Announcing a new ATTW Workshop for New Teachers of Tech Writing
(Association of Teachers of Technical Writing)
TEACHING TECH COMM 101: A Workshop for New Instructors
Chicago Palmer House Hilton
Adams Room
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
8:00 am - 12:30 pm
This new workshop, sponsored by ATTW and the ATTW Committee on
Teaching and held in conjunction with the ATTW and CCCC national
conventions, is designed for faculty new to teaching intro-level tech
writing courses, graduate students entering the field, and "lone
rangers" who have few department colleagues in technical
communication with whom they can discuss ideas on teaching.
The workshop features three closely segments (more detail below)
designed to provide both general principles and specific tools and
resources to help new instructors plan and teach effective and site-
specific introductory technical communication courses. Workshop
leaders ? Nancy Allen (Eastern Michigan University), Dan Riordan
(University of Wisconsin-Stout), Eva Brumberger (Virginia Tech), and
Karen Schnakenberg (Carnegie Mellon) ? are actively involved in
teaching technical communication and have longstanding interests and
experience in teaching, course design, and teacher training.
The workshop fee of $50 covers registration and all materials,
including a copy of "The Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of
Writing" and Jim Dubinsky’s volume on "Teaching Technical Writing"
for each participant, both compliments of Bedford / St. Martin’s. In
addition, workshop participants are invited to attend afternoon
sessions of the ATTW conference and the ATTW reception that evening
at no additional cost.
To register for the workshop please go to
www.erlbaum.com/attw
and complete the “Teaching Technical Writing Workshop Attendees” form.
To view the ATTW conference program (with abstracts linked) please go to
www.clarkson.edu/~faber/attw2006
Contact for Workshop Questions:
Karen Schnakenberg
Carnegie Mellon
[log in to unmask]
412-268-2659
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: Teaching Tech Comm 101
8:00 - 8:45 - sign in, coffee & refreshments
8:45 -9:00 - Welcome & Intro
9:00 - 9:50 - Segment #1: BUILDING BLOCKS: Goals, Course Design, and
Theory
9:50 - 10:40 - METHODS TOOLKIT: Effective Pedagogical Strategies
10:40 - 11:00 - break in conjunction with the ATTW conference
11:00 - 11:50 - TEACHING VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Noon - 12:30 - wrap up and discussion
Wednesday Afternoon & Evening - Workshop participants are invited to
attend afternoon sessions of the ATTW conference and the meeting and
reception to follow.
MAIN WORKSHOP SEGMENTS
Segment 1: Building Blocks: Goals, Course Design, and Theory
Workshop Leader: Karen Schnakenberg, Carnegie Mellon University
This segment will focus on planning and design issues central to
introductory courses. Whether you’re working with an existing
syllabus in an established program or designing the first-ever course
for your department, you should find this session helpful in terms of
understanding and defining course goals and relevant frameworks,
designing a coherent syllabus to achieve desired goals, and
identifying and integrating relevant theory. We’ll cover some basics
of goal setting and course design, examine some syllabi with varying
goals and structures, and discuss differences between service courses
and those specifically designed for writing majors or majors in other
specific disciplines. We’ll also discuss resources you can draw on as
you continue to develop your courses.
Segment 2: Methods Toolkit: Effective Pedagogical Strategies
Workshop Leaders: Nancy Allen, Eastern Michigan University & Dan
Riordan, University of Wisconsin-Stout
This segment focuses on methods that instructors may use to present
the materials of the class. While it is often clear that an
instructor will or must require a set of instructions or a
feasibility report or any of our common genres, it is often not clear
how to go about that. We want to discuss methods that engage the
students so that they take responsibility for their learning and
produce quality documents. The leaders will present a 'maxi' and a
'mini' approach to helping students negotiate the assignments. A
'maxi' approach emphasizes preliminary exploration and planning
focused on a local topic and setting, whereas a 'mini' approach
emphasizes minimal introductory discussion of the topic or its
theory, emphasizing instead creating a general framework of
expectations. Participants will have an opportunity to experience
both approaches and to review them in small groups. Participants will
also receive a bibliography of helpful articles related to pedagogy.
Segment 3: Teaching Visual Communication
Workshop Leader: Eva Brumberger, Virginia Tech
This segment of the workshop focuses on specific strategies for
making instruction in visual communication an integral part of
introductory technical writing courses. We’re giving special
attention to visual communication because we recognize that many
instructors of introductory courses are both products and members of
departments in which verbal communication has been a primary focus.
We all recognize how centrally important visual communication is for
both print and electronic media today, but as instructors we often
feel ill-prepared to teach visual concepts and language and thus
struggle when we work to incorporate visual communication into our
courses in an integral and meaningful way. This workshop segment is
designed to provide help with this problem. Discussion will center on
designing syllabi and assignments that incorporate visual
communication and on evaluating the visual aspects of student work.
We will also discuss print and online resources for learning more
about visual communication.
Brief Bios for Workshop Leaders
NANCY ALLEN is a professor of Written Communication and Director of
Writing Programs at Eastern Michigan University, where she teaches
technical-professional communication, rhetoric of science and
technology, and the teaching of writing. She’s published in the areas
of visual communication and pedagogy and edited a volume on visual
rhetoric, Working with Words and Images, published in 2002. Allen is
active in both ATTW as a member of the executive board and ethics
committee and CPTSC as a member of the executive board.
EVA BRUMBERGER is an assistant professor in the professional writing
program at Virginia Tech, where she teaches courses in document
design and visual rhetoric, editing, business and technical writing,
and intercultural communication. Her research interests include
visual rhetoric, international communication, and pedagogy. She has
worked as a technical writer in industry and continues to do
freelance editing, writing, and design. She’s an active member of the
ATTW Teaching Committee and
DAN RIORDAN is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-
Stout, an Associate Fellow in STC, and a Fellow of ATTW. He has
taught the introductory technical writing class since 1970, and also
teaches advanced courses in Stout's Technical Communication program.
The advisor of the STC student chapter, his first priority has always
been student learning. Riordan is also the Director of the Teaching
and Learning Center at UW-Stout where he directs the program in
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
KAREN SCHNAKENBERG is a professor of Rhetoric and professional
writing at Carnegie Mellon University and director of their
undergraduate and MA programs in technical and professional writing.
She teaches core courses in technical communication, instructional
design for writers, and a required pedagogy course ? The History,
Theory, and Practice of Writing Instruction -- for PhD students.
She’s actively involved with ATTW as the head of the ATTW Committee
on Teaching and with CPTSC as an executive board member.
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