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Reading reflections on: “A Research Primer for Technical Communication” written by Michael A. Hughes and George F. Hayhoe

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  The book “A Research Primer for Technical Communication” written by Michael A. Hughes and George F. Hayhoe is a fountain of knowledge for students of Tech Comm and for those wanting to learn more about it. In technical communication the purpose of a literature review is to determine what foundational knowledge there is on the area of study, the need to identify gaps in the research that can be further reviewed and analyzed, to educate the reader, and finally to establish credibility with one’s audience. Additionally, when it comes to differentiating between primary and secondary research it is important to note that “primary research involves formulating and testing a hypothesis, collecting information through observation, or conducting a survey or usability study” and that “secondary research is conducted by reading reports of previous research, analyzing the results, and then formulating a synthesis of the current state of knowledge on the topic” (Hughes and Hayhoe 39). Mor...
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Technical communication during a Pandemic and Winter Freeze is crucial:

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  It has become even clearer the need to have effective technical communicators that are able to provide the public with accurate and vital information. During this pandemic, and now winter freeze and power outages that affected Texas, there have been many fumbles from the CDC, local, state and government officials who have not done a great job in communicating important information that the public has desperately needed and wanted. The CDC and the previous President and his cabinet were horrible communicators that lacked the verbiage and command of the language in their speeches and media press gatherings, due to their communication being subpar and instead of informing the public they were actually perpetuating inaccurate data and information that was harmful to society.   The week of February 15 through the 19, 2021 was a very trying time for over 2 million Texans, we suffered extreme power outages, continued black outs, our Wi-Fi was rolling in and out, and even our ce...
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Solving Problems in Technical Communication: Situating the Field

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The title of this chapter is very explanatory and communicates the information effectively. It is important for one to really understand the bases and basics of a field before progressing onto the more intricate areas of it. The four main concepts that this chapter discusses are putting the rhetoric theory into practice to aide in effective communication, it provides an overview into the work tools that enable this field, and reflects on the history of technical communication and where it is headed.  Putting to practice the skills of a rhetor are essential, as "Rhetoric theory can provide you with approaches to new communication situations and can help you figure out how to act and work strategically." (2013) Therefore, learning how to theorize and troubleshoot are major components that those in the field of technical communication must learn to do as a continous process to maximize their capablities. As an English Teacher, what captured my attention was the section that revi...
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Reflections of a Grad Student: Solving Problems in Technical Communication: Introduction

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  Reflecting on the Introduction to the book, Solving Problems in Technical Communication, I came upon the realization that teachers are experts in technical communication, and we can adapt to changes with ease. In my personal experience, when the Coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, I had to quickly learn to adapt to the new style of teaching in a matter of weeks. We went from traditional schooling, face to face instruction, physical copies of textbooks and materials to a whole new world of teaching. Overnight, I had to learn how to teach in an online platform and learn it quickly. My district chose to implement Google Classroom as the online platform where we would teach and use google meets to teach our students virtually; which looking back, those were all foreign terms to me. I was familiar with FaceTime and Skype, but I had never heard of or used Google Meets, and I am not that old, I am only 32 years old. Thanks to the innovation of technologies I was able to troubleshoot...
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Blog Purpose:

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 This blog will be used for my Spring 2021: ENGL 5313 Studies in Technical Communication class. The purpose of this blog is to post my reflections on the assigned readings. Looking forward to having thoughtful class discussions.
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