Showing papers in "Technical Communication Quarterly in 2017"
TL;DR: A decade ago, I was struck by the realization that almost all of the scholarship in our field focuses on the technical communication that happens within organizations, or that is produced by organi...
Abstract: A decade ago, I was struck by the realization that almost all of the scholarship in our field focuses on the technical communication that happens within organizations, or that is produced by organi...
44 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that beyond a general advocacy of anti-institutional activity, de Certeau's notion of tactics provides no clear application beyond social justice beyond general advocacy.
Abstract: Tactical technical communication research suggests its application to social justice. However, beyond a general advocacy of anti-institutional activity, de Certeau’s notion of tactics provides no d...
43 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a small-scale study examining science-focused crowdfunding proposals from Kickstarter.com is presented, which explores the rhetoric of these proposals with respect to traditional grant funding proposals in the sciences and aims to understand how the language of science may be imported into this popular genre.
Abstract: Crowdfunding is a novel mechanism for garnering monetary support from the online public, and increasingly it is being used to fund science. This article reports a small-scale study examining science-focused crowdfunding proposals from Kickstarter.com. By exploring the rhetoric of these proposals with respect to traditional grant funding proposals in the sciences, this study aims to understand how the language of science may be imported into this popular genre.
38 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the practices of writers in online discussion board conversations as they interpret technical documents related to a psychiatric diagnosis, and argued that writers in this context interpret and manipulate medical knowledge in unique ways that benefit the community.
Abstract: This article examines the practices of writers in online discussion board conversations as they interpret technical documents related to a psychiatric diagnosis. Drawing from interviews with 15 participants, the author argues that writers in this context interpret and manipulate medical knowledge in unique ways that benefit the community. The author concludes that studies in technical communication should take into account all groups affected by specialized knowledge, including those with little expertise or social power.
32 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Jihadist tactical technical communication persuades individuals to act by creating identification between individuals and audiences, and by associating terrorist tactics with everyday practices such as cooking, which is known as tactical technical communications.
Abstract: Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Jihadist organizations such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have focused increasingly on motivating unaffiliated individuals in the United States and Western countries to carry out lone-wolf attacks in their home countries. To this end, many Jihadist organizations produce what is known as tactical technical communication. Jihadist tactical technical communication persuades individuals to act by creating identification between individuals and audiences, and by associating terrorist tactics with everyday practices such as cooking.
29 citations
TL;DR: This study examines 233 questions and their answers on the social message board site Reddit, identifying the effort needed to generate technical explanations as distributed and coordinative technical communication work.
Abstract: The genre of technical description is seeing a resurgence, particularly in online locations, where new, hybrid versions have emerged. The technical explanation, one such hybrid, proliferates on the social message board site Reddit and the message board “Explain Like I’m Five,” in which answers to complex questions are crowdsourced. This study examines 233 such questions and their answers, identifying the effort needed to generate technical explanations as distributed and coordinative technical communication work.
29 citations
TL;DR: The authors explore how to use a four-level framework of technological literacy along with existing resources to design a course to help students use, understand, and evaluate technical communication technology.
Abstract: Understanding technological literacy for technical communicators is crucial for effective pedagogy in technical and professional communication. Challenges of teaching technical communication studen...
26 citations
TL;DR: Recommendations for training online TPC faculty to teach with social media are offered for those who train online T PC faculty as well as for the teachers themselves.
Abstract: The author reports on social media research in technical and professional communication (TPC) training through a national survey of 30 professional and technical communication programs asking about...
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine central factors that technical communication instructors must understand and address to offer effective online educational experiences to globally distributed students, and identify the friction points that need to be addressed.
Abstract: International interest in technical communication education is growing as more individuals gain online access worldwide. This factor means technical communication educators might find themselves developing online classes for students located in other nations. Doing so requires an understanding of aspects affecting international interactions in such educational contexts. This article examines central factors—or friction points—that technical communication instructors must understand and address to offer effective online educational experiences to globally distributed students.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case-based theoretical exercise designed to investigate the role that ethics, culture, and artistry play in scientific illustration is presented, and the authors argue that scientific illustrations work as epistemological devices because they are culturally mediated constructions imbued with personal, organizational, and disciplinary trust.
