Lists 23 two-year colleges that offer an associate degree or a certificate or both in technical communication. (FL)

Poses questions--and some answers--essential to the development and expansion of technical communication offerings beyond the basic course in technical writing. (RL)

Describes how and why writing program administrators should get involved in developing a technical communication program. Discusses one such program, in which students are prepared as technical writers to enter the profession of technical communication. Suggests how to begin and how to develop ties with the industrial community. (HB)

Current training in writing for business and industry usually takes the form of short courses. However, the short course is an inappropriate way to teach writing because it is inefficient, represents writing behaviors or strategies inappropriate for some writers, rarely allows time for adequate criticism and revision, presents too much material in…

Describes the development and operation of the MIT Technical Writing Cooperative, a means of writing across the curriculum that has been used for more than 25 years. (FL)

Provides survey results indicating the relative health of undergraduate writing programs in four-year universities. Reports a significant increase in undergraduate writing programs. However, technical and professional writing programs are not increasing as rapidly as a new broad-based program encompassing creative writing, composition, journalism,…

A Master of Arts in Technical and Expository Writing program has been implemented in the English department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Designed to make future teachers and technical writers into better writers, the program gives them a larger view of the writing process in which they are participating. Three required courses…

Describes a technical writing course built around student-designed projects. Argues that the course allows students to address worthwhile problems and to research and present their material in proposals, feasibility studies, research reports, and other appropriate forms. (SRT)

According to the 1980-81 edition of the "Occupational Outlook Handbook," the market for graduates of technical communication programs is good and likely to get better during the 1980s, especially in the areas of electronics and computer and environmental science. The first step in setting up a technical communication program at a college or…

Lists books, articles, and reviews appearing in 1982 that dealt with some aspect of technical writing. (FL)

Noting that technically competent graduates of professional schools need additional skills to function effectively in an increasingly complex and global society, this paper describes an innovative program in technical writing developed for undergraduate engineering students at the Colorado School of Mines. The paper first provides background…

The English department of a technical college has developed a writing program that uses real audiences and real situations to better prepare students for the communication requirements of their professions. The exercises for each class are focused on the course content. In an advanced technical communication course, senior design, the students are…

Discusses the training skills, course content, and methodology needed to create a good business writing program for a company. (SR)

To be actively involved in their own writing requires that students make decisions. In order to build a new approach for our Technical/Professional Writing classes, we assessed our individual teaching practices and past experiences, studied current scholarship on teaching writing, and conducted research on technical writing in our local community.…

The J. M. Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia has developed a program that integrates the teaching of writing skills with the regular accounting courses. Students in a three-course sequence write a total of eight papers--technical, memos, or reports--in assignments that resemble writing tasks encountered by professional…