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This book is a practical guide for scientists to articulate their research compellingly to both their peers and other audiences, bridging the communication gap in the scientific community.

This book is designed to enable non-native English speakers to write science research for publication in English. It can also be used by English speakers and is a practical, user-friendly book intended as a fast, do-it-yourself guide for those whose English language proficiency is above intermediate. The approach is based on material developed from teaching graduate students at Imperial College London and has been extensively piloted. The book guides the reader through the process of writing science research and will also help with writing a Master's or Doctoral thesis in English.

Explores the origins of written communication to offer a counter-history to the separation of rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communication The Origins of the Art and Practice of Professional Writing addresses the classic divide in teaching written skills between rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communication (TPC). It explores a body of texts that were created earlier than any yet identified by either field: ancient Mesopotamian documents, produced in the eighth century BCE. The book debunks two myths: it shows that rhetoric was practiced consciously and taught systematically long before the Greek civilization existed; and because a large swathe of the public, while not fully literate, had access to the services of scribes, not just men, but women, merchants, and even slaves utilized writing as a tool for social justice. From their earliest writings, humans consciously applied principles of persuasion to the documents that they produced. Rather than being two distinct fields, rhetoric and professional communication are intertwined in their histories.

Examining books on different topics as these appeared during the Renaissance allows us to see developments in the use of graphics, the shift from orality to textuality, the expansion of knowledge, and rise of literacy, particularly among middle-class women readers, who were an important audience for many of these books. Changes in English Renaissance technical books provide a new, and as yet largely unexplored means of viewing the Renaissance and the dramatic changes that emerged during the 1475-1640 period, the first years of English printing. Chapter 1—In Search of Our Past The purpose of this book is to show that early English technical writing anticipates many of the same issues important to modern technical writing: writers were aware of the comprehension levels of their intended readers; many technical books were designed for ease of use. That is, they exemplified good page design as well as a structure and a style that would enhance the readability and usability of the information. Increasing use of graphics and visual aids to convey information enable modern researchers to track the shift from orality to textuality and from textuality to visual presentation as a means of conveying methods of performing work. English Renaissance technical books show the triumph of textual instruction over oral instruction. Chapter 2—The Rise of Technical Writing in the English Renaissance This chapter summarizes historical events that nurtured the growth of technical writing in the English Renaissance: the growth of wealth, the growth of knowledge, the advent of printing, the rise of humanism. The chapter also surveys examples of technical books produced throughout the Renaissance—medical books, books on farming and animal husbandry, books on gardening, books on household management and cooking, books on recreation, books on military science and navigation in addition to a variety of how to books covering technologies important to life in the English Renaissance. Chapter 3—Format and Page Design in English Renaissance Technical Books: Early Recognition of Reader Context and Literacy Level This chapter examines a number of technical books published from 1489 to 1640 to show changes in format—emergence of tables of contents, listing, bulleted lists, and use of Ramist dichotomies—bracketed tables, overviews, cause-effect analysis—in logic books, medical books, religious books, and even geography and culinary books. Chapter 4—Renaissance Technical Books and Their Audiences: Writers Respond to Readers Examining English Renaissance technical books also shows that their writers were aware of the information needs and the reading comprehension level of their readers. Analyzing the presentation methods used by these early technical writers reveals how they adapted material for these readers' information needs as well as the literacy level of these intended readers. Chapter 5—English Renaissance Technical Writing and the Emergence of Plain Style: Toward a New Theory of the Development of Modern English Prose The majority of studies of the rise of modern English have ignored technical books and their pervasive use of plain style. By considering technical books in addition to traditional canonical books considered in language study, we may thus question the view that no plain style of consequence existed prior to Bacon. Chapter 6—From Orality to Textuality: Technical Description and the Emergence of Visual and Verbal Presentation. Examining the first printed English technical books allows us to see how printing, the growth of knowledge, and the rise of literacy all worked in tandem. The merging of visual and verbal in technical books allows us to trace the demise of orality as a means of conveying knowledge in many fields. Chapter 7—The Legacy of English Renaissance Technical Writing: New Perspectives on Basic Rhetorical Issues This book and its survey of technical writing in the English Renaissance allow modern technical writing teachers and researchers to see that many of our modern concerns evolved during the first century of printing. Examining early forms of technical writing shows that technical writing has a long and honorable history and a tradition that has implications for modern assessments of language and style.

