As teachers of writing, rhetoric and professional communication, constantly we remind our students to analyze their audience and to start their work by considering what their audience expects and how they can best persuade them. So when considering how best to teach technical communication to college students, we as instructors should consider our audience, and Read More…
Teaching Group Work
The year is 2018 and for some inexplicable reason, I am loafing about in my introductory business management class in order to start what I presumably considered would become a lengthy and rewarding but inevitably unfulfilled career as an accountant. If I had ever read the syllabus to this class, I had swiftly and intentionally Read More…
Cathartic Realizations: Other TCP Teachers Struggle, Too!
As instructors of technical communication, I wonder if you’ve ever considered that our university doesn’t offer an undergraduate program specifically for technical communication. Our English department is growing and evolving and every year we gain new interest and new students, but like many collegiate institutions, we only offer undergraduates a taste of technical communication through Read More…
Visual Rhetoric
Thinking back to my undergraduate days, I was reflecting on the lessons my teachers tried to impart on me. The one that stands out as common and reinforced in 4 years of study was, “Most forms of human communication are non-verbal.” Body language can tell you a whole story without words. Professors stared into a Read More…
Ethics for Dummies
Alternatively: Teaching Ethics in a Void I’ve been teaching Bizcom for two semesters now and one thing is clear; the business field is not a very ethical one. Well, duh, you might say, there’s a reason the evil corporate overlord archetype exists. And yes, I would answer, I enjoy an “underdog vs. big business” Read More…
The Pedagogy of Plain Language
Plain language functions in two ways in the communications classroom: first, it is incumbent upon the instructor to use plain language while instructing students; second, that same instructor must teach their students the use of plain language.
Plain Language and How it Relates to Technical Writing
Something we always teach our technical writing students early on in the semester is the art of plain language, and why it’s a valuable skill when dealing with a broad audience. Kira Dreher, author of “Engaging Plain Language in the Technical Communication Classroom” does an incredible job at breaking down the benefits of plain language Read More…
What do we want? Microinternships!: Micro-internships as a possible solution to providing more students more opportunities.
Internships are an integral part of the undergraduate collegiate experience. Many programs require one, and students gain valuable skills from this hands-on learning. Students often seek multiple internship opportunities throughout their academic career, yet few are available for those in the first or second year of undergraduate studies. Micro-internships may be a solution., There is Read More…
Plain Language and Why Autocorrect is Racist
We English scholars are a bunch of snobs. There, I said it. Historically, English loves to gatekeep “correct” and “proper” English. Recent movements to decolonize the field have attempted to foster the ideology that no language usage is more correct than the other. And while anti-racist English standards are necessary, it’s also necessary to teach Read More…
Understand. Engage. Communicate. Help.
Who remembers dozing off in class because the professor goes on endless rants that make absolutely no sense and include words from other planets? I know I do.