Solving Problems in Technical Communication

Solving Problems in Technical Communication
Author: Johndan Johnson-Eilola
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 531
Release: 2012-12-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0226924084

The field of technical communication is rapidly expanding in both the academic world and the private sector, yet a problematic divide remains between theory and practice. Here Stuart A. Selber and Johndan Johnson-Eilola, both respected scholars and teachers of technical communication, effectively bridge that gap. Solving Problems in Technical Communication collects the latest research and theory in the field and applies it to real-world problems faced by practitioners—problems involving ethics, intercultural communication, new media, and other areas that determine the boundaries of the discipline. The book is structured in four parts, offering an overview of the field, situating it historically and culturally, reviewing various theoretical approaches to technical communication, and examining how the field can be advanced by drawing on diverse perspectives. Timely, informed, and practical, Solving Problems in Technical Communication will be an essential tool for undergraduates and graduate students as they begin the transition from classroom to career.

Design Thinking in Technical Communication

Design Thinking in Technical Communication
Author: Jason Tham
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2021-05-18
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1000392309

This book explicates the relationships between design thinking, critical making, and socially responsive technical communication. It leverages the recent technology-powered DIY culture called "the Maker Movement" to identify how citizen innovation can inform cutting-edge social innovation that advocates for equitable change and progress on today’s "wicked" problems. After offering a succinct account of the origin and recent history of design thinking, along with its connections to the design paradigm in writing studies, the book analyzes maker culture and its influences on innovation and education through an ethnographic study of three academic makerspaces. It offers opportunities to cultivate a sense of critical changemaking in technical communication students and practitioners, showcasing examples of socially responsive innovation and expert interviews that urge a disciplinary attention to social justice advocacy and an embrace of the design-thinking principle of radical collaboration. The value of design thinking methodologies for teaching and practicing socially responsible technical communication are demonstrated as the author argues for a future in the field that sees its constituents as leaders in radical innovation to solve wicked social problems. This book is essential reading for instructors, students, and practitioners of technical communication, and can be used as a supplemental text for graduate and undergraduate courses in usability and user-centered design and research.

Technical and Professional Writing

Technical and Professional Writing
Author: George E. Kennedy
Publisher: Pearson
Total Pages: 708
Release: 2002
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Taking a research-based, integrated problem solving approach to technical and professional writing, this volume provides a model that illustrates real working-world solutions to problems that readers are likely to encounter in the workplace. Designed to show that problem solving is a multidimensional process, each chapter begins with a short scenario case study that deals with theoretical or applied issues of technical and professional communication, thereby preparing users to excel in the professional world. The volume addresses a variety of forms of professionalism and problem solving including technical and rhetorical problem solving, solving problems through research, reports and completion reports, proposals, letters and memoranda's, solving problems through trip reports, feasibility studies, and lab reports, policy statements, manuals, and procedures, as well as solving problems in the professional job search, through document design, and through oral presentations. For business professionals and others who would benefit from enhanced problem-solving skills.

Technical Communication

Technical Communication
Author: Mike Markel
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 804
Release: 2009-02-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780312485979

Comprehensive and truly accessible, Technical Communication guides students through planning, drafting, and designing the documents that will matter in their professional lives. Known for his student-friendly voice and eye for technology trends, Mike Markel addresses the realities of the digital workplace through fresh samples and cases, practical writing advice, and a companion Web site — TechComm Web — that continues to set the standard with content developed and maintained by the author. The text is also available in a convenient, affordable e-book format.

Writing a Professional Life

Writing a Professional Life
Author: Gerald J. Savage
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Longman
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2001
Genre: Communication of technical information
ISBN:

This is the first collection of narratives by practicing technical communicators telling their own personal stories about the workplace and their lives on the job. The authors portray a wide range of jobs: writers, editors, interface designers, marketing writers, and trainers working in 9 different technical fields, including software, R&D, engineering, medicine, transportation, and telecommunications. The stories vividly demonstrate the unique power of narrative as a teaching and learning tool. Unlike fabricated cases, these real-life narratives show new and veteran technical writers at work on the job, dealing with tasks, clients, and co-workers, and revealing their insights, values, and attitudes about their work. The stories also show the skills required in the profession and the ethical and other issues raised in the course of the workday. For anyone interested in technical communication and professional writing.

