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Title: IMPLEMENTING USABILITY TESTING OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS AT ANY COMPANY AND ON ANY BUDGET.
Creator: Collins, Meghan, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In my thesis I discuss the cost effectiveness of usability testing of technical documents and how any size company with any size budget can implement usability testing. Usability is achieved when the people who use products or technical documents can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. Usability testing is best defined as the process of studying users to determine a documentation projectÃ‚Â's effectiveness for its intended audience. Users are tired of...
Show moreIn my thesis I discuss the cost effectiveness of usability testing of technical documents and how any size company with any size budget can implement usability testing. Usability is achieved when the people who use products or technical documents can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. Usability testing is best defined as the process of studying users to determine a documentation projectÃ‚Â's effectiveness for its intended audience. Users are tired of dealing with confusing and unintuitive technical documentation that forces them to either call customer service for help on simple issues or throw out the product in favor of one that is more usable or provides better technical documentation. That is why all technical communicators should include usability testing as part of the technical documentation production cycle. To help technical communicators understand the importance of usability testing, I discuss the cost effectiveness of usability testing and share ways that companies with large budgets and companies with small budgets can begin incorporating usability testing. Then I provide information on all the steps that are necessary for technical communicators to implement usability testing of technical documentation at their company. Options are presented for everything from bare minimum usability testing with a shoe-string budget with pencils, note pads, and only a handful of users to full scale usability testing in large laboratories with the latest equipment and a wide variety of users. The research provides examples from real companies, advice from experienced technical communicators and usability experts, and research demonstrating how many resources are truly required to benefit from usability testing. By showing technical communicators that usability testing is cost effective and that there are many options for implementing usability testing no matter how large or small their budget is, I hope to empower technical communicators to start including usability testing as part of the documentation production cycle at their companies.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0002995, ucf:47935
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002995

Title: Gender Bias in the Technical Disciplines.
Creator: Campbell, Jessica, Jones, Daniel, Flammia, Madelyn, Marinara, Martha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study investigates how women are affected by gender bias in the workplace. Despite the increasing numbers of women in the workforce, women are still under-represented and under-valued in workplaces, which, in part, is due to their gender stereotype. This study demonstrates how gender bias in the workplace has been proven to limit women in their careers and potential in their occupational roles. The media's negative depiction of women in their gender stereotype reinforces and perpetuates...
Show moreThis study investigates how women are affected by gender bias in the workplace. Despite the increasing numbers of women in the workforce, women are still under-represented and under-valued in workplaces, which, in part, is due to their gender stereotype. This study demonstrates how gender bias in the workplace has been proven to limit women in their careers and potential in their occupational roles. The media's negative depiction of women in their gender stereotype reinforces and perpetuates this image as a cultural norm in society. Women both conform and are judged and evaluated according to their weak and submissive gender stereotype. Women face challenges and problems in the workplace when they are evaluated and appraised by their female gender stereotype. Women have been prevented from acquiring jobs and positions, have been denied promotions and advancements, failed to be perceived as desiring of and capable of leadership or management positions, as well as typically receive lower paid than their male counterparts. Furthermore, women's unique, indirect, and congenial conversational methods are perceived as unconfident, incompetent, and thus, incapable in the masculine organizational culture of most workplaces. Through the investigation of gender bias in the workplace, professionals and employers will gain an awareness of how gender bias and socially-prescribed gender roles can affect the workplace and interfere with women's success in their career. Technical communicators and other educators will have a better understanding of how to overcome gender stereotyping and be encouraged to teach students on how to be gender-neutral in their communications in the workplace, perhaps striving for a more egalitarian society.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004248, ucf:49538
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004248

