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Ashlei Woelk asked:
>I am in a technical writing/web design course. For our major project, we
are
>putting together a comprehensive web site that would be a resource for
>graduate level technical writing teachers teaching a course similar to the
>one we are taking. As part of this project I must compile a list of a few
>topics concerning technical writing on a web site that the professor might
>wish to cover in such a course. This is my first technical writing
course.
>Could anyone offer any advice on topics a professor would want to cover in
>such a course?
There are two answers to this.
(1) Your professor may already have such a list in mind. If s/he is the kind
of teacher who grants high marks only for the expected answer, you need to
check out your own curriculum and provide a list based on the list of topics
*you* are covering.
(2) Your professor wants you to do some original thinking and supply an
answer that will surprise, interest, tantalise, and intrigue her/him. If so,
I suggest you go poke around the http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ website
(I suggest this as a good starting point, absolutely not as the be-all and
end-all of your research), following links, taking notes, and outlining the
kind of technical writing curriculum you *wish* you were being offered.
Those are two extremes. The chances are that your professor falls somewhere
between the two: s/he expects some kind of "reasonable" curriculum, but is
hoping for some indication you have thought about it a little. But if it
were me, I would go for option 2 - it's a lot more fun, and most academics I
know, while they will give someone who goes for the safely correct answer a
safe pass mark, really enjoy reading an answer that isn't 100% the same as
everyone else's.
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Digital Bridges, Scotland
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone. Apologies
for the long additional sig: it is added automatically and outwith my
control.
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