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Technical and Professional Writing Commons™
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Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Technical and Professional Writing
A Little Blue Hedgehog That Runs A Lot And Has An Attitude: An Analysis Of The Covers Of Archie Comics’ Sonic The Hedgehog, Eleanor Herman
A Little Blue Hedgehog That Runs A Lot And Has An Attitude: An Analysis Of The Covers Of Archie Comics’ Sonic The Hedgehog, Eleanor Herman
Theses and Dissertations
Through the lens of Robin Williams principles of design as outlined in her book, The Non-Designer’s Design Book, this thesis analyzes selected covers of Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series to see how the covers evolved over time, as the nearly 25-year continuous run allows for a unique analysis opportunity. 18 issues were selected and analyzed, with conclusions drawn from the covers’ use of contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity.
Generative Ai And Professional Technical Writers: A Mixed-Method Study, Jarrett Schaefer
Generative Ai And Professional Technical Writers: A Mixed-Method Study, Jarrett Schaefer
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigates how professional technical writers use AI technology in their work today, which tools they are using, and which tasks they use them for. Using a mixed-methods research design, the study involved 21 participants completing a survey hosted in Qualtrics, and three participants interviewed over Zoom. Quantitative analysis was performed on the survey data, and the researcher used grounded theory to analyze the transcripts of the interview participants. The findings offer insight into how professional technical communicators use these tools and their attitudes toward including AI technologies in future pedagogies. While most participants had used AI technology in …
Working From Home: The New Normal, Jordan Boucher
Working From Home: The New Normal, Jordan Boucher
Theses and Dissertations
The COVID-19 pandemic began unbeknownst to most of the world in fall of 2019. However, by Spring of 2020 the entire globe had been impacted. With the pandemic, a surge of workers began working from home. Stress from the pandemic, political and social climate, along with health concerns paved the way for an increase in burnout. This paper is about burnout and how self-care can help one to start healing from it and also protect their body from succumbing to it in the future.
Adobe Indesign Tutorial For Writers, Jo Marie Smith
Adobe Indesign Tutorial For Writers, Jo Marie Smith
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis is a reflection on how I created the tutorial titled: Adobe InDesign Tutorial for Writers. I worked with various tools in developing the content for this tutorial using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, RoboHelp and YouTube. I focused on the four design principles (alignment, proximity, contrast, and repetition) used in my decisions in creating a flyer and a brochure. I also examine my learning process which took me on a journey of learning new skills.
Begin Again: Reassessing Graduate Orientation, Codi Renee Blackmon
Begin Again: Reassessing Graduate Orientation, Codi Renee Blackmon
Theses and Dissertations
UA Little Rock's mandatory online graduate orientation takes about 15 minutes to complete. For all the information presented in that short time, is it useful? Lack of information retention among graduate students after orientation highlights the need for assessment. This research addresses UA Little Rock's graduate orientation program by applying Saul Carliner's physical, cognitive, and affective information design theory. I conducted focus groups with graduate students, report their perceptions of orientation programming, and combine their feedback with technical communication theory and best practices. Results show that students have issues with the orientation process and suggest improvements at all levels of …
Training Older Adults To Use Technology: Facing The Challenges, Edna Rodgers
Training Older Adults To Use Technology: Facing The Challenges, Edna Rodgers
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis discusses development of a training manual with a computer course curriculum for seniors. The curriculum can be used in part of a training manual designed for people who are interested to teach older adults basic computer technology skills at the Dunbar Community Center located in central Little Rock. This project was completed using primarily research articles, books, newspaper reports, and voluntary interviews with people age 60 or older. A letter of consent was given to each participant, and interviews questions were completed using an anonymous assessment questionnaire form. The questionnaire form was used to examine the participant level …
Establishing A Department Wiki To Construct Knowledge And Community In A University Setting, Jasmine Chanel Williams
Establishing A Department Wiki To Construct Knowledge And Community In A University Setting, Jasmine Chanel Williams
Theses and Dissertations
To navigate graduate school, students rely on a social network from instructors to peers, this network is not omnipresent. In a nontraditional university setting, synchronous physical meetings can disrupt social engagement. At a commuter campus like the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), the Professional and Technical Writing (PTW) MA students need an accessible, online community enabling asynchronous collaboration to improve understanding of important theoretical concepts in rhetoric. The web 2.0 technology, wiki, is a knowledge management tool and social software that may aid students in understanding rhetoric. Because there is not currently a rhetoric wiki available, one must …
Assessing Writing On The Job: Toward Development Of A Workplace Writing Curriculum, Betty J. Scull
Assessing Writing On The Job: Toward Development Of A Workplace Writing Curriculum, Betty J. Scull
Theses and Dissertations
In a nine-week online survey, the perceptions of 86 nonacademic workplace salaried employees concerning the kinds and frequencies of documents written, and the writing knowledge and skills needed to effectively perform writing tasks in their jobs, were studied. The primary objective was to determine if employees understood concepts of audience and audience analysis. The results suggest that the majority (64 percent) of participants are not familiar with audience or audience analysis concepts. In addition, most participants stressed the importance of Lower Order Concerns (LOCs) &mdash elements such as sentence structure, punctuation, word choice, and spelling &mdash over Higher Order Concerns …
Playdate With Little Rock, Emily Ann Ryan
Playdate With Little Rock, Emily Ann Ryan
Theses and Dissertations
Moms will find it invaluable to have a guide book for playdate locations that goes beyond a mere description of a place and delves right into such issues as: Should I bring a snack for my child? Where should I park? When should I get there to avoid crowds? Can I bring a stroller? These are the issues that mothers with young children really care about when it comes to trying out new locations for playdates. The purpose of Playdate with Little Rock is to give moms with young children a resource that they can count on. It is a …
Real Wounds: Navigating Women Past Abuse And Bitterness, Patricia Walker
Real Wounds: Navigating Women Past Abuse And Bitterness, Patricia Walker
Theses and Dissertations
"Real W.O.U.N.D.S.: Navigating Women Past Abuse and Bitterness" identifies how a website could better assist women victims who are coping with the aftermath of domestic abuse and violence in the state of Arkansas. The study focuses around the elements of user-centered design that include: visibility, limitation, accessibility, legibility, and language. Examinations further indicate the website should contain the following basic conventions: page header, persistent navigation, feature area, content area, text links, sidebars, and footer navigation. Accompanying the manuscript is a cassette disc of the website with color changes from what is originally noted in this Thesis.
