This document provides an overview of an advanced technical communication course taught at West Virginia University. The course aims to improve students' writing skills and provide a broad range of technical communication skills beyond basic writing. It covers skills like copyediting, writing different document types, layout, and using literature databases. Students complete projects like editing assignments, individual reports, and producing an actual document for the university library. The course exposes students to topics like ethics and careers through guest speakers. It is intended to train students for careers in technical communication or improve skills for technical professionals.

1. DOCUMENT. RESUME
ED'.215-360 CS /06 849
AUTHOR FarkasT-David
. TITLE .
. A Course and Curriculum in Advanced Technical
Communication.
RUB DATE Mar 82 -.
_ NOTE 11p.; Paper preiented, at theAnnual Meeting of the
% if Conference on College Compositionvand, Communication
(33rd;. San Francisco, CA, March 18-20, 1982)
EDRS PRICE ' MF01/PC01 Plus,Postage.
DESCRIPTQRS Career GAiidance; Computers; Course Descriptions;
. l*Coufse Organization; Editing; Higher Education;
*InterdiAciplinary Approach; Job Skills; Layout
. (Publications); Simulation; *Technical Writing;
*Writing Skills
,.s
IDENTIFIERS Writinglacross the Curriculum
,
ABSTRACT .
,
A course in adyanced technical communication was
developed at West Virginia University for upper-division students in
engineering and the sciences and those flanning'carers
spent copy
ti.
.editing, with the students learning to use standard e 'ting marks and
__ keeping an editor's style sheet. They also learn how the editing
function is handled in various work settings. As the semester
progresses, the students continue to use their editing skills on one
achieve.the first course objective--better writing.-Students also
another's. worIC engaging in the editing process, the students'
read about and write several kinds of professional documents, such as
a-set_oispecifications_for bidding and a proposal. A simulated
niblic notice is prepared providin the students with an opportunity
.=- to learn more about layout, typejelection,, and copyfitting. Students
also attend a demonstration of computerized literature seardhing and
do some on-line searches ..,ith the terminal operator. The class
project involves the prouuction of an actual document for a campus
department. Ethics in technical communication is handled by an ethics
specialist of the philosophy.departmentiand interaction, with members
of the technical community is provided during a social evening,
giving the students a chance to ask questions: AS part of the course,
the students end the semester with a simulated, or real, job hunt. ,
.,(HOD, D t /
a
******************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRSi.jare the best that can be made r
from the original document.
******************'*********i*******************************************

2. CD
P a p e r presentedat.the Annual Meeting, of:the Conference on
College Composition and Comunication (33rd, San irantisco, '"
.
CA, March 18:20,1982). U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
EDJCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
i---CettTER4
tr , ,
eNJ "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS , A COURSE AND CURRICULUM IN.
Cm MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
.
.
W pm ADVANCED TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION
0
appended the reading porr the semester.
.,
David Farkas
e
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." .
West Virginia University
/
r Advanced courses in technical.communicaion seem to be
s.?
Nt(t.
This document has been reproduced as
rkeived from the person or organization
00trOnlIOM
Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction quality.
,
Points of view or opinions staled in this don,
ment do not necessarily represent official NI
Position or policy.
a
-proliferating. Little information, hoWever,.is available about
these courses and how they ire being taught. would now like
to describe the advanced technical communication course I teach
at West Virginia University. I-begaff teaching this course in
the sprincof 1980; I taught it for the second time in the spring
of 1981; and now, for the third time,-in the springof 1982. The
course sovfar has been offered on a tlial.basis and has carried
our independent studies course number, English 290. But to are
now in the process of getting the course formally approve and's
listed/with a number of its'own in the University catalog. In
describingtthe course I will discuss the kinds of students,it
serves., sits ,objectives, andmost important itA content. I'll
,
conclude with some projections about the future of 9e course and'
a brief accounj of the curriculum for training.,future technical
communicators that the courseis the center of. Also, I have
CLIENTELE IPA
I originally conceived of Advanced Technical Cuthmunication