Title: Technical Communicators in Marketing: Switching Roles and Changing Ethical Perspectives When Working With Content Marketing.
Creator: Alvarez, Nicole, Dombrowski, Paul, Jones, Dan, Zemliansky, Pavel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis presents an alternate career path for technical communicators in the area of content marketing and expands on the ethical and goal-related issues associated with a career change to a marketing-focused role. Many of the skills necessary for technical communication are transferable to marketing communication roles; however, a successful career change requires that technical communicators understand how the ethical values and goals of marketing professionals can differ from those of...
Show moreThis thesis presents an alternate career path for technical communicators in the area of content marketing and expands on the ethical and goal-related issues associated with a career change to a marketing-focused role. Many of the skills necessary for technical communication are transferable to marketing communication roles; however, a successful career change requires that technical communicators understand how the ethical values and goals of marketing professionals can differ from those of technical communicators. Through a detailed literature review and autoethnographic study, this thesis discusses the performance goals of marketing professionals to determine how these clash with those of technical communicators. This study also discusses the ethical values of technical communicators and marketing professionals, and how these values are shaped by their unique job functions. The overall goal is to determine how this affects the technical communicator working with content marketing. After combining the data available in the literature and the data gathered from the autoethnographic study, this study suggests that due to the differing job functions and training received by technical communicators and marketing professionals, ethically charged situations and ethically questionable practices are likely to be viewed under different perspectives by each professional. This can lead to vastly different perspectives on a particular situation and result in the two groups having vastly different ideas in regard to how ethical-decision making should proceed.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005570, ucf:50280
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005570

Title: IMPLEMENTING PLAIN LANGUAGE INTO LEGAL DOCUMENTS: THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATOR'S ROLE.
Creator: Bivins, Peggy, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis discusses the benefits of using plain language in legal documents and the role technical communicators can play to help implement plain language. Although many definitions for plain language exist, it is best described as reader-focused communication that presents information in a manner that makes it easy for a reader to find, understand, and use the information. Plain language facilitates comprehension by using shorter, less complex sentences; active voice; and common words. All...
Show moreThis thesis discusses the benefits of using plain language in legal documents and the role technical communicators can play to help implement plain language. Although many definitions for plain language exist, it is best described as reader-focused communication that presents information in a manner that makes it easy for a reader to find, understand, and use the information. Plain language facilitates comprehension by using shorter, less complex sentences; active voice; and common words. All these elements aid in processing and understanding information, especially unfamiliar concepts. Laypeople, unversed in the law, frequently have difficulty understanding traditional legal writing. The complex sentences, wordiness, and redundancy that characterize traditional legal writing often inhibit comprehension and become barriers to understanding. To demonstrate how plain language can improve legal writing, this thesis reviews before-and-after versions of documents that were revised to incorporate plain language as well as common documents that laypeople might encounter. The studies and research discussed in this thesis demonstrate that readers achieve greater comprehension with plain language documents. Technical communicators, the language experts, can work with legal professionals, the content experts, to help encourage plain language use in legal writing. By emphasizing plain language use in legal formbooks, law school courses, and continuing legal education courses, plain language will become more dominant. Technical communicators can work with governments and law firms to develop and run in-house writing programs. When organizations realize how plain language can benefit them, both economically as well as in improved consumer relations, they will be motivated to adopt plain language into their legal writing.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002022, ucf:47608
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002022

Title: E:Portfolios and Digital Identities: Using E-portfolios to examine issues in technical communication.
Creator: Moody, Jane, Wallace, David, Marinara, Martha, Bowdon, Melody, Dziuban, Charles, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Technical writing teachers have always struggled with understanding how to best deal with pedagogical issues including rapidly changing technology, audience construction, and transposing an academic ethos into a professional one. The expanding online world complicates these issues by increasing the pace of digital change, making the potential audience both more diffuse and more remote, and creating a more complex online rhetorical situation.E-portfolios provide a vivid way to examine this...
Show moreTechnical writing teachers have always struggled with understanding how to best deal with pedagogical issues including rapidly changing technology, audience construction, and transposing an academic ethos into a professional one. The expanding online world complicates these issues by increasing the pace of digital change, making the potential audience both more diffuse and more remote, and creating a more complex online rhetorical situation.E-portfolios provide a vivid way to examine this complex technological situation, and in this study, the author examines four cases of students creating online portfolios in a technical communication classroom. The author looks at both their e-portfolio process as well as their product, interviewing them to get a sense of how they used rhetoric, identity, and technology in an attempt to form a coherent professional presentation through a technological medium. In addition, the author looks at some issues inherent in e-portfolios themselves that may be applicable to a technical communication classroom, as this medium becomes ever more popular as a way of assessing both programs and the students themselves.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004141, ucf:49062
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004141

