An Article by the 2003 Award Winner CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical CommunicationEmergent Genres in Young Disciplines: The Case of Ethnological Science

Although the rhetoric of relatively stable scientific disciplines has been studied extensively, less attention has been paid to discourse formation in young disciplines. The author extends recent theories of genre and disciplinary discourse in a close rhetorical analysis of early papers in ethnological science. Practitioners apply extant rhetorical resources to new disciplinary problems as they learn to identify themselves as participants in a collective project. The young discipline “learns” its discourse from its practitioners.     

对我校医科类获选全国优秀博士学位论文的分析与思考

本文对复旦大学医科类三年来入选的全国优秀博士学位论文进行回顾与分析,认为博士生教育是一项系统工程,抓好各个培养环节,提高博士生教育的整体水平是这项工作能够取得成效的基础和保障;对今后如何采取措施加强博士生教育,进一步做好这项工作提出了建议。     

美国之健康传播研究

20世纪70年代前后,健康传播学在美国源起。如今,健康传播学已经成为一门独立的学科。由医患传播、健康传播运动、大众媒介上的健康传播、危机传播、健康传播中的新技术以及健康传播研究方法这六个方面可以对美国健康传播目前的研究问题、理论和方法进行分析与解读。     

The State of Research in Technical Communication

There have been many attempts to assess the state of research in our field. This article is our attempt to both (1) synthesize recent analyses, opinions, and conclusions concerning the status of technical communication research and (2) propose an action plan aimed at redirecting our field's agenda for its research. We explore these questions: What are the recent research trends in our field? What is and is not promising about our recent approaches to research? Where do we need to go next? What are the critical components for a new agenda for our research?     

Playing with Techne: A Propaedeutic for Technical Communication

Frustrated by textbooks that push technical communication students prematurely into workplace scenarios, as well as theories that condemn techne in order to advance a particular agenda, we offer a perspective on techne that respects the formative-not professional-situation of technical writing students and emphasizes the importance for technical writers to attend to history, artistry, and well-developed social relations in their work. We offer historically grounded, creative meditations on techne that emphasize its manifold nature: it is conversational, ingenious, cunning, full of trickery, and unpredictably artistic. Such meditations can replace overly complex workplace scenarios in technical communication classrooms, particularly when an instructor wishes to emphasize knowledge making rather than the mechanics and politics of document production.     

A Laboratory in Citizenship: Service Learning in the Technical Communication Classroom

This article presents an argument for and offers illustrations of service learning in technical communication courses and curricula. Alongside traditional internships that prepare students as future employees, service learning provides students with an education in engaged citizenship. This article reviews service-learning literature, discussing specifically the advantages of projects to students, faculty, and the community. The authors also describe three projects in which instructors and students integrated service learning and technical communication in innovative ways.     

Layered Literacies: A Theoretical Frame for Technical Communication Pedagogy

This article proposes a theoretical frame for technical communication peda- gogy based on six layered literacies: basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical. The layered literacies frame advocates diverse instruction in technical communication programs, ranging from the ancient art of rhetoric to the most contemporary of technologies, from basic reading and writing skills to ethical and critical situational analyses. The article also suggests how the frame can be applied to a program of study or individual course in order to establish teaching objectives; develop course and lesson activities; and assess pedagogical materials, students, and programs.     

Live-action Communication Design: A Technical How-To Video Case Study

This case study is based on a research through design project (RTD) that focuses on a technical communication video of the live-action format. It investigates the usability and design-implications of a live-action how-to video, by means of analyzing user-centered data such as YouTube analytics data, usability, and comprehension assessments. In the study, four key live-action video affordances are identified: verifiability, comparability, recordability, and visibility. The identification of these affordances when related to the users’ assessments resulted in several design implementations that would warrant sought-for communication efficacies. Findings show that some assumed efficacies appear to be mitigated by the complexity and the density of the video information. One implication of this is that the implementation of conventional video editing techniques and the addition of on-screen text that serve to make content briefer and more concise into instructional live-action videos requires the technical communicator’s careful consideration.