The Founding of ATTW and its Journal

Don Cunningham, the founding editor of The Technical Writing Teacher and a founding member of ATTW, recalls key moments in the history of ATTW and its journal, and the people who shaped the organization in its early years.     

The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing: The Emergence of Professional Identity

This article attempts to summarize the history of ATTW. It focuses on issues that led to the need for an organization devoted to technical writing, and the individuals who were leaders in ATTW, as well as in NCTE and CCCC, whose efforts provided the foundation for the presence of technical writing as a legitimate teaching and research discipline. We draw on existing historical pieces and the contributions provided by many of the first ATTW members to capture the history of ATTW. We describe the major changes in ATTW from 1973–2007 and conclude with our reflections, as well as important questions we believe to be critical to the future of ATTW     

Results of a Survey, of ATTW Members, 2003

This article presents the results of an April 2003 electronic survey of ATTW members. Results and interpretations are categorized as follows: a professional profile of respondents; member observations about ATTW and its activities (member participation, appraisal of benefits, and preferred topics for TCQ); and current issues and views of the field's future.     

Conversations with Technical Writing Teachers: Defining a Problem

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.     

How Much is Enough? The Assessment of Student Work in Technical Communication Courses

This article reports the findings of a national survey of members of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW). The survey focuses on practices of assessing student classroom work and specifically asked technical writing instructors what they assess, how they assess, and what they would like to do to assess their students optimally. In addition to reporting responses to these questions, the article concludes with recommendations for improving student assessment practices at the departmental, programmatic, and course levels.     

How Much is Enough? The Assessment of Student Work in Technical Communication Courses

This article reports the findings of a national survey of members of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW). The survey focuses on practices of assessing student classroom work and specifically asked technical writing instructors what they assess, how they assess, and what they would like to do to assess their students optimally. In addition to reporting responses to these questions, the article concludes with recommendations for improving student assessment practices at the departmental, programmatic, and course levels.     

校庆的实然与应然——大学文化建构视界下的校庆探究

文化是大学的精神和灵魂,校庆理应是追寻办学足迹、总结办学经验、培植大学文化、提升大学品位、展示大学风貌的教育节、文化节。而现实的校庆却在一定程度上存在着背离文化本真的现象。对校庆之问题从文化的视角对其进行深入解析,从而探寻校庆创造性和实效性的建构途径,其基本理念应是:校庆不仅从理论上应该充分体现出大学文化的内核,而且在实践上它也完全可以担当起文化建构的重任,成为大学文化建构的契机。     

太平天国运动中晚清建军机制的转型及其后患

随着晚清历史的推移,八旗绿营的建军弊端日渐显露。它们在太平天国运动初期的不堪一击迫使清统治者开始了建军机制的转型历程。但湘军模式在建军机制转型中的浓郁宗法性和思想武器的落后性使之遗留了诸多后患,加速了晚清传统政治构架的解体。     

The Impact of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment on Technical and Professional Communication Programs

Because of accreditation, budget, and accountability pressures at the institutional and program levels, technical and professional communication faculty are more than ever involved in assessment-based activities. Using assessment to identify a program's strengths and weaknesses allows faculty to work toward continuous improvement based on their articulation of learning and behavioral goals and outcomes for their graduates. This article describes the processes of program assessment based on pedagogical goals, pointing out options and opportunities that will lead to a meaningful and manageable experience for technical communication faculty, and concludes with a view of how the larger academic body of technical communication programs can benefit from such work. As ATTW members take a careful look at the state of the profession from the academic perspective, we can use assessment to further direct our programs to meet professional expectations and, far more importantly, to help us meet the needs of the well-educated technical communicator.     

中国大学办学自主权的历史与现实

在界定西方的“大学自治”与新中国“办学自主权”概念的异同的基础上,从新中国建立以来的三个历史阶段纵向追溯“办学自主权”的历史轨迹,可以明确地认为：虽然中国的大学从成立之日起,其灵魂就已被两千多年来的封建集权思想所禁锢,但是自从中华人民共和国成立以来颁布了多个关于自主办学的法律法规,中国大学就坚持了一种理念一大学之所以为大学的精神是在于大学的自治性和学术自由。毫无疑问,中国高等教育体制创新的根本途径和中国高等教育管理改革的必然选择是——大学自治!     

The Impact of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment on Technical and Professional Communication Programs

Because of accreditation, budget, and accountability pressures at the institutional and program levels, technical and professional communication faculty are more than ever involved in assessment-based activities. Using assessment to identify a program's strengths and weaknesses allows faculty to work toward continuous improvement based on their articulation of learning and behavioral goals and outcomes for their graduates. This article describes the processes of program assessment based on pedagogical goals, pointing out options and opportunities that will lead to a meaningful and manageable experience for technical communication faculty, and concludes with a view of how the larger academic body of technical communication programs can benefit from such work. As ATTW members take a careful look at the state of the profession from the academic perspective, we can use assessment to further direct our programs to meet professional expectations and, far more importantly, to help us meet the needs of the well-educated technical communicator.     