Title: Female Bias in Technical Communication and an Exploration of Pedagogical Strategies for Reversing the Bias.
Creator: Beeson, Rebecca, Applen, John, Jones, Daniel, Bowdon, Melody, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis explores technical communication and seeks to establish that females outnumber males in the field while also holder more high-level positions. It further seeks to show why a field does not benefit from having one sex outnumber the other. The benefits of having an equal number of females and males contributing to the growth and expansion of the field are discussed. Finally, this thesis discusses potential pedagogical strategies which could be employed at the college level as a...
Show moreThis thesis explores technical communication and seeks to establish that females outnumber males in the field while also holder more high-level positions. It further seeks to show why a field does not benefit from having one sex outnumber the other. The benefits of having an equal number of females and males contributing to the growth and expansion of the field are discussed. Finally, this thesis discusses potential pedagogical strategies which could be employed at the college level as a means of attracting more young men to the field and allowing for maximum growth of technical communication as a field of study and work. The thesis begins by exploring the history of technical communication as a means of understanding how it came to be a field where women outnumber men. It then briefly explores the differences between the learning styles of females and males as a means of demonstrating the importance of including both sexes equally. Lastly, using research from other, related fields pedagogical strategies are suggested for drawing more young males into the study and practice of technical communication.The conclusions drawn in this thesis are as follows: 1.) Women currently outnumber men in both the study and practice of technical communication. 2.) Research indicates that any field will benefit the most from including the skills and experiences of both sexes. 3.) Pedagogy may be effectively used as a means to help attract more young males into the field, thus increasing the growth and development of technical communication.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005131, ucf:50680
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005131

Title: Digital communication systems technical control.
Creator: Horrell, Joel L., McCarter, E.R., Engineering
Abstract / Description: Florida Technological University College of Engineering Thesis; This is a study of the methods of control of an advanced military communication system. The Tactical Communication Control System has been conceived t o meet the demands of military users which are currently both analog and digital but steadily evolving to all - digital . It is a study of the design and application of multiplexers, modems, processors, switches, and other nodal equipment to accommodate communications among...
Show moreFlorida Technological University College of Engineering Thesis; This is a study of the methods of control of an advanced military communication system. The Tactical Communication Control System has been conceived t o meet the demands of military users which are currently both analog and digital but steadily evolving to all - digital . It is a study of the design and application of multiplexers, modems, processors, switches, and other nodal equipment to accommodate communications among telephone and data users in a tactical environment. The main points of interest are the communication node and the control techniques used to carry out system objectives.
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Date Issued: 1975
Identifier: CFR0003517, ucf:53007
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0003517

Title: A RHETORIC OF TECHNOLOGY: THE DISCOURSE IN U.S. ARMY HANDBOOKS AND MANUALS.
Creator: Steward, Sherry Ann, Jones, Dan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation examines the historical technical publications of the United States Army from 1775-2004. Historical research in Army technical communication reveals the persuasive characteristics of its technical publications. Elements of narrative, storytelling, and anthropomorphism are techniques writers used to help deliver information to readers. Research also reveals the design techniques writers adopted to unite the situated literacies of the troops. Analyses of print, comic, and...
Show moreThis dissertation examines the historical technical publications of the United States Army from 1775-2004. Historical research in Army technical communication reveals the persuasive characteristics of its technical publications. Elements of narrative, storytelling, and anthropomorphism are techniques writers used to help deliver information to readers. Research also reveals the design techniques writers adopted to unite the situated literacies of the troops. Analyses of print, comic, and digital media expose the increasing visualization of information since the eighteenth century. The results of such historical research can be applied to new media designs. Automating processes captured in paper-based technical manuals and adding intelligent functionality to these designs are two of many possible design options. Research also dispels a myth concerning the history of modern technical communication and illustrates the development of many genres and subgenres. Modern technical communication was not born of World War II as many scholars suggest, but was a legitimate field in eighteenth-century America. Finally, historical research in Army technical communication shows the systematic progression of a technological society and our increasing dependence on machine intelligence.
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Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: CFE0000060, ucf:46088
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000060

