Frederic Giacobazzi

1. How did you become interested in this discipline?

My interest in technical writing as a discipline began when I started my college teaching career. Until then, my connection with technical writing was only as a sometime reader of technical documents, a reader who had experienced the frustrations of being subjected to bad technical writing: poorly written college textbooks; dense, jargon-clogged professional articles; unclear instructions, and so on. However, like many readers, I had suffered those impositions without a clear understanding of why I was experiencing them. I guess I had just assumed that there was something wrong with my intelligence or my skills as a reader. It was learning to teach writing--which is how most college English teachers begin their careers--that altered my understanding of what really was wrong with those frustrating technical documents.

After a year of teaching freshman composition at the University of Minnesota, I was invited by the director of the upper-division writing program to teach a writing course for pre-professional juniors and seniors, students going into law, medicine, engineering, and business. Teaching that technical writing course was the most stimulating time I had yet experienced as a teacher, and it taught me more than I had ever learned about effective writing in general. After that I volunteered to teach the course as often as I could, and I usually taught two sections of it each term. Not long thereafter, I was offered some opportunities to do part-time work as a writing consultant, which got me out into the "real world" of technical writing in business and the health care industry. That led to opportunities to do on-site teaching in industry, everything from one-day seminars to multi-week courses for employees and managers. I still very much enjoy teaching technical writing, and I'd be disappointed if my schedule wouldn't permit me to do so at Kirtland.

2. What is this discipline all about?

Technical writing is sometimes called "organizational" or "professional" writing. The term "technical" emphasizes that technical writing serves specialized information needs; "organizational" and "professional" stress that the context of technical communication is the professional, industrial, corporate, business, or government organization. Besides a basic emphasis on producing clear and effective writing and communication, technical writing courses cover such topics as: writing and communication theory; analysis of organizational contexts and communication systems; effective research; types of technical documents; effective text and document design; and the use of computers and computer networks for document creation and transmission.

3. Why should someone study this discipline?

Technical writing teaches students "foundation" skills which apply to many other disciplines: individual skills in producing writing that is clear, concise, and oriented to the practical needs of the reader; collaborative and communication skills which will enhance the student's performance in group situations in his or her other courses; experience in the use of computers for writing and document design; research skills that will improve performance on writing assignments in many other classes, including practice in the use of the Internet and World-Wide Web for research; skills in producing online documents such as Web pages, and employment-oriented documents such as resumes, business letters, and memorandums.

Finally, I think the experience students get in technical writing does much to increase the level of their confidence as students at Kirtland and as employees on the job.

4. How does this discipline fit in with other disciplines in the curriculum?

First of all, Technical Writing satisfies a writing requirement in certain academic programs and majors at Kirtland, automotive technology, criminal justice, nursing, and so on, out of a belief that students majoring in these occupational areas can gain practical benefits from the course that go beyond those of freshman composition. Additionally, the course attracts a steady stream of students with majors across the curriculum who want to gain experience in technical, scientific, and professional communication: physical and social science majors, majors in business, accounting, and secretarial science, English, engineering, and education majors--I've had all of them at one time or another. If a major or career field emphasizes writing and communication skills, a student pursuing that course of study can benefit from Technical Writing.

5. How does this discipline relate to the "real world"?

You know, one feature that I enjoy about teaching technical writing is that "selling" students on the practical benefits of the discipline is not difficult, or, at least, not as difficult as convincing some Comp-One students that freshman composition is worth their time and effort. In a sense, my technical writing students are almost pre-convinced of the "real-world" value of what I am asking them to practice in the course. They can clearly see the benefits of improving the writing and communication skills on which their success in college and career depends. Poor writing skills have become a major concern in American organizations, and they are a major reason job applicants are not hired and employees not promoted. My technical writing students tend to appreciate this.

For more on this question, see my next response.

6. What jobs might an understanding of, or a major in, this discipline prepare you for?

An understanding of the principles of effective technical and organizational communication will benefit a person who intends to go into almost any field. There are, after all, few careers in which one is not a member of an organization, and few organizations in which a person with effective communication skills will not rise and be promoted.