3. Farkas 2
as a course for atudpts planning careers in technicalcommuni-
cation. Several students with this career objective in mind ,
had _asked for auciaa_aQurse_. I dicLnotititeauLthe_course-for
students in the sciences andengineering (people I'll call
"technical professionals") seeking'coursework in technical.com-
.
munication beyond what was offered in our service course. When
these.folks asked about an advanced course, I responded that we
had nothing suitable for them. Turning them away disturbed me,
however, and so this'rear I began accepting technical profes-
sionals. Mixing the technical professionals with the technical
.communicators has not been a problerti, and I will tiRw do so with-
.
1
but reservation. Henceforth my requirement will be simply that
r ,. Advanced Tedhn,ioal Communication is and will remain An
I *
uppeK-division'Imulergraduate course. As such, it can be taken
for credit in many of our graduate programs. So far, however
only one of my post-graduate students As been enrolled/rn. a
all studentS must have earned. an A in the service course or have
-equiValtInt skills.
Another point to be made, about the students intAe curse
, - ,z.
.
..
is that aboUt half Kaye turned out to be post-graduatespeople
..,,...+"
-seeking to enter the field of technical
...4
communication,and work-
ing technical cona.lunicators seeking-to improve their skills.
.
Also, of the two technical professionals I admitted into the
course this semester, one is a post - graduate - -a geologist with
the West VirginTh Geologital Survey.
graduate program. The rest simply wanted an advanced technical
writing- course and enrolled in the University to get one.
We, meet once a week for` 2 -1/2 hours. We meet inc---the
a

4. Farkas 3
0
,evenings beCause.the pose-graduate students generally-hold
full-time jobs.
OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
AdvancedTechnical Communicationis designedto fulfill
two general-objectives, The first is to improve the student'
,proficiency in the fundamental technical communication skill:
.
,
writing. dile important means of- fulfilling thiL objective is
our,use of Joseph Williams's recent book, Style; Ten 'Lessons
.
...in Clarity & Grace. We are going through this book cover to
_ dfscussing, ' s 'principles and working on the
,4 exercises. It's a remarkable ,book, 'pee from which both
t
technical professionals and' technical communicators canlearn
a, great deal. t '
t.
The second general -objettiVe is to' give the students a,
#. . ,.
biOatl 'range of technical .communication skills. These are skills
that extend 1pyond the ability to write well. and that are not ,
covered,lor covered in much deeail,in a technical writing serv-
ice course (dr, at leaSt,'not in mine). Thee skills (and in.
some cases they can be more accurate45Called experiences. rather
,
c
0-
than 'skills) are yaluablefor the technical professionals and
., 1
,
V
crucial fbr the technidal communicators. I will now describe
.5
P
t
1. One of the most important of thes' skills is copyediting.,
Most technical communicators do some copyediting, and some work
primarily as'copyeditors. TechnicalTrofessionals,are them-
selves edited and so must work with editors; and, they often
6
wind up editing,the wor C of 'subordinates and even superiors.
1/4
4,2

5. The students, therefore, spend the first
semester editing. They edit four manuscripts
Farkas 4
A
four weeks' of the
--1' -
,, manuscripts chat
range in writing qualify from reasonably well written-tovery
. . . .1 '
seriously flawed. They edit each of tfiesemanuscripts with a
A
'Aifferent set of goals and simulated constraints:I- Thus, they'
'practice, light editing, heavy (or "substantive") cliting, edit-
_
ing with the assuMption that the author is available to, respond
to queries, and editing without the e.-opportunity to qulry. In
.
.one case they edit to.a style Manual, and in another to the
. . -
. ..
standard 'of ,internal- consistency. .They_edit both "to perfectiori"
e
and on a crash basis. %The Manuscripts, unfortunately;
.are
all
-...
. ,
( .: t ,
shorts .if there' were time I would have them-Contend with the
special problems that arise in medium- and.book-length manuscripts.
The students ,learn to apply the principls of rhetoric to-
-editingb (what' Mary Fran Buehler calls "situati (
Onal editing"),
they learn to
style sheet.'
tide standard editing marks,' and to keep an editor's
We discuss how the,edi4ng function is.hanaled in
various kinds of work settings. .A lot of class' time is spent
comparing and discussing the changes- each student-has'Made, and
. -
I grade their work according to such ,criteria as fl'delity to' the
author's intended meaning, clarity and usefulness of queries,
.
and the gracefulness and economy with which problem passages
are emended. As the semester progresses.,,the students continue
.
to use their- editing *ills editing one another's work-,-and-
especiakllY the drafts of the professional project.they prepare
as a group. Also,. we spend an evening at a cot Puter terminal,'
and those who hae not tried computerized text editing get some
"hands on'!,experience. 4, 4