Title: HUMANIZING TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION WITH METAPHOR.
Creator: McClure, Ashley, Jones, Dan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis explores how metaphors can humanize a technical document and more effectively facilitate user comprehension. The frequent use of metaphor in technical communication reminds us that the discipline is highly creative and rhetorical. Theory demonstrates that a technical text involves interpretation and subjectivity during both its creation by the technical communicator and its application by the user. If employed carefully and skillfully, metaphor can be a powerful tool to ensure...
Show moreThis thesis explores how metaphors can humanize a technical document and more effectively facilitate user comprehension. The frequent use of metaphor in technical communication reminds us that the discipline is highly creative and rhetorical. Theory demonstrates that a technical text involves interpretation and subjectivity during both its creation by the technical communicator and its application by the user. If employed carefully and skillfully, metaphor can be a powerful tool to ensure users' needs are met during this process. The primary goal of technical communication is to convey information to an audience as clearly and efficiently as possible. Because of the often complex nature of technical content, users are likely to feel alienated, overwhelmed, or simply uninterested if the information presented seems exceedingly unfamiliar or complicated. If users experience any of these reactions, they are inclined to abandon the document, automatically rendering it unsuccessful. I identify metaphor as a means to curtail such an occurrence. Using examples from a variety of technical communication genres, I illustrate how metaphors can humanize a technical document by establishing a strong link between the document and its users.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002948, ucf:47979
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002948

Title: On Copyright Law: What Technical Communicators Need to Know.
Creator: Chao, Mariana, Jones, Daniel, Cavanagh, Thomas, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Copyright law, in general, is a multi-faceted and sometimes difficult to understand process. Although it is law, it is often not straight-forward and cannot be applied universally. While the concepts of copyright infringement and plagiarism may sometimes overlap, many confuse one for the other or think they are the same offense. This thesis is intended to serve as a primer to some basic aspects of copyright law for technical communicators, including issues surrounding public domain works, the...
Show moreCopyright law, in general, is a multi-faceted and sometimes difficult to understand process. Although it is law, it is often not straight-forward and cannot be applied universally. While the concepts of copyright infringement and plagiarism may sometimes overlap, many confuse one for the other or think they are the same offense. This thesis is intended to serve as a primer to some basic aspects of copyright law for technical communicators, including issues surrounding public domain works, the fair use doctrine, the copyright clearance process, as well as why we should be concerned about our current copyright laws.Over the past few decades, Congress has increased the number of copyright extensions, and these extensions are pushing out works that were to expire into the public domain. This thesis provides details about the growing copyright reform movement to explore the possibilities of making our culture more egalitarian and democratic when it comes to the exchange of ideas and information. Those who support copyright reform believe current copyright laws increasingly favor corporations and special interest groups rather than the public, and insist on a balance in copyright laws to loosen some of the restrictions.This thesis illustrates the importance of the knowledge of copyright and its associated laws for technical communicators especially in these current times. With the growth of the Internet within the last 20 years, some of the core concepts of how copyright works for the analog age present some challenges when translated into our digital age. Young professionals (-) particularly those working in web-based media (-) are faced with some contradicting ideas on copyright, sharing, and piracy, especially when surrounded by peers who perpetuate incorrect notions about these topics. Technical communicators also need to be aware of the risks they run if they choose to ignore the law (or choose to remain ignorant of it), but, on a deeper level, they also need be prepared to deal with the philosophical and ethical inquiries that tie into the concept of copyright. This thesis also provides practical applications of the knowledge of copyright laws for technical communicators.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005147, ucf:50700
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005147

Title: Technical Illustration: The Changes and Challenges Presented by Advancements in Technology.
Creator: Caudill, Cindy, Jones, Daniel, Flammia, Madelyn, Young, Beth, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis investigates the changes and challenges technology has created in the field of technical illustration. Technical illustration includes the fields of technical drawing as well as scientific and medical illustration. Previously, technical illustrators learned and used traditional illustration methods, without the aid of computers. However, technology has rapidly entered the field and has changed the education, work environment, skills, and role of the technical illustrator. I note...
Show moreThis thesis investigates the changes and challenges technology has created in the field of technical illustration. Technical illustration includes the fields of technical drawing as well as scientific and medical illustration. Previously, technical illustrators learned and used traditional illustration methods, without the aid of computers. However, technology has rapidly entered the field and has changed the education, work environment, skills, and role of the technical illustrator. I note both the benefits and disadvantages that current technical illustrators are facing in their work. I explore both sides of the digital media and traditional art debate while focusing on the technical illustrator's role, tools and methods used in the illustration process, education, idea-generation, and the future of technical illustration. By emphasizing the issues associated with the incorporation of digital media into traditional methods, I hope to bring awareness to the transformation of technical illustration and the future of this discipline.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005145, ucf:50681
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005145

