Title

Introduction: Innovative Approaches To Teaching Technical Communication

Abstract

The idea for this collection grew out of a discussion about humor in technical communication. Humor is usually proscribed in technical communication practice, both because it does not cross cultures well and because it may make complex and even dangerous technologies seem frivolous. When the three of us started paying attention to and collecting humor related to the technical communication field, we noticed that it is most often connected to Dilbert cartoons, the For Dummies genre of third-party software manuals, and Dave Barry-like rants about poorly written instructions. In short, the available humor about technical communication doesn't paint a pretty picture of our chosen profession. Because we enjoy playful attitudes toward technical communication, we put aside the field's reservations about humor and began to ask ourselves how we might incorporate humor into our technical communication classrooms. Under what circumstances, we wondered, might humor be permissible or even desirable? How might it be used productively in the technical communication classroom? In exploring that question, we concluded that perhaps what we were really talking about was how to demonstrate to technical communication students how creative the field could be. We were all teaching at Michigan Technological University at the time and had begun to notice that many students seemed disillusioned with the prospect of beginning their careers as traditional technical communicators. Writing instructional manuals for the computer industry or documenting ISO 9001 procedures for a government contractor seemed as dull as Dilbert's cubicle to them, especially when juxtaposed against the seemingly glamorous career prospects of Web or multimedia design. We didn't agree with them; in fact, our technical communication work as teachers, practitioners, and consultants has shown us its creative potential. For us and for the discipline at large, rendering complex information accessible and usable to an intended audience is interesting-even, at times, exhilarating. We wanted students to see that technical communication frequently involves creative effort, whether the project is a 500-page printed instruction manual or a digital media production. In other words, we were not willing to make the technocentric distinction many students seemed to be making between dull, document-based information and exciting, digital-media development. Naturally, our first inclination was to blame ourselves. Had something about our previous teaching practices predisposed students to make unwarranted distinctions between project types? We thought we had carefully crafted our technical communication course assignments to show that the skills needed to design an interactive multimedia kiosk (a task students valued highly) were equally applicable in assembling a high-quality, well-indexed, and smoothly cross- referenced documentation set (a task many dismissed as boring). But somehow, our convictions were not getting through to them; moreover, another important idea that we wanted to emphasize-that success in all types of technical communication work necessitates strong and versatile writing skills-was apparently also lost on some undergraduate students. Imagine our chagrin when a graduating senior stated the opinion to one of our colleagues that writing is retro! To impress our values on students and to convince them of the innovative practices available to technical communication professionals, the three of us developed a special topics course-Innovative Approaches to Technical Communication-which we offered to undergraduate scientific and technical communication (STC) majors at Michigan Technological University during the winter quarter 1997-1998. Our syllabus characterized the course as a way to engage more fully with the profession of technical communication by "considering a variety of attitudes, approaches, and practices." In the course design, we shifted students' attention (and our own) toward a more inclusive and creative view of the profession of technical communication. Course units advocated and modeled approaches that might not ordinarily be considered in technical communication. Students wrote, of course, but they also composed in other modalities such as mapping, drawing, scripting, acting, pantomiming, and MOOing. They read a variety of texts, including challenging theoretical texts not commonly assigned to undergraduates: Marilyn Cooper's (1996) Technical Communication Quarterly article on postmodern operator's manuals, James Porter and Patricia Sullivan's (1996) work on postmodern mapping, David Dobrin's (1989) "Armadillo Armor" article, and some articles on play theory (Huizinga 1990). To help students make the desired connections between their prior technical communication education and these new ideas, we assigned Janice Redish's (1988) "Reading to Learn to Do" article, Dorothy Nelkin's (1995) work on media representations of science and technology, and an excerpt from Robert Pirsig's (1974) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. To the stack of theoretical readings, we added newspaper editorials and articles about product assembly (Rooney 1997; Perelman 1976); cartoons from the Dilbert Zone (see www.dilbert.com); technology ads from popular magazines (Miller 1997) Will Weaver's short story titled "A Gravestone Made of Wheat" (1990); even some government documents-the Declaration of Independence and the Equal Rights Amendment. The process of developing the reading list and the activities and techniques that went along with it ultimately reinforced our belief that the inspiration for our work as technical communication educators could come from almost anywhere, that our work could be as creative as we would allow it to be, and that we could approach the teaching and learning that goes on in technical communication courses in a variety of ways and from a variety of problem-solving perspectives. As we shared this discovery about teaching with students, they too came to realize that many theories, cultural artifacts, and issues could and should influence the work they do as technical communicators. The learning that took place in the class does not represent a major paradigm shift in our students' thinking. But we are convinced that each student took away something profound. For example, one day, after reading a play theory essay and discussing the value of designing work spaces to facilitate playful interaction as well as serious labor, we each mapped our ideal work spaces. Michelle's included a desk for her best friend, collaborator, and longtime roommate, Jen, who had recently graduated and moved away. When Michelle shared the map with the rest of the class, she seemed a bit embarrassed by her dependence on her friend, and she hastily acknowledged the reality that she and Jen would never again work together. "Jen's desk" in a corner of Michelle's ideal work space stands as a metaphor for the lasting and palpable influence of a successful and pleasurable collaboration. Jen was not lost to Michelle: Although she lived in another city and had chosen a technical communication career path that diverged from Michelle's, she would always be present in Michelle's work practices and habits of mind. © 2004 by Utah State University Press.

Publication Date

12-1-2004

Publication Title

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication

Number of Pages

1-11

Document Type

Editorial Material

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

84901154687 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84901154687

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