Seniors And Social Networking: A Class To Connect Family And Friends, Catherine A. Chatelain
Seniors And Social Networking: A Class To Connect Family And Friends, Catherine A. Chatelain
Theses and Dissertations
One of the most important life stages that senior citizens experience is the need to share the legacy of their lives with others. While many senior citizens are able to share these with family members, many others do not have the opportunity or the people to share this important time in their lives with. This project was designed with both of these groups in mind in an attempt to connect seniors with others through the social networking site, Facebook. The element of writing was also adopted into the project as a means to get seniors to reflect on their lives …
Creating A Standard Operating Procedures Manual: The Ualr Graduate School Experience, Shannon Marie Clowney
Creating A Standard Operating Procedures Manual: The Ualr Graduate School Experience, Shannon Marie Clowney
Theses and Dissertations
In the summer of 2009 I was given the task to create a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual for the Graduate School at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. This was a unique work assignment because SOPs are typically created for scientific, medical, or military organizations. Therefore there was not a reliable template I could find to use as a model for this document. The purpose of this thesis is to help fill that gap. It offers other technical writers a set of steps to follow when given the task of writing an SOP for an organization within higher …
A Technical Writer's Guide To Search Engine Optimization, James Arrowood
A Technical Writer's Guide To Search Engine Optimization, James Arrowood
Theses and Dissertations
Search engine optimization is a process that requires extensive technical writing skills. Technical writers are well poised to fill the role of search engine optimizer due to a strong background in rhetorical analysis of web text, audience analysis, document indexing, and copywriting. The search engine optimization techniques discussed in this thesis demonstrate the writing processes involved in search engine optimization and serves as a guide to technical writers that may one day find themselves in a search engine optimization role.
Becoming A Professional Indexer, Robyn Dewall
Becoming A Professional Indexer, Robyn Dewall
Theses and Dissertations
Indexing is an important, yet behind-the-scenes, rhetorical activity that provides readers with quick access to information. The format and creation of the index, since its inception, continues to evolve with the transforming format and mode of information. Although professional freelance indexers come from all walks of life, the journey to become such always progresses through the same three stages--gaining an introduction to the profession, followed by learning an indexing methodology, until finally, gaining enough confidence in their abilities, they can announce to the world that they are open for business. After becoming a professional, indexers use the skill of textual …
A Simplified User's Guide For Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Joan F. Ballantyne
A Simplified User's Guide For Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Joan F. Ballantyne
Theses and Dissertations
Computers have become an integral part of everyday life, and as we become more and more dependent on technology in domestic life and at the office, competency in the use of software applications becomes a necessity. But, mastering software programs is sometimes frustrating even for the computer savvy. Existing documentation is still insufficiently clear. Users still have difficulty understanding instructions, the scope of the software, and how to utilize it to their advantage. Some computer users shy away from Microsoft Office Excel 2007 even though its many features and functions can make their work easier in a variety of ways. …
A Freelance Writer's Guide To Marketing Online, Rachel Leanne Deason
A Freelance Writer's Guide To Marketing Online, Rachel Leanne Deason
Theses and Dissertations
"A Freelance Writer's Guide to Marketing Online" describes and demonstrates how freelance writers can use the most current social networking tools and basic marketing principles to market themselves online and find freelance writing work. Potential users of this trade book are experienced Internet users who do not have an extensive business or marketing background. Accompanying the manuscript, provided on a cd, is an analytic cover piece.
The Rhetoric Of Technical Writing: Applying Social And Verbal Rhetorical Strategies To Prepare New Technical Writers For The Workplace, Melissa Brooke Cavazos
The Rhetoric Of Technical Writing: Applying Social And Verbal Rhetorical Strategies To Prepare New Technical Writers For The Workplace, Melissa Brooke Cavazos
Theses and Dissertations
Technical writers add great value to companies across many industries with their specialized skills. However, there is a problem with writers being undervalued and not having the credibility they deserve. In order to achieve more credibility for individual writers and for the field as a whole, technical writers need more than just writing, editing, and formatting skills when they enter into the workplace. They need to be equipped with social and verbal strategies to be better prepared for a full-time technical writing position. By examining and applying Aristotle's notions of pathos, logos, and ethos to technical writing, technical writers can …
Demystifying Content Management: Practical Applications For Writing Professionals, Nancy J. Howard
Demystifying Content Management: Practical Applications For Writing Professionals, Nancy J. Howard
Theses and Dissertations
"Demystifying Content Management: Practical Applications for Writing Professionals" explores the subject of content management. This thesis explains what content management is, and it suggests a realistic approach for developing a content management plan and choosing a content management system (CMS). Before selecting a CMS, companies should define requirements, identify staffing needs, evaluate their content life cycle, and create an information model. Once the organization has a content management strategy, it can begin the process of choosing a CMS. This process involves establishing selection criteria, researching and evaluating potential vendors, and then making the final selection. This thesis concludes by identifying …