Title: The Gender Gap in Technical Communication: How Women Challenge the Predominant Objectivist Paradigm.
Creator: Bower, Nathan, Jones, Daniel, Jones, Anna, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Women are currently underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how this underrepresentation translates to a gender gap in the field of technical communication and how this gap causes women to challenge the predominant objectivist paradigm in the field. Through an investigation of peer-reviewed journal articles, periodicals, critical theory, and articles published in online magazines such as Slate, I...
Show moreWomen are currently underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how this underrepresentation translates to a gender gap in the field of technical communication and how this gap causes women to challenge the predominant objectivist paradigm in the field. Through an investigation of peer-reviewed journal articles, periodicals, critical theory, and articles published in online magazines such as Slate, I identify the gendered nature of modern technology and discuss to what extent a shift in the predominant paradigm has occurred in the professional arena. In looking at several theoretical approaches and contemporary examples, I conclude that a significant paradigm shift has not in fact occurred due to an underlying, culturally promoted sexism. Additionally, I conclude that neither new approaches in the technical communication classroom, nor attempts to increasingly include women in the technological fields will result in a significant paradigm change by themselves. I also point to a need for further meaningful research in how sexism influences the professional world as well as a more thorough conversation regarding a fundamental shift in workplace relations between the genders.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004523, ucf:52878
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004523

Title: DEFINING WORKPLACE INFORMATION FLUENCY SKILLS FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION STUDENTS.
Creator: Zhang, Yuejiao, Dombrowski, Paul, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Information fluency refers to the ability to recognize information needs and to gather, evaluate, and communicate information appropriately. In this study, I treat "information fluency" as both an overall competency and as a collection of knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore the specific workplace information fluency skills valued by employers of technical communicators, to find out how instructors perceive and teach these skills, and to suggest how these findings can...
Show moreInformation fluency refers to the ability to recognize information needs and to gather, evaluate, and communicate information appropriately. In this study, I treat "information fluency" as both an overall competency and as a collection of knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore the specific workplace information fluency skills valued by employers of technical communicators, to find out how instructors perceive and teach these skills, and to suggest how these findings can inform our teaching practices. Within the framework of qualitative methodology, this study employs two data-collection instruments, including a content analysis of online job recruitment postings and a survey of technical communication instructors across the United States. The study discovers that when hiring technical communicators, employers require candidates to have skills in information processing, information technology, and critical thinking. Candidates must be able to identify their information needs, and must know how to use specified tools to gather, evaluate, and communicate information. It also reveals that although "information fluency" is a new terminology to a majority of instructors, the skill sets that constitute information fluency already existed in their knowledge. The study's last finding suggests that the opportunity for an internship is perceived as the most helpful in students' acquisition of information fluency skills. This dissertation concludes with a list of specific employer-valued information fluency skills, recommendations for program administrators and instructors for implementing information fluency, as well as recommendations for future researches on this subject.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003170, ucf:48604
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003170

Title: AFFECTIVE DESIGN IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION.
Creator: Rosen, Michael, Kitalong, Karla, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) is based on 'cold' models of user cognition; that is, models of users as purely rational beings based on the information processing metaphor; however, an emerging perspective suggests that for the field of HCI to mature, its practitioners must adopt models of users that consider broader human needs and capabilities. Affective design is an umbrella term for research and practice being conducted in diverse domains, all with the common thread of...
Show moreTraditional human-computer interaction (HCI) is based on 'cold' models of user cognition; that is, models of users as purely rational beings based on the information processing metaphor; however, an emerging perspective suggests that for the field of HCI to mature, its practitioners must adopt models of users that consider broader human needs and capabilities. Affective design is an umbrella term for research and practice being conducted in diverse domains, all with the common thread of integrating emotional aspects of use into the creation of information products. This thesis provides a review of the current state of the art in affective design research and practice to technical communicators and others involved in traditional HCI and usability enterprises. This paper is motivated by the developing technologies and the growing complexity of interaction that demand a more robust notion of HCI that incorporates affect in an augmented and holistic representation of the user and situated use.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000590, ucf:46474
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000590

