Playable Case Studies: A New Educational Genre for Technical Writing Instruction

ABSTRACT

A Playable Case Study (PCS) is a hybrid learning experience where students (1) participate in a fictional narrative that unfolds through an immersive, simulated environment and (2) engage in classroom activities and lessons that provide educational scaffolding and promote metacognition through in-game and out-of-game experiences. We present the Microcore PCS to illustrate the potential of this new type of experiential simulation that incorporates aspects of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) to increase immersion and teach workplace literacies in the technical communication classroom. We explore results from a pilot test of Microcore with an undergraduate technical communication course, identifying design strategies that worked well and others that led to improvements that are currently being incorporated. We also provide questions to prompt future research of playable case studies and discuss our findings in a broader context of technical communication pedagogy.     

Professional and Technical Communication in a Web 2.0 World

This article reports on results of a nationwide survey of alumni in professional and technical communication. It presents a series of snapshots from the results, including the types of texts written and valued, where those types are written, with and for whom, and with what technologies. A range of implications are explored.     

Training Technical and Professional Communication Educators for Online Internship Courses

ABSTRACT

This article explores how to train educators to teach online internship courses. The article introduces an online internship course focused on workplace communication available to students across the university. Approaches to training educators to teach this course include requiring educators to immerse themselves in experiential learning situations, leveraging innovative uses of contemporary technologies for communication, and reflecting on online teaching processes.     

Development of Technical Communication in China: Program Building and Field Convergence

This article examines the emergence of technical communication as an academic field in China from the perspectives of pedagogy, program building, market needs, professionalization, and local sociopolitical contexts. Highlighting the close disciplinary connections between translation and technical communication, it identifies visionary faculty with overseas experiences as national leaders in curriculum innovation. It also explores the close industry–academia connections facilitated by semi-open WeChat groups and existing approaches to building international partnerships with technical communicators in China.     

Assessing an Online Student Orientation: Impacts on Retention,Satisfaction, and Student Learning

To help prepare students for the rigors of an online master’s degree in technical and professional communication, I created a course-embedded online student orientation (OSO) structured by the community of inquiry theory of online learning. The study researched the effect of the OSO on student satisfaction, student perceptions of online learning, and students’ program retention. The OSO was effective in helping students to reflect on their learning and demonstrated students’ interest in peer collaboration.     

Faculty Incentives for Online Course Design, Delivery, and Professional Development

This quantitative study investigated the types and frequency of incentives for online instruction at non-profit institutions of higher education with an established teaching and learning development unit. While up to 70 % of institutions offer incentives, this support is not universal and varies by incentive type and purpose.     

Integrating Quantitative Literacy into Technical Writing Instruction

The authors argue that skills in quantitative literacy (QL) and quantitative reasoning (QR) augment students’ communicative effectiveness. This article offers a pedagogical framework and model for how QR can be productively interwoven with the rhetorical know-how of technical writing pedagogy. The authors describe their course redesign, present preliminary assessment data, and conclude by highlighting some implications not only for student learning, but also for the QL movement itself.     

Training Online Technical Communication Educators to Teach with Social Media: Best Practices and Professional Recommendations

ABSTRACT

The author reports on social media research in technical and professional communication (TPC) training through a national survey of 30 professional and technical communication programs asking about their use of social media in technical communication. This research forms the basis of recommendations for training online TPC faculty to teach with social media. The author offer recommendations throughout for those who train online TPC faculty as well as for the teachers themselves.     

Pseudotransactionality, Activity Theory, and Professional Writing Instruction

Pseodotransactionality—writing that Is patently designed by a student to meet teacher expectations rather than to perform the “real” function the teacher has suggested—is a problem that has frequently troubled writing teachers, especially professional writing teachers. This article attempts to analyze the problem from a sociohistorical perspective by using two Russian theoretical exports: (1) M. M. Bakhtin's concept of genre and (2) Vygotsklan activity theory. The article concludes by suggesting how a sociohistorical perspective mlght help to counteract pseudotransactionality In the professional writing classroom.     

