Abstract
Michael J. Klein's Effective Teaching of Technical Communication: Theory, Practice, and Application is a comprehensive edited collection written by and for technical communication instructors, administrators, and scholars. As one of the most recent and significant additions to the professional and technical communication (PTC) literature, the collection both demonstrates innovative pedagogical approaches and identifies crucial directions for the field to pursue. Marketed as an update to the long-standing Foundations for Teaching Technical Communication (Staples & Ornatowski, 1997), the collection provides more diverse, contemporary, and provocative perspectives on pedagogical strategies and teaching practices. The collection also comes as the first book in a new series from the WAC Clearinghouse—Foundations and Innovations in Technical and Professional Communication—which promises to foreground texts that address the critical intersections of theory and practice. As a reflection of the methodological depth and breadth of PTC scholarship, Klein's collection delivers on this promise.
The expansive collection, divided into four parts, consists of 16 chapters composed by 23 authors. Part 1, “Expanding Pedagogy,” features pedagogical approaches and strategies that respond to the social justice turn in PTC; Part 2, “Shaping Curriculum,” portrays innovative course and curricular development; Part 3, “Incorporating Technology,” moves beyond standard advice for how to use technology in the classroom and turns toward collaborative- and team-based approaches to technical communication in the online writing classroom; and Part 4, “Engaging Communities,” describes effective tactics for aligning work inside and outside of the institution, emphasizing workplace training, scientific literacy in technical communication, and visual communication. Each chapter begins with a summative abstract, keywords, and a bulleted list of key takeaways, which all serve as useful tools for instructors and scholars to easily find the chapters most relevant to their pedagogical and institutional contexts. The relatively short chapter lengths also boost the utility of the collection for readers. And with a brief, 7-page introduction from Klein and no cumulative conclusion, the focus of the book rests solely and appropriately on the individual chapters and contributions.
One of the greatest strengths of the collection is its relevance and applicability to online and hybrid modes of teaching and learning, particularly for teaching PTC in our current moment and beyond. Part 3, “Incorporating Technology,” most explicitly addresses this objective with chapters aimed at different audiences. Two chapters are aimed specifically at instructors whereas the other two are aimed more at PTC administrators. In “The Rhetoric, Science, and Technology of 21st Century Collaboration,” Ann Hill Duin, Jason Tham, and Isabel Pedersen frame collaboration as an “imperative disciplinary assumption” in PTC (p. 169). Their framework of collaboration provides insights into how instructors can prepare students for PTC in an increasingly globalized world. In a chapter centered around the PTC classroom, “Designing a Team-Based Online Technical Communication Course,” Luke Thominet describes how team-based learning serves as a pedagogical tool. Carrying forward the theme of collaboration, Thominet describes team-based learning (TBL) as a model for collaborative online writing instruction, framing TBL as a flexible, adaptable tool that instructors can apply to their own institutional contexts and pedagogical goals.
The other two chapters in Part 3, though relevant for some instructors, raise questions more pertinent to the work of PTC administrators and in line with the contributions in Part 2 “Shaping Curriculum.” In “Using the Community of Inquiry Theory to Assess Online Programs and Help Students to Analyze their Learning,” Julie Watts explores an innovative method of course and program assessment for online PTC classrooms. Although the community of inquiry (COI) framework can guide teaching practices for instructors in online PTC classrooms, the chapter pairs COI with outcomes-based program assessment to promote more “well-rounded” assessment practices that generate results and recommendations for university stakeholders (p. 193). And in describing a large-scale global education program, “Preparing Future Professionals in and for a Global Context: A Case for Telecollaborative Educational Initiative,” Elisabet Arnó-Macià and Tatjana Schell introduce telecollaboration as a strategic goal for program development. This chapter approaches the concept of telecollaboration as a global framework for internationalization at the programmatic level as well as more global perspectives within individual PTC classrooms.
There are additional standout chapters for those looking to embrace innovative pedagogical approaches in PTC. In “Engaging Plain Language in the Technical Communication Classroom” (Part 1, Chapter 3), Kira Dreher enlivens the place of plain language in the classroom with a persuasive perspective on why plain language matters for the next generation of technical communicators. Oriented in technical communication scholarship and rhetorical theory, Dreher argues that instructors can use plain language to facilitate important practical and theoretical conversations about social justice, access, and accessibility with future technical communicators. Making one of the most thorough connections to teaching practice in the collection, Dreher suggests five classroom activities centered around plain language, such as rewriting documents into plain language and researching plain language practices in specific fields and disciplines.
Additionally, in “(Teaching) Ethics and Technical Communication” (Part 1, Chapter 4), Derek G. Ross contributes to the difficult yet pervasive dialogue in PTC scholarship and pedagogy about whether and how to teach ethics in the writing classroom. What the chapter perhaps lacks in practical advice for teaching ethics is made up for by its ample descriptions of ethical models and frameworks. Ross rightfully distinguishes ethics from morals and frames familiar ethical models—Aristotelian, Kantian, utilitarian, feminist, and care ethics—as heuristics for approaching problems in PTC. Instructors and scholars can take away from this chapter new directions for discussing and engaging ethics and ethical decision making and problem solving in the classroom.
Another topic that is relevant for technical communication pedagogy yet often diminished in the PTC scholarship investigates the relationship between technical writing and rhetoric. In “Hidden Arguments: Rhetoric and Persuasion in Diverse Forms of Technical Communication” (Part 4, Chapter 16), Jessica McCaughey and Brian Fitzpatrick reinvigorate this conversation, arguing that instructors should contemplate how to teach rhetorical thinking and problem solving in the PTC classroom. With an eye toward learning transfer, McCaughey and Fitzpatrick propose that rhetoric and rhetorical thinking may bridge the transition between classroom experiences and the actualities of the workplace for many technical communication students.
As evidenced by its range of contributions, the expertise of its collaborators, and its emphasis on the intersections between conceptual and practical knowledge, Effective Teaching of Technical Communication is a theoretically grounded, methodologically diverse, and approachable collection that provides useful ideas, concepts, and inspiration for PTC instructors and administrators. The generative chapters in this exigent collection offer significant value for teaching in a variety of programs and contexts. As such, the collection achieves its ambitious aims and is sure to provide lasting insights and ideas for teaching PTC —now and far into the future.