Title: THE RHETORIC OF THE REGIONAL IMAGE: INTERPRETING THE VISUAL PRODUCTS OF REGIONAL PLANNNING.
Creator: Torres, Alissa, Bowdon, Melody, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The Rhetoric of the Regional Image: Interpreting the Visual Products of Regional Planning investigates the manner in which visual conventions and visual contexts of regional visioning scenarios affect their interpretation by urban and regional planners, who use visual communication to meet the technical and rhetorical demands of their professional practice. The research assesses Central FloridaÃ‚Â's Ã‚Â"How Shall We Grow?Ã‚Â" regional...
Show moreThe Rhetoric of the Regional Image: Interpreting the Visual Products of Regional Planning investigates the manner in which visual conventions and visual contexts of regional visioning scenarios affect their interpretation by urban and regional planners, who use visual communication to meet the technical and rhetorical demands of their professional practice. The research assesses Central FloridaÃ‚Â's Ã‚Â"How Shall We Grow?Ã‚Â" regional land use scenario using focus groups and interviews with planning professionals, a corresponding survey of community values, and rhetorical analysis to explore the Ã‚Â"How Shall We Grow?Ã‚Â" scenario as persuasive communication. The Rhetoric of the Regional Image proposes specific recommendations for technology-based visual communication and scenario development in urban and regional planning practice, while contributing to literature in technical communication and rhetoric by examining plannersÃ‚Â' professional communication within their discourse community.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003511, ucf:48943
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003511

Title: DESIGNING FOR MULTICULTURAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES: CREATING CULTURALLY-INTELLIGENT VISUAL RHETORIC AND OVERCOMING ETHNOCENTRISM.
Creator: Moore, Bridget, Jones, Dan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Various cultures interpret visual rhetoric differently; therefore, technical communicators must adjust their rhetoric accordingly by creating effective visual rhetoric for their international and multicultural audiences. Although there is a great deal of research in the field regarding how to create effective visual rhetorical rhetoric, this research often fails to take into international and multicultural audiences into consideration. Many visual rhetoric solutions proposed in technical...
Show moreVarious cultures interpret visual rhetoric differently; therefore, technical communicators must adjust their rhetoric accordingly by creating effective visual rhetoric for their international and multicultural audiences. Although there is a great deal of research in the field regarding how to create effective visual rhetorical rhetoric, this research often fails to take into international and multicultural audiences into consideration. Many visual rhetoric solutions proposed in technical communication involve Ã‚Â"catch allÃ‚Â" approaches that do little to communicate to people of non-Western cultures and can even serve to offend or confuse international and multicultural audiences. These solutions are generated by a globalization mindset, but are not realistic when we acknowledge how varied technical communication audiences are with regard to culture. The globalization approach also fails unless technical communicators intend to limit the reach of their communication to certain types of Western audiences. To create the most useful visual rhetoric, technical communicators must learn to use color, graphics, icons/symbols, and layouts (web and print) appropriately for audiences. They must learn more about different types of cultures (individualistic or collectivistic, universalist or particularist, high-context or low-context, high uncertainty avoidance or low uncertainty avoidance, monochronic or polychronic, linear thinking or systemic thinking, masculine or feminine), and they must address these different cultural expectations accordingly.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003036, ucf:48333
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003036