6. I
, .'''
.
'.'
.
.
Farkas 5
, 14.
.% Before continuing with the next skill, let me mention
1
that 4"
as the students broaden their communication backgrounds by ,
,
learning these. skills, they are also abhievfng the first course
.
obj'ective: 'better writing. As one edits, for' instance, one is
also improving one's writing ability. In other words,, many of
. .
the course activities contribute to both objectives:.
,
2. The students read about and write several kinds of profes-
sional documents. They write a set of specifications for bidding
and a proposQ., They also perform an;lexperiment together--such
as testing',Varieus brands of paper towel to find how much wafer
they can/soak up and their strength when wet. Then, from this
simple experiment each student prepares a physical investigation
report (or, in'other words, a lab report) that it asNdomplete and
IT
O.
rigorous as possible..;
3% The/students are introducedtovlayout, selecting type, and
copyfitting. This year each student prepared a simulated pub-
/ .
liCncitice.TheyWrotedoisy,chose'clisplay.andtextrtype,and
,
A
did the keyout down to%the' Last pica, *In 1980 and 1981 'thy
prepared actual brochures as class projects.
4. The students attend a demonstration of,computerized liter-
,
ature searching'an'd do some on-line searches with the terminal
operator. Thisnew technology is important both to technical. ,
profess.ionals and technical communicators. On of my students,
in fact, wants a career combining technical communication with
computer searching and has had an internship asa terminal
operator at the medical center library.

7. 5. The students work together on a "professional pr ect." In
other words; I volunteer 'the class to produce an actualrdocu-N
ment.that someone needs. This semester we arewrixing a sel
. o
'guided tour,through the library that will replace the group.
..,
tours that the iibrarians Thaw give to freshman English classes.
J ,
This project-gives the students the experience*of,preparing a. A
real document for a real audience, the experience of planning.
and preparing a document as a' group effort, and the experience
of working for "clients"--in this case members of the library
staff. I
-
6. This year for tihe first time I' devoted a'clais meeting,to A
the problem of ethics in technical communication. -The.ethics
speCialist in our philos'ophy department began the evening by
presenting the students with econceptual framework for analyz-
tng ethical problems. The students then analyzed the ethical
conpiprations in a series of cases tqat he and I deyised:
7. We spend a social evening with g group of technic41 com-
munitators ih the Morgantown area. .The students. have a chance
to ask questions and get answers and perspectives4ifferent
from Mine. They also get a-better feel for the different kinds.
of jobs and 'work settings within the field of technical com-
f
munication: .-They'can'even do some informal jb hunting. And
-
apart from theSe (bjectives, it's ,always'nice to have aaittl
party towardAthe end of the semester.
dr& 1
8. The'students.Ao some simulated orelse real job hunting as
a part of the course. They learn where to look for infat'mation,..
about jobs, and they arelassigneito locate notices of job,
e
r

8. I
V Farkas ,7.
openihgs in the Morgantown area, in one major city of 'heir_
choice and in the national
.
JO market. This assignment can
. ,
also include seeking a summer job or.internship. Summer jobs
and,, interpships.are especially important in our programesLnce
.we do not have a large number)of technical coitiunication courses
for our students to take. Alio, many of the students get val-
.
uable experience taking op free -lance editing and writing
ptojects.
That's my course: There are two significant problems tItt
I'6 ,aware of: (1)' while 1. cover a lot of topics, don!t coVpr,
them in as much depeh 4s I would'Iikei and (2) because I orig-'
ina* planned the course for technical Communicators, the
/
choice of topics still favors them over the technical professionals.
tpuRsi.AND CURRICULUM
Advanced Technical Communication has sa far drawn students
mostly, through word
,
of mouth. Whe,n'the course becomes "official,"
it should also become better known, and potentially it could.
,
draw ,moderate numbers of stunts, both from the Umiversity'ande
ell
the community. (Morgantown,: I should note, is
r%
research center, and so there are .quite a few
. .-
.icators and many
The cou
can be
something of
technical communt-
more technical professionals in the area.)
se, howevernat least as currently deSived, only
e>,
taught effectively with a Small,enroliMent--probably no
more than 10 students. Consequently, there is the potential
problem of not being able to accommodate all those who ,ght
want the course.' Possibly, we'could offer_more sections or
develop a separsate course f8r the,technical proless ohals.

