Norbert Elliot

Big science or bricolage: an alternative model for research in technical communication

Two research traditions inform contemporary technical communication research. With its physical science orientation and organizational capaciousness, the tradition of Big Science originated in the laboratory of Ernest O. Lawrence. With its humanistic orientation and individualistic singularity, the tradition of bricolage was identified in the fieldwork of Claude Le/spl acute/vi-Strauss. The current celebration of the former in technical communication research serves to reify a power-driven impulse for utility. The two cultures that result from such an impulse-the organizational professional and the academic researcher-have little common ground for research. To interrupt such harmful dynamics, an orientation to research is offered that celebrates successful past work in technological innovation, information design, the communication process, and the ways those processes emerge in specific contexts. To foster the continuation of such research, a community-based model is offered that draws its strength from the tradition of the bricoleur.

The Assessment of Technical Writing: A Case Study.

This article describes the design and evaluation of a formal writing assessment program within a technical writing course. Our purpose in this base-line study was to evaluate student writing at the conclusion of the course. In implementing this evaluation, we addressed fundamental issues of sound assessment: reliability and validity. Our program may encourage others seeking to assess educational outcomes in technical writing courses.

Assessment of a Newark Neighborhood: Process and Outcomes

In 1996, the members of the St. Columba Collaboration conducted a grassroots neighborhood assessment of a Hispanic area in Newark, New Jersey. This assessment was undertaken during an era of significant political and policy change in New Jersey. As a community-driven and implemented effort, the processes, methods, and outcomes of this assessment provide lessons on community activism, political awareness, and strategic planning. Quantitative surveys were distributed to local residents as well as users of the various services provided through Collaboration programs. Ten qualitative focus groups were held among various Collaboration groups. A total of 471 surveys were returned from a door-to-door distribution and 295 surveys were returned from users of Collaboration programs. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative components were surprisingly similar. It was striking to note that youth violence, domestic violence, crime, and lack of job skills surpassed poor housing and chronic health problems, including HIV/AIDS and drug and alcohol addiction, as the most noted neighborhood problems. Overwhelmingly, social, welfare, and environmental issues were identified as priority items in a neighborhood marked by extreme poverty, poor childhood immunization rates, high HIV/AIDS rates, and high incidence of childhood asthma. Focus group findings revealed that stressful daily life events and circumstances far overshadowed health and wellness concerns. Recommendations emanating from the St. Columba Neighborhood needs assessment included: (a) establishment of principled partnerships between the Collaboration and other regional entities to extend capacity to design and implement solutions (e.g., partnerships with other higher education institutions, health care agencies); (b) development of strategic planning processes and procedures within the Collaboration; (c) establishment of collaborative partnerships with other Hispanic community-based organizations for political activism; and (d) reorganization of the Collaborations internal structure and functions to capitalize on opportunities for change. Significant outcomes from this process, in evidence 4 years after the 1996 neighborhood assessment, include: (a) a successful grant application to study violence against Hispanic women, (b) a research program investigating the nature and extent of clinical depression among Hispanic women, (c) establishment of a teenage pregnancy program, (d) English classes for Hispanic women seeking language skills and eventual employment, and (e) partnership extended to the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Partnerships in higher education: A model for joint degree nursing programs

The purpose of this article is to outline specific strategies that were employed in the design and implementation of two joint baccalaureate nursing programs developed in New Jersey. Details regarding the academic contract, decision-making committees, advisory committees, lines of authority, and practical aspects of operational management are fully described. The authors also describe the broad assumptions and ingredients necessary to successful partnerships in higher education. Both the advantages and disadvantages to academic partnerships are discussed.

Technical Writing in a Technological University: Attitudes of Department Chairs.

Technical writing will become increasingly important to the nations engineering interests in the 21st century. To meet a national agenda of competitiveness, writing program administrators must build courses and programs that are sensitive to unique institutional perceptions about writing. By means of a quantitative and qualitative methodology, the present study describes the perceptions of technical writing held by department heads at a technological university. Using a combined survey method and structured interview process, we investigate how department chairs felt about the contents, instruction, and assessment of a technical writing course. We also investigate perceptions about writing products and processes. Based on our experiences with the survey, we call for writing program administrators to study the institutional context for courses and programs in technical writing.

Research Article Measuring Mobile ICT Literacy: Short-Message Performance Assessment in Emergency Response Settings

Research problem: A construct mediated in digital environments, information communication technology (ICT) literacy is operationally defined as the ability of individuals to participate effectively in transactions that invoke illocutionary action. This study investigates ICT literacy through a simulation designed to capture that construct, to deploy the construct model to measure participant improvement of ICT literacy under experimental conditions, and to estimate the potential for expanded model development. Research questions: How might a multidisciplinary literature review inform a model for ICT literacy? How might a simulation be designed that enables sufficient construct representation for modeling? How might prepost testing simulation be designed to investigate the potential for improved command of ICT literacy? How might a regression model account for variance within the model by the addition of affective elements to a cognitive model? Literature review: Existing conceptualizations of the ICT communication environment demonstrate the need for a new communication model that is sensitive to short text messaging demands in crisis communication settings. As a result of this prefect storm of limits requiring the communicator to rely on critical thinking, awareness of context, and information integration, we designed a cognitive-affective model informed by genre theory to capture the ICT construct: A sociocognitive ability that, at its most effective, facilitates illocutionary action-to confirm and warn, to advise and ask, and to thank and request-for specific audiences of emergency responders. Methodology: A prepost design with practitioner subjects (N=50) allowed investigation of performance improvement on tasks demanding illocutionary action after training on tasks of high, moderate, and low demand. Through a model based on the independent variables character count, wordcount, and decreased time on task (X) as related to the dependent variable of an overall episode score (Y), we were able to examine the internal construct strength with and without the addition of affective independent variables. Results and discussion: Of the three prepost models used to study the impact of training, participants demonstrated statistically significant improvement on episodes of high demand on all cognitive model variables. The addition of affective variables, such as attitudes toward text messaging, allowed increased model strength on tasks of high and moderate complexity. These findings suggest that an empirical basis for the construct of ICT literacy is possible and that, under simulation conditions, practitioner improvement may be demonstrated. Practically, it appears that it is possible to train emergency responders to improve their command of ICT literacy so that those most in need of humanitarian response during a crisis may receive it. Future research focusing on communication in digital environments will undoubtedly extend these finding in terms of construct validation and deployment in crisis settings.

A Midrash for Louise Rosenblatt

For what purpose is this midrash presented? As parable, paraphrase, prophecy, and dramatic monologue, midrash offers an illuminating perspective on Louise Rosenblatts Literature as Exploration. Deeply influenced by libertarian ideals of her family, Rosenblatt crafted a unique philosophy in which the process of reading literature was intertwined with the aims of democratic citizenry. Working to understand her insistence on the need for imaginative extension helps us to recall a vanished ideal of democratic culture and the role that literature was to play within it.