Technical Communication Quarterly Jul 2002

Conversations with Technical Writing Teachers: Defining a Problem

Bonita R. Selting

Abstract

Abstract This article brings to light a topic that surfaces regularly among technical writing practitioners and theorists but is rarely addressed in the literature of the field. Stuart Selber deals with it in his 1997 essay "Hypertext Spheres of Influence" (see especially page 30), but a check of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) Bibliography for the last two years produced only one recent article obviously devoted to it (see Mitra). The topic centers around this question: Is teaching technology problematic for technical writing instructors? Voices are heard here of 64 ATTW members who were queried on their roles as teachers of technical writing in relation to the demands made upon them to also be teachers of technology skills. Answers are presented and examined in terms of "teacher lore," the informal sharing of teacher experiences and opinion/feeling about those experiences. The article concludes with a call for more research to clarify the roles teachers of technical writing should be playing in an age where technological determinism—shown by a tendency to turn a technical communication course into a software tools course—can be seen as a threat to effective teaching of complex workplace rhetoric.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2002-07-01
DOI
10.1207/s15427625tcq1103_2
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism teacher development technical communication digital rhetoric
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Ranade et al. (2020)
    Humanistic communication in information centric workplaces
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Friess et al. (2018)
    Cultivating a Sense of Belonging: Using Twitter to Establish a Community in an …
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  3. Mogull (2014)
    Integrating Online Informative Videos into Technical Communication Service Courses
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Garrison (2014)
    The Scientist, Philosopher, and Rhetorician: The Three Dimensions of Technical …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Brumberger (2007)
    Making the Strange Familiar: A Pedagogical Exploration of Visual Thinking
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 7 →
  1. McGovern (2007)
    Training Teachers and Serving Students: Applying Usability Testing in Writing P…
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  2. Wolfe et al. (2005)
    The Computer Expert in Mixed-Gendered Collaborative Writing Groups
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 8 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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