Abstract: This article is a case-based theoretical exercise designed to investigate the role that ethics, culture, and artistry play in scientific illustration. In this article, the author theorizes a visual model of cultural interplay and scientific illustration in the creation of scientific knowledge and argues that scientific illustrations work as epistemological devices because they are culturally mediated constructions imbued with personal, organizational, and disciplinary trust, and shaped by the embedded cultural worldviews.
16 citations
TL;DR: The article further explains the ways in which program administrators at other institutions can create their own usability testing protocols for formative online teacher training in course design and in principles of user-centered design.
Abstract: This article reports on an effort by the authors to use usability testing as a component of online teacher training for their multimajor technical communication course. The article further explains the ways in which program administrators at other institutions can create their own usability testing protocols for formative online teacher training in course design and in principles of user-centered design.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review scholarly and trade publications that describe changes in roles and needed skills in component content management (CCM) environments and identify implications of these changes for TC education.
Abstract: Component content management (CCM) enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver content as small components rather than entire documents. As CCM methodologies, processes, and technologies are increasingly adopted, CCM is reshaping technical communication (TC), the roles of technical communicators, and the skills they need for career success. This article reviews scholarly and trade publications that describe changes in roles and needed skills in CCM environments and identifies implications of these changes for TC education.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed training instructors with master courses and building a sustained program through a participatory design to create a professional and integrated environment for online writing courses at the University of Arizona.
Abstract: Online writing courses have developed in importance to meet student learning and institutional expectations; over time, a controversy about training online instructors and building sustainable programs has emerged. This article relates training demands within the University of Arizona’s Writing Program and development of an online professional & technical writing certificate. The article proposes training instructors with master courses and building a sustained program through a participatory design to create a professional and integrated environment.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report survey results and three cases studies that provide information on contingent faculty and their preparation for online teaching and then provide a three-step approach for TPC program administrators and faculty to follow so that programs can create sustainable professional development opportunities for contingent faculty to teach online.
Abstract: Technical and professional communication (TPC) programs rely on contingent faculty to achieve their curricular mission. However, contingent faculty lack professional development opportunities. In this article, the author reports survey results (N = 91) and three cases studies that provide information on contingent faculty and their preparation for online teaching and then provides a three-step approach for TPC program administrators and faculty to follow so that programs can create sustainable professional development opportunities for contingent faculty to teach online.
TL;DR: Data presented suggest cultural and linguistic diversity should be embedded and streamlined across all aspects of online technical communication programs.
Abstract: This article addresses emerging calls for online education and cross-cultural technical communication training, specifically by outlining and reporting on the development and sustainability of two online programs: the graduate online technical and professional writing certificate and the emerging undergraduate bilingual professional writing certificate at the University of Texas at El Paso. Data presented suggest cultural and linguistic diversity should be embedded and streamlined across all aspects of online technical communication programs.
TL;DR: The authors present how graduate students are prepared to teach writing online at three universities and then synthesize three principles that can guide effective OWI preparation for graduate students in any program: immersion, reflection, and failure.
Abstract: A common challenge facing those who prepare graduate students to teach writing online is the need to help those students connect online writing instruction (OWI) theory with their classroom practic...
TL;DR: In this paper, a new concept that marries recent parallel turns to ethics and invention is proposed, called responsibility, which is defined by German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a stranger to the field.
Abstract: To make technical communication scholarship more reflective of the complexity of work done by such communicators, a new concept that marries recent parallel turns to ethics and invention is needed. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a stranger to the field, offers such a concept: responsibility. It covers more explanatory ground than the most cited of ethical concepts, deliberation, and most importantly, centers ethics and invention squarely within the technical communicator’s relationship to language.
TL;DR: The controversy surrounding the ending of Mass Effect 3 serves as a case study of a company's rejection of co-creation with customers as discussed by the authors, which has implications for technical communicators who increasingly are collaborating with users in co-creative relationships.
Abstract: The controversy surrounding the ending of Mass Effect 3 serves as a case study of a company’s rejection of co-creation with customers. The game designers and players battled for control of the aesthetic space of the game. The company failed to resolve their conflict effectively, allowing players to use social media to transform tactical action into strategic action. This case study has implications for technical communicators who increasingly are collaborating with users in co-creative relationships.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce an online internship course focused on workplace communication available to students across the United States, and explore how to train educators to teach online internship courses, which can be used to train a new generation of educators.
