A Methodology for Streamlining Historical Research: The Analysis of Technical and Scientific Publications

This article provides a framework for organizing and structuring the research of historical researchers who analyze technical and scientific publications. Because historical research spans both decades and centuries, an effective research methodology is essential. The framework consists of a multifaceted 10-step method for studying the written discourse of scientific and technical communication, specifically for interpreting historical data obtained from articles published in technical and scientific journals. The method is a reliable means for making sense of the enormous body of data that awaits historical researchers in the volumes of scientific and technical discourse already published

Keep up with the winners: Experimental evidence on risk taking, asset integration, and peer effects

The paper reports the result of an experimental game on asset integration and risk taking. We find some evidence that winnings in earlier rounds affect risk taking in subsequent rounds, but no evidence that real life wealth outside the experiment affects risk taking. Controlling for past winnings, participants receiving a low endowment in a round engage in more risk taking. We test a ‘keeping-up-with-the-Joneses’ hypothesis and find that subjects seek to keep up with winners, though not necessarily with average earnings. Overall, the evidence suggests that risk taking tracks a reference point affected by social comparisons

Success in Distance Education: Do Learning Styles and Multiple Formats Matter?

Using data collected from 120 students enrolled in nine sections of an undergraduate technical communication course, this study found a number of statistically significant associations between students\u27 learning styles, as defined by the Index of Learning Styles, and nine measures evaluating both academic performance and student preference. The study also measured student performance in collaborative and self-directed versions of the course, as well as full and summer sessions. Reflective learners were found to be the most successful online learners, excelling in collaborative, as well as self-directed versions of the course. Sequential learners also outperformed global learners. Learning styles were not a significant factor in summer-session courses

Interaction Online: A Reevaluation

Instructors commonly assume that the successful online course must replicate its live counterpart by including a variety of interactions among student, instructor, and computer. Given the changing lifestyles prompted by an evolving Internet, an increasing student need for autonomy, and student learning styles, highly interactive courses may not necessarily be the best online approach. In this article, I review research dealing with interactive environments, present the results of my own interaction study, and propose an integrative approach for the use of interaction that sees it in light of the increasing integration of the Internet into students\u27 daily lives

Extensible Markup Language: How Might It Alter the Software Documentation Process and the Role of the Technical Communicator?

This article describes the influence that Extensible Markup Language (XML) will have on the software documentation process and subsequently on the curricula of advanced undergraduate and master\u27s programs in technical communication. XML, an evolving set of standards for storing and displaying information, uses nine components that make up the XML development process. Grouped into content, formatting, and language specifications, these components enhance organizations\u27 ability to manage information more efficiently and accurately. As the XML development process is adopted, the software documentation process will evolve from a self-contained procedure into a more flexible, interactive process in which software documenters must work closely with a wide range of specialists. The changes that XML will have on the software documentation process will likewise have implications for programs in technical communication in the need to address new kinds of job descriptions, skill sets, and career paths of future technical communicators. The article recommends adaptations to existing courses, as well as new elective and required courses