Reflections on Finishing a Technical Communication Graduate Program

As I reach the end of my time at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I can look back and say that I made the right choice to pursue the Master of Arts, Technical Communication (MATC) degree.

Before my penultimate semester in the program, I pondered whether the graduate technical communication program I chose was the correct option for me. Once again, I want to take some time to reflect on the choices I made, the experiences I’ve gained, and what I’ve learned along the way as I finish my thesis and complete the program.

*** To read the full article, see the Spring 2013 issue of Techniques, pages 1-5, 7.

 

 

STC Live Webinar 2012: Using YouTube Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation

This webinar was originally given as a presentation at the STC Summit, 2012.

For the audio/video of our original presentation the STC Summit 2012, visit the Summit@aClick site (first 5 minutes free, login required:

Using Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation.

Below are the description and slides for the updated presentation Ben and I gave as an STC Live Web Seminar, 11 December 2012.

Presentation description:

The way users consume information is becoming increasingly visual. Technical communicators can address this need and increase user satisfaction by creating video tutorials.  Ben and Fer present some best practices for choosing topics, creating, sharing, promoting, and measuring the success of video tutorials in YouTube.

Topic description:

Rich media, including video, infographics, screencasts, screen recordings, and flash animation, is an effective tool to supplement and enhance online support documentation. Users are increasingly using sites such as YouTube to share video-tutorials for tasks such as replacing a print cartridge in a printer, to basic software tutorials.

If your organization is considering using video tutorials, this session will provide real-world examples and ideas from two different companies that are using video tutorials with success.

This presentation will discuss what content to produce, how to best deliver it, and why it is more effective for increasing customer satisfaction for some users than text-only support documentation. Additionally, technical communicators can incorporate rich media into their social media strategy to leverage content across several channels thereby reaching the most users possible.

Report: Usability testing of the MnOnline website

Last year (2011) I completed a usability study of the MnOnline website (http://www.mnscu.edu/online/index.html) for a project in ENG 674 User Experience at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This was my first foray into both UX/Usability research and writing a quantitative report.

The final document is available to view by opening the PDF from the following link:

Report: Usability testing of the MnOnline website

Related:

Report: Webinar Best Practices for Online Learning and Collaboration

Redesigned Help File with graphics and video

Article Review: 350-word summary of “A Question of Ethics: Lessons from Technical Communicators on the Job”

Dragga, Sam. 1997. “A Question of Ethics: Lessons from Technical Communicators on the Job.” Technical Communication Quarterly 6 (2): 161–178.

The questions of how useful, desirable, or effective ethics instructions is for professional technical communicators has been visited and revisited for decades. Most of the literature concerning ethics instruction focuses on the analytical perspective rather than on narratives. In this article, Dragga offers a claim based in part on

Redesigned Help File with graphics and video

My work machine uses the program IZArc for compressing (zipping) and extracting archives. Some time ago, I was looking for some information in the Help File (a .chm file called “IZArc Help” that comes with the program) and noticed that it covered many topics but that the topics I was interested in (compressing and archiving) contained little useful information. Most of the topics could be considered “glossary” information rather than “help.” Furthermore, the entire Help File didn’t contain one graphic for procedures, or even a graphical overview of the user interface (UI).

What is a help system?

A help system is a reference document designed to assist users with learning how to use a product or feature. This form of documentation creates

Article Review: 350-word summary of “The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communications Talk Ten Years After Their Master’s Program.”

Wilson, Greg, and Julie Dyke Ford. 2003. “The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communications Talk Ten Years After Their Master’s Program.” Technical Communication 50 (2) (May): 145-159.

This “Applied Research” study uses an interactive qualitative method and what the authors define as an “autoethnography” to critically examine the culture of technical communicators. The authors posed questions to stimulate an unstructured conversation on how technical and professional communication (TPC) Master’s programs prepared students for the workplace.  The four topics addressed in this survey were

Article Review: 350-word summary of “Do Curricula Correspond to Managerial Expectations? Core Competencies for Technical Communicators”

Rainey, Kenneth T., Roy K. Turner, and David Dayton. 2005. “Do Curricula Correspond to Managerial Expectations? Core Competencies for Technical Communicators.” Technical Communication 52 (3) (August): 323–352.

This research article uses survey data to analyze the curricula at undergraduate technical and professional communications programs (TPC) and interviews with technical communication managers to evaluate which competencies they desire in workers.

The research takes a broad view and only looks at which competencies (skills or knowledge) programs focus on and which ones managers desire—it does not determine the value of these competencies outside of these two perspectives.

The findings

Similar to other research of TPC program curricula, ethical considerations rank in the 50-percentile based on the qualitative content analysis curricula correlated to the surveyed manager expectations. The findings are not representative of all technical communication managers, as noted by Rainey et al. because a large enough random sample could not be found and instead a “sample of convenience” was used to draw some general trends. The top competencies and trends that managers desire from TPC graduates are interpersonal skills and a general knowledge of technology—the ability to learn new technologies is valued more than specific knowledge of technological tools.

Application of research

There are a few ideas that I thought were interesting when applied to my own research. Related to this paper’s methodology, I thought that using a “pre-survey” at the beginning of the survey to gain unbiased results before presenting the managers with a selection to choose from is a good idea. And whereas my research will focus only on ethical considerations, this research did present findings that support my research topic—namely, how approaches to “skill building” versus “depth of cognitive insights” (Rainey, Turner, and Dayton 2005, 323) are important TPC curricula to prepare graduates to understand the impact technology has on people and on their own work.