The papers in this collection were presented at the second annual conference on the Teaching of Technical Writing at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Those from the general session, which are of a philosophical nature, discuss a flexible approach to teaching technical writing, the essentials of a technical writing course, how technical…

This report addresses the problems of using natural language (English) as the communication language for advanced computer-based instructional systems. The instructional environment places requirements on a natural language understanding system that exceed the capabilities of all existing systems, including: (1) efficiency, (2) habitability, (3)…

A permanent, ongoing relationship between the technical writing faculty at Ohio State University (OSU) and the technical writing staff at Battelle Memorial Institute, the world's largest independent research and development laboratory, holds advantages for both. Four formal programs of cooperation currently exist: Battelle staff members serve as…

Program portrayal is one way of addressing the need for increased descriptive capability in evaluation research. Portrayal supplements traditional reporting by utilizing subjective, anecdotal, or impressionistic information, in an appropriately communicable form, to enrich the description of program transactions, settings, and outcomes. It is…

Misleading headings in documents, which make it hard for readers to find what they need, are common in many types of documents. A review of research on the importance of cues in the reading process suggests that heading miscues might seriously impair understanding. Three experiments were conducted to discover how headings cue or miscue adult…

Various aspects of the field of technical editing are discussed in this anthology. The 18 articles deal with the following topics: patterns for making editorial changes; the editor as generalist as well as specialist; training the editor beyond the acquisition of skills; criticism and creativity; a logical approach to editing proposals, reports,…

A study of the reading rate and comprehension of 10 aerospace engineers and analysis of the readability of sample company communications were undertaken. The Nelson-Denny Reading Test comprehension scores for the engineers, when compared with scores of a norm group provided by the Nelson-Denny Test Manual, were nearly the same in mean and standard…

These materials for workshop use are intended to enable teacher educators to describe a process for developing measurement instruments from competency statements and their related objectives; to recognize, describe, and discuss basic assumptions underlying the measurement process; and to develop behavioral indicators to be used in the assessment…

This study focused on a program which was designed and implemented to incorporate paraprofessional "dorm counselors," who provided direct supervision of the adolescents in the residential center, into the diagnostic process. A Behavioral Assessment Training Program was designed to focus on three specific components of behavioral…

This paper outlines a procedure for helping teachers in other fields to become effective technical writing teachers. The seven steps in the process include becoming immersed in the topic (reading intensively on the subject and attending an orientation workshop for beginning technical writing teachers), developing a positive attitude toward…

The handbook is designed for use when requesting State or Federal vocational education funds for projects concerning research and development, teacher education, education professional development, exemplary programs, dissemination-diffusion programs, vocational guidance, planning, data collection and utilization, evaluation, and curriculum…

Selecting criteria for usage is done in basically the same way for both technical writing and other forms of composition. Similarly, the same rhetorical theory applies to the teaching of both, and proves especially helpful in the teaching of formal report-writing skills in required freshman composition courses. Focusing on the appropriate voice,…

This paper initially presents the results of several studies concerning the kind of writing assigned by social studies teachers and the kind of writing assigned by social studies textbooks. The second part of this paper describes several things social studies teachers using textbook writing assignments might do to clarify for students what is…

This paper initially presents the results of several studies concerning what kind of writing mathematics teachers assign and what kind of writing mathematics textbooks assign. By far, report-research was the most popular type of writing assigned in the surveyed textbooks. The types of reports students were asked to write include biography,…

A two-semester course in technical writing, developed at Hinds Junior College, is designed as a practical course which fulfills the junior college English requirements and helps students to develop the language skills they will need in the job market and in technical careers. During the first semester, students are guided in writing process…