difference was found between the two groups. (RC)

Evaluation studies are discussed in terms of aesthetic and literary qualities. Concepts such as imagery, coherence, credibility, dramatic structure, mode of presentation, and story line, are analyzed in relation to evaluative documents. (MH)

Advocates student learning portfolios as an effective assessment technique. Explains how to devise a process that involves community expert partners in judging a student portfolio contest in technical writing. Discusses how to sustain community involvement in program assessment and describes how portfolio assessment led to the creation of a…

Surveys college students regarding their use of instructor comments written on their papers. Finds all students tend to use comments; no significant correlations exist between students' ability levels and their propensity to review, understand, and use comments; students were likely to review comments if they had to rewrite assignments; and…