Purpose: This teaching case discusses a community-engaged, service-learning- based, undergraduate introductory technical communication course that employed storytelling as a pedagogical method and a key element in the deliverables produced, including instructional documents for volunteers, program informational brochures for potential volunteers, and a guidebook for a new career readiness construction training program for program participants. Method: The course, titled \"Tiny Houses and Technical Writing\" partnered with a local 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Tiny House Community Development (THCD), which builds free tiny homes and offers construction-based career training programs for those experiencing homelessness. We used several techniques to elevate our community partner's narrative and highlight local issues of homelessness, utilizing storytelling and personas as methods to provide human-centered designs. We also employed technical communication's emphases on optimal format, arrangement, and style to revise and build documents. The course engaged in project-based service by producing various technical documents as well as providing direct service building tiny homes; this work was often completed alongside clients the THCD organization serves. Ultimately, we aimed to engage the stories of those the organization serves and reflect those stories within the deliverables. Results: The students in this course ultimately helped THCD streamline communications, increase build productivity, and communicate its mission to the local community. Additionally, the organization used several of our documents in a grant competition and ultimately won $12,000 in future funding. We believe the storytelling element present in the technical documents elevated these communications. The course also sparked several new collaborations, conversations, and publications, thus propelling the organization's stories-and its human elements-into the larger community. Conclusion: \"Tiny Houses and Technical Writing\" serves as an example of a community partnership model for undergraduate introductory technical writing courses and tiny house building groups.

Takes a multicultural, interdisciplinary approach to the rhetoric of science to expand our toolkit for the collective management of global risks like climate change and pandemics. With this volume, the field of rhetoric of science joins its sister disciplines in history and philosophy in challenging the dominance of Euro-American science as a global epistemology. The discipline of rhetoric understands world-making and community-building as interdependent activities: that is, if we practice science differently, we do politics differently, and vice versa. This wider aperture seems crucial at a time when we are confronted with the limitations of Euro-American science and politics in managing global risks such as pandemics and climate change-particularly in our most vulnerable communities. The contributors to this volume draw on their familiarity with a wide range of global scientific traditions-from Australian Aboriginal ecology to West African medicine to Polynesian navigation science-to suggest possibilities for reconfiguring the relationship between science and politics to better manage global risks. These possibilities should not only inspire scholars in rhetoric and technical communication but should also introduce readers from science and technology studies to some useful new approaches to the problem of decolonizing scenes of scientific practice around the world.

This fully revised edition provides a practical introduction to research methods for anyone conducting and critically reading technical communication research. The first section discusses the role of research in technical communication and explains in plain language how to conduct and report such research. It covers both quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as surveys, usability studies, and literature reviews. The second section presents a collection of research articles that serve as exemplars of these major types of research projects, each followed by commentary breaking down how it corresponds to the information on that research type. In addition to five new chapters of exemplars and commentaries, this second edition contains a new chapter on usability studies. This book is an essential introduction to research methods for students of technical communication and for industry professionals who need to conduct and engage with research on the job.

Although there is consensus in the literature that writing skills are important in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) studies, they are often neglected. However, some efforts have been made to correct this deficiency, one of them being the development of assessment rubrics. This study seeks to contribute to the discussion by presenting the results of the application of a rubric designed to assess the writing skills of a group of 3rd year engineering students. This rubric, which includes linguistic and rhetorical-organizational criteria alongside the mathematical and technical, was used to assess a number of written exercises and essays submitted by students in a 15-week course. The main interest of this study was to test the efficacy of the rubric as a diagnostic tool, conceived to detect the areas of improvement in the students’ written performance and, ultimately, to also help them to achieve higher levels of competence. This goal was achieved, as one of the main conclusions of the study is that, although students usually master the technical aspects of the course, they must improve the linguistic and rhetorical aspects of their written communication. It can likewise be said that all the participants involved in the study profited in one way or another from the application of the rubric and contributed to identifying the ways in which the rubric itself can be improved for future application.

