The present article describes and evaluates collaborative interdisciplinary group projects initiated by content lecturers and an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) instructor for the purpose of teaching technical writing skills in an aeronautical engineering degree program. The proposed technical writing model is assessed against the results of a…

Recent scholarship on global online courses points to the need to examine the issue of social context in an online global learning environment. To explore global learners' cultural perspectives on the social climate of an online class, we first review the social presence theory--which can be used to examine the social climate in an online…

This research article reports the results of an online survey distributed among technical writing instructors in 2006. The survey aimed to examine how we teach intercultural communication in basic technical writing courses: our current practices and methods. The article discusses three major challenges that instructors may face when teaching about…

To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better…

Some struggles for prestige in academic technical communication are self-defeating and wasteful because of the clash between the material (or positive-sum) economy of the workplace and the positional (or zero-sum) economy of the academy. Some professors of technical communication create disrespect for themselves and their specialties because they…

Describes the history of the development of the paper sewing pattern, discusses the role personal communications with consumers played as the genre evolved, and offers observations on the kinds of instruction provided by sewing machine and pattern companies. Concludes that once a genre is sufficiently established to become a standard, industries…

Outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that precedes an advanced English as a second language (ESL) writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University, Poland. Finds a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the TWT. Indicates that technical writing books and journals…

Examines the use of French and Dutch personal and possessive pronouns in the first person plural in internal communication documents. Focuses on the link between text types and the use of inclusive, exclusive, or ambiguous "we." Demonstrates that managers can exploit personal pronouns strategically and that the use of "we" is a parameter for…

Carries out a meta-analysis to see if there might be a positive effect for colored paper overall on survey result rates. Finds no significant differences between the response rates to white and to colored paper in general. Notes that when considering separately the most common colors used, it appeared that pink paper had the greatest effect. (SG)

Traces the ways in which educational researchers referred to Ronald A. Fisher's analysis of variance (ANOVA) between 1932 and 1944 in the "Journal of Experimental Education" (JXE). Shows how the changes in citational practices served to separate the ANOVA from its affiliation with Fisher, essentially effacing the memory of its human conditions of…

Provides and defends four guidelines as a foundation to study ways to incorporate history into classroom lessons: maintain a continued research interest in teaching history; limit to technical rather than scientific discourse; focus on English-language texts; and focus on American texts, authors, and practices. Works within the guidelines to show…

Investigates methods of program assessment used by corporate learning sites and profiles value added methods as a way to both construct and evaluate academic programs in technical communication. Examines and critiques assessment methods from corporate training environments including methods employed by corporate universities and value added…

Argues that technical communicators are in the position to foster users' commonsense understanding of products. Discusses different definitions of common sense and suggests that including scenarios, common metaphors, and language that promotes procedural knowledge in product information can strengthen users' commonsense understanding of the…

Argues that the portfolio deserves at very least a re-evaluation throughout academic (to say nothing of quotidian) life as an indispensable tool of the spirit of pedagogy. Suggests that Portfolio Process as a class or seminar should be integrated into undergraduate curriculum. Notes that the goal of the course is to link technical design education…

Examines literature written about annual reports to identify trends in research and determine areas of future study. Categorizes articles as related to regulations and guidelines, summary annual reports, online annual reports, rhetorical analysis of annual reports, readability and accessibility of annual reports, methods of conveying negative…