南京国民政府行政法院创建问题考

考察南京国民政府行政法院的创建问题,大体要析辨它的筹备过程、开始运作的时间、组织结构、组织依据与性质定位等问题。通过对与南京国民政府行政法院有关文献资料的研究,以期较为清晰地呈现出南京国民政府行政法院的创建脉络,较为全面地评价它的创建背景与创建意义。作为民国时期的一个特别行政审判机关,南京国民政府行政法院的创建过程历尽艰难且多不尽如人意,但从其组织结构的搭建、人员的选聘,到其创建依据的制定等方面情况看,它也是旧中国行政诉讼制度建设的有益探索,在中国的司法发展史上也有一定的地位。     

中国共产党初创时期的组织结构特点及其制度化进程

中国共产党组织的创生带有两个明显的表象特征:第一,它不是从议会内部演生而来,而是以反政府的面目出现,属于传统体制之外的"外源性"政党组织。这一特点决定了党的组织结构必须建立在高度一体化的基础之上,并辅之以刚性组织纪律,以便发挥其作用;第二,它的建立和发展借助了两种外在支持力量:一为共产国际的原则指导,二为中国国民党的组织平台。这两种力量对中国共产党组织发展所施加的影响,体现在两个方面:其积极的一面就是缩短了组织的创生过程,并加快了发展进度;其消极的一面就是弱化了政党领袖和组织的权威性与自主性,从而导致政党内部党员个体组织效忠意识一定程度的削弱。除此之外,这一时期的中国共产党依照民主集中制原则构建其组织结构,使其制度化的进程不断加快。     

“浙江模式”独立学院的优势、困境与出路

浙江省是我国独立学院创办的先发地。独立学院“浙江模式”对我国独立学院办学影响较大。这一办学模式较好地坚持了独立学院办学公益性原则,办学质量有保证,办学规模扩张速度快,对母体高校的回报大,是当前我国独立学院主要的一种办学模式。但面对独立学院在新时期的发展,这一办学模式也同样暴露出办学条件不足、办学投入不足、办学体制不顺、办学特色缺乏、产权过户困难、发展空间堪忧、独立依附两难的问题,亟待寻找新的出路,促进其健康可持续发展。     

论中国共产党创建的生产力基础

近代以来特别是民国初期,中国先进生产力的发展是中国共产党创建的根本基础,它不仅为中国共产党的创建培育了经济土壤,而且为中国共产党的创建准备了政治、阶级和思想等方面的社会条件.研究中国共产党创建的生产力基础有助于深化对党成立的历史必然性和党的先进性的认识,有助于深刻理解党的历史使命和党领导民主革命的道理所在,有助于认真领会党提出"三个代表"重要思想和坚持先进生产力标准的重大意义.     

Conditions and Prospects in Higher-Education Policy Planning

I have taken the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the University of Bielefeld to ask whether this university has been able to fill the role originally ascribed to it and develop a commensurate identity. This reflection on an innovative concept and its special background conditions should not, however, sidetrack me into reproducing a mood in terms of which the present situation is lamented, and the founding years, in which Utopias and experiments were still called for, are acclaimed. Rather, I should like to attempt a critical balance sheet and, on its basis, sketch some indications of future prospects and the problem-solving potential of the University of Bielefield.     

建党初期中共推进马克思主义传播的历史经验探析

马克思主义在中国的传播是中国共产党创建的重要历史条件。建党初期,马克思主义在中国传播进入了新的历史阶段,中共将推进马克思主义传播作为自身重要职责,深化对内容体系的把握,积极拓展渠道、途径,努力扩大群众基础,坚持与错误思想作斗争,积累了宝贵的历史经验,对新时期加强党的思想建设具有积极的借鉴意义。     

新中国成立以来中国共产党政党外交发展脉络

中国共产党政党外交是中国总体外交的重要组成部分,新中国成立60年来,中国共产党政党外交与时俱进,在继承中发展,在发展中创新。新中国成立后至改革开放前,中国共产党在艰辛探索中启动政党外交;以党的十一届三中全会为标志,中国共产党政党外交工作进入了一个新的历史阶段,中国共产党政党外交在调整中恢复拓展;十三届四中全会以来,中国共产党政党外交在新时期继承发展完善。1997年,党的十五大提出了跨世纪对外工作指导方针：要坚持在独立自主、完全平等、互相尊重、互不干涉内部事务原则的基础上,同一切愿与我党交往的各国政党发展新型的党际交流和合作关系,促进国家关系的发展;以江泽民为核心的第三代中央领导集体和党的十六大产生的以胡锦涛为总书记的新的中央领导集体高度重视政党外交工作,在政党外交中,锐意进取,承传创新,为党和国家的建设发挥了自身的能动作用。     

长沙百年老校创立之初的教育经费与师资聘用问题微探——以部分名校为研究对象

长沙百年老校创立发展的悠久历史是中国教育界的奇葩,对其创校、治校、办学、育人等经验或模式的学习和探索,也一直是教育界研究和关注的重点。长沙百年老校大都创立于清末、发展于民国、大成于新中国建立之后,历经坎坷却又成绩斐然,特别是其创立之初的师资聘用和教育经费问题,对近现代教育事业仍有重要的影响,尤其是对私立学校的发展有极大的借鉴和启示作用。     

民族主义的概念及起源

民族主义的基础是民族，对民族主义概念的探讨首先要涉及民族的概念。作为一个起源于西欧的概念，近代民族主义的形成过程同时也是西欧民族国家的构建过程，构建民族国家的过程促进了近代民族主义的形成，民族主义的形成又促进了民族国家的建构，二者完全是相辅相成的。民族主义所具有的巨大感召力，以及它在西欧民族国家构建中的成功，对其它的民族和国家产生了强大的示范效应。但民族主义同时又是一把双刃剑，我们应理性地看待它。