Phil Druker/Department of English/ University of Idaho

 

Teaching Technical Writing (English 504)

Instructor: Phil Druker.

The Goal:

Teaching Technical Writing will give English Department graduate students a chance to learn about technical writing and methods for teaching technical writing courses. The course will expand your knowledge of teaching writing, and thus, the course should enhance your ability to get a job when you graduate with your MA or MFA.  

The Plan/What you will do:

  1. Regularly attend either section (9:30 T/Th  or 11:00 T/Th) of the technical writing course that the instructor teachers.

  2. Read the chapters in the technical writing textbook by Markel that pertain as we progress through the course.

  3. Write a proposal.  Also, I urge you to complete the job application (cover letter and résumé) assignment. 
                At the end of the semester,
    you will write a syllabus for your own technical writing course. .

  4. Teach a topic/topics during a class and help lead workshops during class.

  5. Practice grade a few proposals and perhaps some other papers.
  6. Attend seminar  sessions about the course, which should last about an hour. 
               These seminar sessions are scheduled for 3:30 on Wednesdays and will occur only a couple times during the semester.
    Note about meeting times:  The seminar on Wednesday will only meet a couple times during the semester.  During the Wednesday seminar, we will meet briefly to discuss readings or to discuss assignments, and except for the first week you will not need to go to one of the technical writing classes during that week. We'll establish the schedule for all this at the beginning of the semester.  As the semester progresses, there will be days when you don't need to attend the technical writing classes.

Who should take the course:

This course will work best for people who a) are second or third year grad students, and b) have an interest in reading about and learning about science or technology.  Being a composition TA will help but is not necessary.
 

The Required Textbooks:

Markel, Mike. 2007.Technical Communication (8th Ed.)   Bedford/ St. Martins.  (You will read this on your own to fill in the gaps I don't discuss in class.)

Druker, Phil. 2008. Technical Writing Course Pamphlet.  Available at the UI Bookstore.

 I encourage you to buy the books for your own reference:
Dubinsky, James M. 2004. Teaching Technical Communication.  Bedford/ St. Martins

Staples, Katherine and Ornatowski, Cezar M.  1997. Foundations for Teaching Technical Communication: Theory, Practice, and Program Design. ATTW Contemporary Studies in Technical Communication

Syllabus

Books on Reserve