INTRODUCTION TO

TEACHING TECHNICAL Dr. Will

Kurlinkus

WRITING
HOW THIS
COURSE IS
SETUP
Re a d i n g s a n d
videos
Po s s i b l e b o o k
purchases
1 . Re a d i n g
Discussion, 2.
Te a c h i n g
Discussion, 3.
Te c h n i c a l
Wr i t i n g S k i l l s
WHAT IS TECHNICAL
WRITING? HAVE YOU
BEEN A TECHNICAL
WRITER?
JOB ADS
 3 GOALS OF THIS COURSE

1. Learn about and train to enter the field of technical

communication as adults who could theoretically get jobs as
technical communicators.
2. Learn about and train to enter the field of technical
communication as academics who could theoretically
perform research in technical communication.
3. Prepare to teach a specific course on technical
communication to a particularly STEM-minded group of
undergraduate students (often highly appreciative to get
writing training but sometimes unclear on why they need
user-centered and humanistic training as well).
 OUR STAKEHOLDERS: WHAT DO THEY
WANT?

FUTURE ALL OF
STUDENTS
EMPLOYERS HUMANITY

THE STEM TECH

UNIVERSIT YOU WRITING
PROFESSORS
Y PROFESSION
 SCHEDULE &
ASSIGNMENTS
 USER-CENTERED COMMUNICATION
Making designs human by researching and
learning about who our audiences are and
adapting our texts for that group.
›What will people read and not read?
›What are people experts at?
›What do people care about?
›What are people confused by?
›What do people trust and not trust?
›How can we take information from subject-matter
experts (SMEs) and translate it for users?
ASSIGNMENTS User-Centered
Design
1. Application Packet ›What will people read
(Resumes and Cover and not read?
Letters) ›What are people
experts at?
2. Technical Instruction
Set ›What do people care
about?
3. Scientific Grant
›What are people
Proposal confused by?
4. Popular Outreach ›What do people trust
5. Usability Test and not trust?
(Website or App)
I WANT YOU TO ASK:
HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THIS?
WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE
YOU STUDYING? WHAT ARE
YOUR PLANS? WHAT ARE
YOU INTERESTED IN?
WHAT ARE THE WORK
PATTERNS OF TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATORS?
These, ultimately, are our course objectives
1. INFORMATION DESIGNERS
Which gas station would
you trust with your credit
card information?
 2. USER ADVOCATES

§ User-centered vs.
Designer centered
design
§ Who are the users of
your texts? What
does it mean to use a
text?
§ What does it mean to
advocate for a user?
§ What users aren’t
traditionally listened
to? Why?
§ What happens when
we start treating
users as experts?
USERS AS EXPERTS
 3. STEWARDS OF WRITING ACTIVIT Y IN
ORGANIZATIONS

§ How do we train other writers?

§ Document libraries?
§ What types of documents might you create to teach someone else a
skill?
§ Who taught you to write the genres of your other classes?
§ Team written documents? How?

Note: Even if you never write something on the job and

you have an actual technical writer you work with there
are ways to make that technical writer’s job infinitely
easier. Good communicators make more money.
USER-CENTERED TECHNICAL WRITING

How would you approach the research

for designing a connected home device
for a young family’s first apartment?

https://designson.ideo.com

HUMAN-CENTERED TECHNICAL WRITING

HEALTH LITERACY AND MEDICAL
TECHNOLOGIES (BIVENS ET AL)
¡ Three Cases: NICU sound,
Diabetes embodiment, and Flu
visualization
¡ What is a multisensor y
literacy approach to
biomedical technologies?
¡ How does this fit in with the
three practices of technical
writers?
¡ How does this ar ticle
define/challenge exper tise?
¡ What does this ar ticle teach
us about the problems and
oppor tunities for technical
communication and our
course?
WEB DESIGN