Abstract: This article explores how to train educators to teach online internship courses. The article introduces an online internship course focused on workplace communication available to students across t...
TL;DR: In this article, a case study using ethnographic and visual methods to investigate the framing activity of engineering students was presented, finding that students use the rhetorical figure of ''the rhetorical figure'' for framing activity.
Abstract: This article presents a case study using ethnographic and visual methods to investigate the framing activity of engineering students. Findings suggest students use the rhetorical figure of ...
TL;DR: The authors traces the reception of a science comic book by various audiences including readers and reviewers after publication as well as grant application review committees vetting the proposed project in its conceptual stage, and observes that the stigmatization of comics as a medium played some role in how readers, critics, and reviewers responded to the text.
Abstract: This article traces the reception of a “science comic book” by various audiences including readers and reviewers after publication as well as grant application review committees vetting the proposed project in its conceptual stage. Specifically, the work is a biology textbook containing comics-style visual explanations couched in the form of an imaginative story interwoven with and supplementing traditional text-based explanations of the same ideas. The analysis uses Genette’s concept of “paratexts” (i.e., a class of speech genres comprising those supplementary texts that contextualize and inform readers’ interpretations of the primary text that they accompany) to examine the rhetoric of the visual in the discourse of science education. This analysis observes that the stigmatization of comics as a medium played some role in how readers, critics, and reviewers responded to the text. The implications of this stigma for cultural conceptions of science and their relationships to other knowledge domain...
TL;DR: A pedagogical framework and model for how QR can be productively interwoven with the rhetorical know-how of technical writing pedagogy is offered.
Abstract: The authors argue that skills in quantitative literacy (QL) and quantitative reasoning (QR) augment students’ communicative effectiveness. This article offers a pedagogical framework and model for how QR can be productively interwoven with the rhetorical know-how of technical writing pedagogy. The authors describe their course redesign, present preliminary assessment data, and conclude by highlighting some implications not only for student learning, but also for the QL movement itself.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the professional development strategies and coaching skills necessary for technical and professional communication (TPC) instructors and/or practitioners to serve in this role in online course development training.
Abstract: Online course material development requires much writing, often catching faculty by surprise because of either the sheer volume or the specialized role and function of writing in an online only and multimodal environment. technical and professional communication (TPC) faculty are uniquely suited to coach faculty in producing readable writing for online courses. This article explores the professional development strategies and coaching skills necessary for TPC instructors and/or practitioners to serve in this role in online course development training.
TL;DR: In this paper, the subject in the Age of Document is defined as a set of varieties of documents (e.g., a document is a collection of documents) and a person is defined by these documents.
Abstract: “… one doesn’t simply ‘have documents,’ increasingly a person is a set of varieties of documents” (Latour & Woolgar, 1979, p. 127)Ronald E. Day’s Indexing it All: The Subject in the Age of Document...
TL;DR: The book Rhetorical Touch by Shannon Walters as mentioned in this paper opens with a reference to 18th-century philosopher Etienne Bonnot, abbe de Condillac's Treatise of the Sensations in which he argues that all other sens...
Abstract: The book Rhetorical Touch by Shannon Walters opens with a reference to 18th-century philosopher Etienne Bonnot, abbe de Condillac’s Treatise of the Sensations in which he argues that all other sens...
TL;DR: As complex and adaptive environments, workplaces have long been a subject of study in the field of technical communication and an area of concern in Clay Spinuzzi's scholarship as mentioned in this paper, which is a topic of interest in this paper.
Abstract: As complex and adaptive environments, workplaces have long been a subject of study in the field of technical communication and an area of concern in Clay Spinuzzi’s scholarship. In All Edge, howeve...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how to incorporate extralocated faculty and how to prepare willing and eligible faculty for extalocated teaching, research, and service in technical communication programs.
Abstract: Tenure-line faculty—teaching onsite or online—are typically perceived as resident scholars and instructors who live local to their institutions. A geographically diversified tenure-line faculty, however, could also serve the education of students by bringing a wider array of influences and opportunities to the online classroom. Programs in technical communication must examine how to incorporate extralocated faculty and how to prepare willing and eligible faculty for extralocated teaching, research, and service.