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Subject:Re: Can you teach someone how to learn? From:kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 9 Oct 2002 12:13:04 -0600
Karen Casemier asks:
>Can you teach someone how to learn?
I assume you mean "can it be done via tech writing?"
I think it can. I think both Woody's Leonhard's "Word 97 Annoyances" and
the Princeton Review's "Cracking the GMAT" series are good examples of
tech writing that teaches you how to *think* like the thing you're using.
Both do more than tell you HOW to do stuff. They offer insight into the
kind of thinking that went into the creation of the software (GMAT tests
are all software-driven, and adapt to the skill of the test subject), and
help you anticipate the curves these software products have a tendency to
throw at us.
While the concept of one-size-fits-all instruction is - I think - a holy
grail of sorts, these two books immediately struck me as examples of tech
writing that succeed more than most in preparing us to do battle with
software of questionable friendliness. YMMV.
Keith Cronin
teaching old dogs new tricks daily
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