Title: USING NARRATIVE TO IMPROVE REFLECTION IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION.
Creator: Brkich, Carrie, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis explores why instructors should use narrative intentionally and effectively with reflection to better understand adult students' perceptions of experiential learning activities in technical communication. The frequent use of narrative in technical discourse reminds us that the tone of technical texts is often appropriately informal, personable, and reflective. A closer analysis of narratives provides instructors with valuable opportunities to learn more about the motivations for...
Show moreThis thesis explores why instructors should use narrative intentionally and effectively with reflection to better understand adult students' perceptions of experiential learning activities in technical communication. The frequent use of narrative in technical discourse reminds us that the tone of technical texts is often appropriately informal, personable, and reflective. A closer analysis of narratives provides instructors with valuable opportunities to learn more about the motivations for and barriers to learning for adult students and to better understand how these students situate themselves in larger social and cultural narratives. Narrative serves many purposes in technical communication. Not only does narrative add a human element to technical discourse, but it also invites interrogation and inquiry into the technical communicator's decision-making process. For these reasons, narrative is commonly paired with reflection exercises in experiential learning programs as a way for students to make sense of their learning experiences. If instructors can capture the essence of how adult students make sense of their learning experiences, they can determine if experiential learning is an effective pedagogical approach to teaching technical communication to adult students. Using examples of ongoing, initial and summative, and alternative reflection exercises, I illustrate how narrative can be used to facilitate the learning process in adult students and gain access to these students' perceptions of experiential learning activities in technical communication.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003695, ucf:48827
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003695

Title: The Ethos of Humor in Technical Communication.
Creator: Roberts, David, Applen, John, Dombrowski, Paul, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Within the realm of technical communication, humor has often been regarded as an unnecessary or risky rhetorical device that can negatively impact the credibility of a document. While many other professional fields, such as medicine, computer technology fields, or business have used humor, and humor continues to crop up in (")user as producer(") documentation, technical writing continues to approach humor cautiously and with little theoretical guidance. In order to fully understand how humor...
Show moreWithin the realm of technical communication, humor has often been regarded as an unnecessary or risky rhetorical device that can negatively impact the credibility of a document. While many other professional fields, such as medicine, computer technology fields, or business have used humor, and humor continues to crop up in (")user as producer(") documentation, technical writing continues to approach humor cautiously and with little theoretical guidance. In order to fully understand how humor functions, it is important to understand the main theories of humor: superiority, relief, and incongruity. It is also important to understand how humor functions, by looking at Meyer's four functions of humor: identification, clarification, enforcement, and differentiation. Some primary and secondary manuals have successfully used a rhetorical strategy incorporating humor. Google uses a persona and situated ethos that projects a sense of fun and humor, and incorporates some humor into their documentation. The (")(")For Dummies(")(") series is well known and recognized for the situated ethos of providing fun, entertaining direction, while individual authors choose a specific invented ethos for each book written. The three theories of humor and four functions of humor can be applied to humor used in Google and (")(")For Dummies(")("). This demonstration better highlights how humor operates and functions in communication, and can provide technical communicators with a tool to use when considering the application of humor in documentation. The application further highlights the need for greater understanding of how humor affects the credibility and success of documentation.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004920, ucf:49629
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004920

Title: The Relevance of Benjamin Franklin's and Thomas Jefferson's Technical Writing for Modern Communicators.
Creator: Fecko, Kristin, Jones, Dan, Cavanagh, Thomas, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Today's technical communicators enjoy an increasingly broader role and influence in the workplace, and are often given latitude to use engaging rhetoric and personal touches in many kinds of communications. Historical documents, particularly those that are substantially removed from our own era, can offer fresh approaches and insight into the enduring elements of successful communication. This study explores the technical writings of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and considers their...
Show moreToday's technical communicators enjoy an increasingly broader role and influence in the workplace, and are often given latitude to use engaging rhetoric and personal touches in many kinds of communications. Historical documents, particularly those that are substantially removed from our own era, can offer fresh approaches and insight into the enduring elements of successful communication. This study explores the technical writings of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and considers their usefulness to professionals today.Although the political writing of Franklin and Jefferson is more familiar, both men frequently wrote about scientific and technical subjects and were well-known in their day for these documents. Franklin created a captivating persona and arguments which carried emotional and logical appeal. Jefferson was a student of ancient rhetoric and applied classical principles of arrangement to guide readers. His fondness for statistical records led to a skill in presenting numerical data and other types of information in creative, efficient ways. By using tone, language, and description, both Franklin and Jefferson created technical narratives that are equally informative and aesthetically pleasing.The contemporary era of technical communication has been shaped by positivism, the plain language movement, and humanism, among other significant trends. Franklin's and Jefferson's approaches to technical communication both support and challenge the guiding philosophies of these movements. Their styles are reviewed in this study against the context of modern approaches. Opportunities for further historical study are also offered, including additional writings of our Founding Fathers and technical writing from the turn of the twentieth century.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005329, ucf:50526
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005329

