Describes a course in which technical writing students write letters to themselves stating goals they want to accomplish within the next 10 years, which the teacher promises not to read and to mail to them in exactly 10 years. Discusses purposes and actual results of assignment. (EL)

University of California's (Berkeley) chemical engineering department developed an in-house course as a prerequisite to senior laboratory (where students must write reports and make oral presentations). The course, which focuses on technical communication skills, is described, with special reference to instructional strategies used and structure…

Lists 23 two-year colleges that offer an associate degree or a certificate or both in technical communication. (FL)

Provided are explicit guidelines, in a form that can be used as a handout for students. The guidelines cover formulation of the statement of the problem and the hypothesis, ways of writing in a logical format, and ways of improving the readability of the term paper. (RM)

Describes five consulting activities developed over several years association with a business firm in order to show that intensive work for one company can be an interesting option for consultants who want to address a firm's many communication problems and who want to see long-term results. (FL)

Argues humorously for "constructive ambiguity." Includes amusing rules for vocabulary, punctuation, style, clarity, and bibliographies. Ends with the rule, "When one says nothing of consequence, it is difficult to contradict one's self." (EL)

Discusses the five steps in the persuasive sequence used by Joseph Priestly in his scientific writing and adapted for use in teaching business communication. (FL)

Describes a grading option used by technical writing faculty members at Ohio State University that allows students to complete reports on their own in order to learn to work without supervision. (FL)

Suggests assigning students a spontaneous "how-to" paper the first day of class to clarify the need for audience and purpose considerations. (HTH)

Argues that technical writing should be limited to the study and teaching of pragmatic conventions relevant to actual technical communication situations. Specifically examines whether proposal writing should be included in technical writing instruction, and the place of empirical research as criteria for determining relevant conventions. (HTH)

Provides a compilation of potential publishing opportunities for researchers and writers interested in placing articles in professional journals and magazines. (AEA)

Offers suggestions to business communicators on how to write a thoughtful and clearsighted corporate history. (AEA)

Explores the relationship between technical writers and their editors, suggesting ways to defuse defensive attitudes. Recommends providing students opportunities to edit other students' works to learn first hand the sensitivities inherent to the author/editor relationship. (HTH)

Suggests emphasizing, reviewing, and applying the basic skills taught in freshman composition--thesis statement, basic expository patterns, organization, transitions--in the technical writing course to ease the transition from freshman essay to technical report. Presents a chart illustrating the parallel structures of the technical report and the…

Discusses the importance of audience awareness in technical writing and offers suggestions to help students characterize the readers of their writing. (AEA)