Pseudotransactionality,Activity Theory,and Professional Writing Instruction

Pseodotransactionality—writing that Is patently designed by a student to meet teacher expectations rather than to perform the "real" function the teacher has suggested—is a problem that has frequently troubled writing teachers, especially professional writing teachers. This article attempts to analyze the problem from a sociohistorical perspective by using two Russian theoretical exports: (1) M. M. Bakhtin's concept of genre and (2) Vygotsklan activity theory. The article concludes by suggesting how a sociohistorical perspective mlght help to counteract pseudotransactionality In the professional writing classroom.     

Extralocating Faculty in Technical Communication

Tenure-line faculty—teaching onsite or online—are typically perceived as resident scholars and instructors who live local to their institutions. A geographically diversified tenure-line faculty, however, could also serve the education of students by bringing a wider array of influences and opportunities to the online classroom. Programs in technical communication must examine how to incorporate extralocated faculty and how to prepare willing and eligible faculty for extralocated teaching, research, and service.     

论教师专业化过程中大学教师的专业发展

大学教师专业发展是实现大学教师专业化的重要手段,而大学教师的专业发展有赖于良好的内在与外在环境,同时,大学教师专业发展的核心就是教学与科研的协调发展。而教学与科研并行发展的愿望和教学与科研不均衡发展的现实状况,要求我们应不断完善大学教师的科研与教学评价机制,而大学教师在关注教学质量的同时,也要充分意识到自己作为“学术人”的角色,提高自己的学术科研能力。     

浅谈本科毕业论文的写作与指导

从本科生毕业论文的选题、撰写、整理及答辩等环节出发,结合指导基础数学专业本科生毕业论文的实践经历,提出了一些看法与见解.     

体验式远程培训中的学习支持设计——来自教育技术能力建设项目的经验

2004年底,教育部师范司启动了全国中小学教师教育技术能力建设项目,该项目采用面对面及远程的方式对中小学教师进行教育技术培训.作为一种体验式的培训,在远程开展的过程中势必对学习支持会产生新的要求.本文即以教育技术能力建设项目的远程体验式培训试点为契机,采用基于设计的研究方法,对远程体验式培训的学习支持系统进行了设计、试用和改进.试点过程中,我们通过调查、问卷等方式对数据进行了收集和分析.结果表明:从体验学习的理解、行动、分享等方面关注学习支持,考虑到了教师的实际需要;体验学习的理解、行动(设计/创建)阶段都需要丰富案例的支持;在线学习共同体让学习者受益匪浅,体验学习的分享、交流与反思依赖于学习共同体.最后本文给出了改善学习支持系统设计的若干建议.     

A Case for Metic Intelligence in Technical and Professional Communication Programs

Metis is an underexplored rhetorical counterpart to phronesis that can be described as a flexible, innovative intelligence used in unexpected or unprecedented situations. This article explores metis in relation to techne, praxis, and phronesis, arguing that our programs should strive to cultivate students' metic intelligence through client projects and service-learning experiences. Adapting Agile project management strategies used in software development may offer one means of scaffolding this learning.     

继续教育与专业发展

继续教育是北京教育学院一项一以贯之的重要工作,对学院、特别是对承担继教任务的一线教师也始终是一个重大的挑战。教师必须加强对专业基础理论和专业基础知识、继续教育的理论和实践、中小学教育教学的学习和研究,不断提高自己的专业素养,不断推进自己的专业发展,从而把继续教育工作搞得又快又好。     

Online Communities of Practice: A Catalyst for Faculty Development

This article addresses the concept of communities of practice and how it has come of age for the professional development of professors as teachers. Thanks to current technological options, faculty developers can enhance the opportunity for the entire faculty to learn through the use of online communities. Designing a faculty development portal using community of practice concepts can be an effective means to jump-start, facilitate, develop, and sustain faculty involvement in academic communities.     

论研究性学习与指导

研究性学习是培养学生创造性学力的重要的学习活动，中小学实施研究性学习，是基础教育课程改革中学习方式的革命，是一场学与教的革命。它是培养学生具有创造性学力的生长点，也是教师施教的创新点。因此，教师应掌握研究性学习的特点，并努力成为指导研究性学习的专家。