TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
RE: suggestions needed for teaching a introductory college course in technical writing
Subject:RE: suggestions needed for teaching a introductory college course in technical writing From:Kathryn Marshall <kmarsh9540 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 21 May 2001 14:22:15 -0700 (PDT)
I majored in technical writing and had Karen Shriver
as a professor for a few courses (she wrote Dynamics
in Document Design). I wish we had more books like the
ones that have been suggested. Someone posed the
question, what are the goals of the class? Is it one
class that's part of a degree or certification
program? Or is it supposed to teach the student
anything and everything about tech writing (one-stop
shop)?
I think it will be difficult to combine classes on
graphics, HTML, style and grammar, audience analysis,
interviewing SME's, etc. into one huge course. When I
was in college, I took several writing and computer
classes - which all contributed to my tech writing
degree. The best class I took was a course called
Professional and Technical Writing (another one
Shriver taught). We learned everything from writing
the basic resume and cover letter, to writing
corporate memos and correspondence, to the big finale
- a real documentation project. We had to go out and
find a project and use MS Project to create a timeline
(this was back in '91!). This was my first lesson in
interviewing SMEs, working with clients, audience
analysis, and time management. It was by far the most
fun and the most valuable class I've ever taken.
Hope that helps you come up with ideas for your class.
-Kathy Marshall
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by Information Mapping, Inc., a professional services firm
specializing in Knowledge Management and e-content solutions. See http://www.infomap.com or 800-463-6627 for more about our solutions.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
