Teachers at all levels of college instruction use service learning, a popular pedagogical tool since the mid-eighties, to teach students both social consciousness and pragmatic, real-world writing skills. This article explores the concept of service learning as rhetorical action in the field of technical communication in general, and the question of whether service learning is appropriate in beginning level technical writing courses. Using my experience through two years of service learning instruction in community college classes, I respond to the charge that students in lower-division courses may lack the maturity to successfully enact service learning assignments. I also analyze the appropriateness of the community college as a catalyst for community-based writing projects.

Part-time technical writing teachers who responded to a 1986–87 survey of two-year college technical writing teachers were found to be committed to teaching, well-qualified, experienced, personally involved, and typically employed full time as technical writers or editors. This finding calls into question the unfavorable stereotypical view of part-timers held by individuals and professional organizations. Because of their unique position as full-time practitioners of the skills they teach, part-time technical writing teachers can serve as an important link between teaching technical writing and business/industry.

Conceptual and empirical research were combined to develop information concerning the kinds of papers appropriate for lower-division technical writing in various kinds of institutions: the community college, the technical institute, the four-year college or small university, and the multi-purpose university. Relationships were studied between types of papers rated highly appropriate by teachers of technical writing and types of institutions as well as instructional aims. Also studied were those teachers' suggestions for specialized kinds of papers. The author discusses the implications of this research for determining instructional aims of lower-division technical writing courses in four-year institutions.

Mail survey research exists which can provide guidelines in the development of two-year college technical communications curriculum. This paper describes what surveys exist; where they have been reported; and what they have found. Close examination reveals that there are areas of research saturation and areas of research deficiency. By developing new types of questions to cover these areas of research deficiency, future researchers will be able to analyze vital new areas of knowledge.

This article discusses an attempt to match the student characteristics in sections of technical report writing in a community college setting so as to determine if different teaching methodologies affected performance and/or attitudes. As many similarities as possible in the general characteristics of age, background field of study, and initial attitude towards the course were sought in order to measure the effect of a variance in presentation of material. The first class was taught by the traditional lecture technique; the second, by individual consultation.

The transition from teacher of literature to teacher of technical writing was both a matter of choice and a matter of necessity. By choice I teach in a community college. But the subjects I teach and the manner in which I teach them are largely influenced by the nature of the institution and the students. The institution, committed to the concept of extending educational opportunity to all, attracts a uniquely heterogeneous student body who prefer occupationally oriented programs.

This article describes a faculty development exercise implemented at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in 1975. If one makes the supposition that one output of faculty development is increased intracollege communication among various groups of employees, then the exercise was a remarkable success. We believe that the “show and tell” attitude could be used profitably in business and industry as well. The authors and implementors of this particular communications exercise would like to hear from others who emulate this model or a similar one. We did not gather sufficient feedback to make any generalizations about the long-term impact of such an exercise. We would be pleased to respond to questions about the exercise.

Because innovation without evaluation is often fruitless, the creator of a communication-oriented community college freshman English course converted a segment of this course into an individualized program and solicited detailed student appraisals. The sequence begins with dictionary study, reviews the principles of subordination, continues with studies in semantics and communication, and ends with practice in improving skills in writing letters and reports. The specific unit, converted into an individualized learning package, uses film and tape and enables the student to evaluate his own communication skills and teaches him how to write a concrete communication objective. Students' evaluations conclude the article and explicit student endorsements and criticisms are quoted.

Formal training in technical report writing is virtually non-existent in Australia. The technical colleges in the State of Victoria are the only tertiary institutes which have provided this sort of training for their graduates. The courses provided at the Swinburne College of Technology incorporate an unusual feature, in that the classes are conducted by two lecturers; one from the appropriate technical faculty and one from the General Studies faculty, each having supervisory control over different aspects of the course, but working together in close cooperation. This system, which has now been used for about ten years, has been remarkably successful, not only in the quality of reports produced by the students, but in breaking down the barriers between the staffs of the technical faculties and the humanities lecturers.

This paper discusses an interdisciplinary program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in which the student is trained in several communications media: data processing, engineering graphics, technical reporting (oral and written), as well as various options. Additional work in computer graphics and technical illustration is included.