WRITING ASSIGNMENTS FOR A GRADUATE COURSE IN TECHNICAL WRITING

Writing assignments for a graduate course in technical writing should develop students' technical backgrounds, their familiarity with reference materials, and their peer editing skills, as well as their writing skills. Also, the assignments should encourage students to write for publication. The three assignments described here-on a scientist, a topic in science, and a topic in technical communication-can help students achieve these objectives. Students write the first two articles for publication in general-audience newspapers or magazines, and the third for the same general audience or for a technical communication conference or journal.