Title: Technical Communicators and Writing Consultants: Identity and Expertise.
Creator: Cepero, Nichole, Young, Beth, Jones, Daniel, Marinara, Martha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This paper examines the roles of technical communicators and writing center consultants in regards to their identities and the expertise that they bring to what they do. Both fields have struggled with alack of understanding surrounding what their positions entail and more importantly how they perform in their roles. With this in mind, the goal of this paper is to analyze how the growth of each field andthe variations of each position contribute to the issue of identity. Furthermore, as a...
Show moreThis paper examines the roles of technical communicators and writing center consultants in regards to their identities and the expertise that they bring to what they do. Both fields have struggled with alack of understanding surrounding what their positions entail and more importantly how they perform in their roles. With this in mind, the goal of this paper is to analyze how the growth of each field andthe variations of each position contribute to the issue of identity. Furthermore, as a result of the identity problem that faces each position, I suggest using the theory of liminality, communication theory, and genre theory to examine more closely how technical communicators and writing center consultants approach the work they do.Technical communicators and writing center consultants perform very similar roles in their respective fields. Both positions have the ability to contribute to various fields through the work that they do. Technical communicators have the ability to communicate in multiple areas without necessarily being subject matter experts in the areas they participate in. The same holds true forwriting center consultants who may, in one day, assist students in multiple subjects without necessarily having specific disciplinary knowledge of each area addressed. Outsiders do not understand how technical communicators and writing consultants can communicate within anunfamiliar field, which creates a main area of controversy for both roles. Using the three theories mentioned above, I make an argument for just how it is possible for them to perform in this capacity.By focusing on how technical communicators and writing center consultants perform in their roles instead of on their writing, their identity and expertise becomes clear and confusion surrounding each field can be banished. Although technical communicators and writing consultants both face similarchallenges, their responsibilities differ in ways that affect how these theories apply. Still, all three theories illuminate how rhetoric provides the basis for expertise in both technical communication and writing centers.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005146, ucf:50706
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005146

technical communication (19)	+ -
technical writing (7)	+ -
Technical Communication (6)	+ -
rhetoric (3)	+ -
Communication of technical information (2)	+ -

Technical communication (2)	+ -
XML (2)	+ -
narrative (2)	+ -
plain language (2)	+ -
technical communicator (2)	+ -
technical manuals (2)	+ -
usability (2)	+ -
usability testing (2)	+ -
Army technical communication (1)	+ -
CMS (1)	+ -
Collaboration (1)	+ -
Color (1)	+ -
Communication & gender (1)	+ -
Communication & technology (1)	+ -
Communication Theory (1)	+ -
Communications (1)	+ -
Content Management (1)	+ -
Critical Thinking (1)	+ -
Cultural studies (1)	+ -
DAM (1)	+ -
DBMS (1)	+ -
DITA (1)	+ -
DTD (1)	+ -
Design (1)	+ -
Digital Asset Management (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (32)	+ -
Flammia, Madelyn (15)	+ -
Jones, Daniel (10)	+ -
Jones, Dan (9)	+ -
Applen, John (8)	+ -

Dombrowski, Paul (5)	+ -
Bowdon, Melody (4)	+ -
Cavanagh, Thomas (4)	+ -
Marinara, Martha (3)	+ -
Young, Beth (2)	+ -
Alvarez, Nicole (1)	+ -
Applen, J.D. (1)	+ -
Beeson, Rebecca (1)	+ -
Bell, Kathleen (1)	+ -
Bivins, Peggy (1)	+ -
Boehl, Jeremy (1)	+ -
Bower, Nathan (1)	+ -
Brkich, Carrie (1)	+ -
Campbell, Jessica (1)	+ -
Carpenter, Russell (1)	+ -
Cata, Alexandra (1)	+ -
Caudill, Cindy (1)	+ -
Cepero, Nichole (1)	+ -
Chao, Mariana (1)	+ -
Collins, Meghan (1)	+ -
Dziuban, Charles (1)	+ -
Engineering (1)	+ -
Fecko, Kristin (1)	+ -
Fenn, James (1)	+ -
Gabriel, Jennifer (1)	+ -

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