This collection of essays focuses on both how and why assessment serves as a key element in the teaching and practice of technical and professional communication. The collection is organized to form a dual approach: on the one hand, it offers a landscape view of the activities involved in assessment - examining how it works at institutional, program, and classroom levels; on the other, it surveys the implications of using assessment for formulating, maintaining, and extending the teaching and practice of technical communication. The book offers teachers, students, scholars, and practitioners alike evidence of the increasingly valuable role of assessment in the field, as it supports and enriches our thinking and practice. No other volume has addressed the demands of and the expectations for assessment in technical communication. Consequently, the book has two key goals. The first is to be as inclusive as is feasible for its size, demonstrating the global operation of assessment in the field. For this reason, descriptions of assessment practice lead to examinations of some key feature of the landscape captured by the term 'technical communication'. The second goal is to retain the public and cooperative approach that has characterized technical communication from the beginning. To achieve this, the book represents a 'conversation', with contributors chosen from among practicing, highly active technical communication teachers and scholars; and the chapters set up pairs of opening statement and following response. The overriding purpose of the volume, therefore, is to invite the whole community into the conversation about assessment in technical communication. KNOWING WHERE WE ARE CHAPTER 1 Assessment in Action: A Möbius Tale Chris M. Anson CHAPTER 2 Assessing Technical Communication: A Conceptual History Norbert Elliot ASSESSMENT IN THE WIDEST VIEW CHAPTER 3 v Mapping Institutional Values and the Technical Communication Curriculum: A Strategy for Grounding Assessment Jo Allen CHAPTER 4 The Benefits and Challenges of Adopting a New Standpoint While Assessing Technical Communication Programs: A Response to Jo Allen Paul V. Anderson A ROLE FOR PORTFOLIOS IN ASSESSMENT CHAPTER 5 Politics, Programmatic Self-Assessment, and the Challenge of Cultural Change Kelli Cargile Cook and Mark Zachry CHAPTER 6 The Road to Self-Assessment: Less-Traveled But Essential James M. Dubinsky SITUATING ASSESSMENT IN DISCIPLINARY REQUIREMENTS CHAPTER 7 Expanding the Role of Technical Communication Through Assessment: A Case Presentation of ABET Assessment Michael Carter CHAPTER 8 Beyond Denial: Assessment and Expanded Communication Instruction in Engineering and Professional Programs Steven Youra ASSESSING THE WORK OF GRADUATE STUDENTS CHAPTER 9 Assessment of Graduate Programs in Technical Communication: A Relational Model Nancy W. Coppola and Norbert Elliot CHAPTER 10 Program Assessment, Strategic Modernism, and Professionalization Politics: Complicating Coppola and Elliot’s “Relational Model” Gerald Savage TECHNOLOGY IN ASSESSMENT CHAPTER 11 Assessing Professional Writing Programs Using Technology as a Site of Praxis Jeffrey Jablonski and Ed Nagelhout CHAPTER 12 Reconsidering the Idea of aWriting Program William Hart-Davidson ASSESSMENT IN TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSESSING INTERCULTURAL/ INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS CHAPTER 13 Assessment in an Intercultural Virtual Team Project: Building a Shared Learning Culture Doreen Starke-Meyerring, Deborah C. Andrews CHAPTER 14 Do Fish Know They Are Swimming in Water? Deborah S. Bosley Afterword The Ethical Role of the Technical Communicator in Assessment, Dialogue, and the Centrality of Humanity Sam Dragga Index

Purpose: This small-scale study investigates the skills and experiences most sought-after by recruiters and hiring managers in entry-level technical writers in the work place. The purpose is to learn whether academic programs offer the course work and opportunities students need. Additionally, I discuss job-ad requirements for entry-level technical writers in the workplace and compare technical/professional academic program offerings with those job-ad requirements. Method: Recruiters and hiring managers were surveyed to learn their top priorities for skills and experiences. Data from job ads of three job boards was gathered and analyzed, and this data was compared to academic program requirements across the United States. Results: While technical and professional writing programs are ever-changing and substantially different, there are similarities, and the programs seem to be preparing students well for the workplace. Conclusion: Most programs require core courses that are similar in name and description and require additional study in an area of expertise or a minor. These core curricula align well to the requirements in entry-level job ads in the industry. More research is needed to learn the best ways students learn in university courses. Additionally, we need to investigate the consistency of internship requirements among programs and encourage industries to consider internship experience as legitimate industry experience.