9. 0
Farkas-8
As I .entioned, Advanced 'Technical Communication is 4e
er ofa curriculum intended to prepare a small number of
undergraduate sf4dents for careers in technical commUnicatioh.____
The communications portion of this curriculum consists of the .
servic0 course, Advaiicbd clinical CoM6unication, one or mare
internships, and -a variety of other communication courses.
Thes,lhclude courses in speeoh communication, journalism
,-6Spedially graphics and riwswriting}, linguistics, and other
writing courses affered.by the English department.
In addition, the students should have a cohcentration or a
major, in a technical,field. West Virginia University isia
"comprehensive university," and so offers
technical programs:, In many cases the st
a broadjahge Of
dent has already
taken many technical courses before deciding on a career in
tdchnical communication. Degree programs for these undergrad-
,
uates consist, of a technical major witiia co"nd tration in
technical communication, an English major with a technical
concentration, a dual major im English and a technical field,
cyan interdepartmental degree in technical communication.
Post-graduates re-training for a career' in technical communi-
cation might take a portion of this curriculum.
Though .a single course with a low enrollment, Advahced
Technical Communication servesseverai significant functions.
It provides advanced cOursework in technical communication to
technical professionals, both undergraduates and post-graduates,
--a0d to working technical communicators. additiOn, since all
other necessary courses are already in place, it opens up for
Z,
'I
9
4
1

10. Farkas 9
West' Virginia University students 'the career option of technical
.communication. g
COURSE READING ASSIGNMENTS
Joseph M. $t le: len Lessons in Clarity & Grace
(Dallas: Scott Foresman,
'Mary `Fran BUehler, "Situational Editing: A Rhetorical Approa0
.for the Technical Editot,' Technical Communication, 27, No. 3
(1980);-18-22.
Wallace-Clements an,d Robert G. Waite, Guide for'Be i nin
- Technical Editors'cLivermare, Californ a: Lawrence vermore
' Laboratory, Universitof California, 1979). Report No. LLL-
.'s TB -012,. Dept. of Energy ContrlIct No. W-7405-ENG-48. Available'
from the' National TechniCal Information,Seivice.
"Editorial Style: Consistency is the Aim," The Editorial Eve,
No. 46 (Early October 1980),.gp. 1; 2, & 5.
David.Farkag and Nettie Farkas, "Manuscript Surprises: A Problem
.'in Copy Editing,q*Technical,Communication, 28, No. 2'(1981),
i6-18.
Robert Van Buren and' Mary.Fran Buehler, The Levels of.Edit, 2nd.
ed.-asadena, California: Jet Propulsion LaboratofT-Talifor-
nia Institute of Technology, 1980). JPL Publ. No. 80-1.
Priscilla Taylor, "Levels of Edit: The EEI Approach," Editorial
Eye, No, 56 '(Late March 1981), pp. 1-2.
M
"Levels of Edit: Two More Approaches," Editorial Eve, No.'59
(June 1981), pp. 1-3.
4
Clarence A. Andrews, "Standards, Properties, and Specifications,"
in`Technical and Business Writin (BoSton: Houghton Mifflin;
197 pp.
*
H., K. Glidden, "Specificzetions0" in Reports, Technical Writink,
andSpecifications (New York: McGrAw-Hill, 1964), pp. 251-96.
Y
Kenneth W. Houp and Thomas E. Pearsall, "Proposals," in Reporting
.
4
Technical Information, 4th ed. (New Cork: Macmillan, 1980),
pp. 342-66. .
v
Ivan Flores, "An Introduction to Word Processing," Technical
Communication, 28, Bo. 1 (1981), 12-16. -
Jamds L. Marra, -"For Writers: bqderstanding the Art Layout,".
Technical Communication, 28, No. 3 (1981), 11-13 & 40.
46
8
I

11. `3.
*Pocket Pal: A G Pr uction 'dbNok i
by tie
k: Inter
I
ntern aper ompany, t
national PaperJou*pany. 1979) 1 pp. 35 -7Q.
, Donna R. Dolan, "Computer Searthing"and the Tschnica
Journal of Technical Writin and. Coe unication. 10
m
. :
Lottie Applewhitc, "Exathination of th6Medici M
liScientif
Manuscript," Journal 6f Technical Writin anaCaftunicarron,
9 (1979); 17-757
Treating th'e Whoie:DoQument: A Aenefits HaqdboA, ",Simnlvi
Stated,(Publ. Document Dosign.Center). No. 21 (0 ct47771181).
171377"-73 . "
t-
Gerald Goldhaber and Paul D. Krivorios. "The ICA CommunicatAk)n
Audit: Process,Status, Critique," Th6 Journal .of Business
CemminIcation, 15;-Nc). 1 (197.7),
.
. .
Walter-James Millers "What Cali the Technical Writer of the Past
"Teach the Technical Writer of Today?" IRE. Transacti6:4 on'.
En ineerin 'Writin and S each, Vol. ESQ7ZR377.1713WIT7
pp. . rpt. n 2esl_of'11.114rititrechri,. ed.
'Donald B. CunntrfahamanolimanA.itanfr.Illinois:
4' National Council of Teachers of Engltah. 1915)e ppt 198-216.