Problem Solving for New Engineers

Problem Solving for New Engineers
Author: Melisa Buie
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2017-07-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351996436

This book brings a fresh new approach to practical problem solving in engineering, covering the critical concepts and ideas that engineers must understand to solve engineering problems. Problem Solving for New Engineers: What Every Engineering Manager Wants You to Know provides strategy and tools needed for new engineers and scientists to become apprentice experimenters armed only with a problem to solve and knowledge of their subject matter. When engineers graduate, they enter the work force with only one part of what’s needed to effectively solve problems -- Problem solving requires not just subject matter expertise but an additional knowledge of strategy. With the combination of both knowledge of subject matter and knowledge of strategy, engineering problems can be attacked efficiently. This book develops strategy for minimizing, eliminating, and finally controlling unwanted variation such that all intentional variation is truly representative of the variables of interest.

Technical Writing for Teams

Technical Writing for Teams
Author: Alexander Mamishev
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2011-02-11
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0470602694

A unique, integrative, team-centered approach to writing and formatting technical documents Technical Professionals: Do you have difficulty producing high-quality documents with multiple contributors when faced with a tight deadline? Do you need a process that enables global team members to collaborate online as they produce sophisticated documents? Do you prefer the ease of a WYSIWG desktop publishing tool like Microsoft Word rather than more complex software like LaTeX? Professors and Graduate Students: Do you want to streamline the process of writing multi-investigator papers, reports, proposals, and books? Do you spend a lot of time formatting documents instead of thinking and writing? Do you write research papers in Microsoft Word and then need to convert them to LaTeX for your thesis? Do you write research papers in LaTeX and then need to convert them to Microsoft Word when embarking on collaborations with your colleagues from industry? Undergraduate Students: Do you need to write a research paper and don't know where to start? Do you need to collaborate with classmates on a long paper and find yourself lost in organizational details rather than immersed in the content? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is for you. It provides an easy-to-learn system that streamlines individual and collaborative writing, allowing you and your teams to instantly become more productive and create the highest quality documents in a minimum amount of time. Introduced here are the STREAM Tools—Scientific and Technical wRiting, Editing, And file Management Tools—which unlock your collaborators' potential and addresses team dynamics, separation of duties, and workflow. You'll see how to ensure compatibility among multiple writers, achieve consistent formatting, organize content, integrate bibliographic databases, automate the process of document preparation, and move content between Microsoft Word and LaTeX. Checklists, guidelines, and success stories are also included to help you operate as efficiently as possible. From planning and editing documents to solving common team writing problems to managing workflow, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is the one-stop reference that allows teams to collaborate successfully and create unified, effective documents.

Readings for Technical Communication

Readings for Technical Communication
Author: Jennifer MacLennan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008
Genre: Communication of technical information
ISBN: 9780195423228

This outstanding anthology of insightful essays, written by both theorists and practitioners, focuses on the content and structure of technical writing while also discussing the political, interpersonal, and ethical demands of writing in a professional workplace. Unlike most other texts inthe field, Readings in Technical Communication goes beyond offering a traditional prescriptive approach to technical writing and provides students with a comprehensive and thoughtful examination of the field. Along with a wide variety of classic essays, RTC includes a wealth of new material thatreflects the most up-to-date approaches and methods in technical communication.

Bulletproof Problem Solving

Bulletproof Problem Solving
Author: Charles Conn
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-03-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119553032

Complex problem solving is the core skill for 21st Century Teams Complex problem solving is at the very top of the list of essential skills for career progression in the modern world. But how problem solving is taught in our schools, universities, businesses and organizations comes up short. In Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything you’ll learn the seven-step systematic approach to creative problem solving developed in top consulting firms that will work in any field or industry, turning you into a highly sought-after bulletproof problem solver who can tackle challenges that others balk at. The problem-solving technique outlined in this book is based on a highly visual, logic-tree method that can be applied to everything from everyday decisions to strategic issues in business to global social challenges. The authors, with decades of experience at McKinsey and Company, provide 30 detailed, real-world examples, so you can see exactly how the technique works in action. With this bulletproof approach to defining, unpacking, understanding, and ultimately solving problems, you’ll have a personal superpower for developing compelling solutions in your workplace. Discover the time-tested 7-step technique to problem solving that top consulting professionals employ Learn how a simple visual system can help you break down and understand the component parts of even the most complex problems Build team brainstorming techniques that fight cognitive bias, streamline workplanning, and speed solutions Know when and how to employ modern analytic tools and techniques from machine learning to game theory Learn how to structure and communicate your findings to convince audiences and compel action The secrets revealed in Bulletproof Problem Solving will transform the way you approach problems and take you to the next level of business and personal success.