Re: revising a tw course

Subject: Re: revising a tw course
From: Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 17:18:47 -0800 (PST)


> >It's the end of another semester teaching tech
> writing, and I'm itching to
> >revise my syllabus.
> ><...>
> >1. a machine-readable resume
> >2. a cover letter
> >3. a personal web site
> >4. a group web site
> >5. a tri-fold brochure
> ><...>
> > Is there another assignment I should include?
>
> From my perspective, your class projects would not
> adequately prepare a
> student for many on-the-job technical writing
> assignments.

Um, unless I'm confusing 2 threads, isn't this an
intro course? I would expect that intro course to
prepare students for what they will be learning later
on, not for on-the-job anything.

> I suggest you also include discussion of how to
> organize a technical
> manual, be it a tutorial, a user guide, a reference
> guide, or an online help system.

That I *almost* agree with (swap "or" with "and").

> Two more ideas: have students study examples of
> existing documents or help
> systems and critique them to discover what works and
> what doesn't work;
> have students take on small open-source projects as
> examples of real-world
> software that needs to be documented.

Have them find these examples on their own. Get them
looking at the crap that comes with their electric
razors, their video games, and such. The best thing
you can do in an intro course is open an analytical
eye. If you do that, you set a positive direction for
the rest of the courseload.

=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)

"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROBOHELP FOR FRAMEMAKER TRIAL NOW AVAILABLE!

RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
Re: revising a tw course: From: Martha J Davidson

Previous by Author: RE: Opinions on Online Tech Writing Courses
Next by Author: Re: XML-based Help Authoring tools for customized help
Previous by Thread: Re: revising a tw course
Next by Thread: Globalization and Job Export


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads