CONTEXTS

Recent & RelevantRecent & RelevantEditingEducationCreating editorial authority throughtechnological innovationLanier, C. R. (2009). Journal of Technical Writing and Communication,39, 467–479.“This article considers a case in which editors created forthemselves an amount of power and authority within anorganization through technological innovation. Usingretrospective analysis and e-mail interviews, the authordiscusses his own previous experience as a technicaleditor at a U.S. Government-run research facilitywhen electronic editing was introduced and used. Theintroduction of electronic editing, the author argues, wasan example of technological innovation, which, as otherresearchers have demonstrated, can create authoritywithin an organization.”Valerie J. VanceExamining editor-author ethics: Realworldscenarios from interviews withthree journal editorsAmare, N., & Manning, A. (2009). Journal of Technical Writing andCommunication, 39, 285–303.“Those who submit manuscripts to academic journalsmay benefit from a better understanding of howeditors weigh ethics in their interactions with authors.In an attempt to ascertain and to understand editors’ethics, we interviewed three current academic journaleditors of technical and/or business communicationjournals. We asked them about the ethical dilemmasthey encountered while working with authors, whetherthe editors formally or informally followed a ‘code ofethics,’ and if they felt obligated to maintain any ethicalcodes in particular. In this article, we discuss the ethicaldimensions of editorial practices using specific ethicalscenarios provided by these three editors. We thenanalyze these scenarios using traditional ethical modelsin our field but also in terms of a less-known butpowerful model of ethical analysis originally proposedby philosopher C. S. Peirce. We argue that Peirce’s‘community of inquiry’ ethics model describes thesejournal editors’ ethics when working with authors.”Valerie J. VanceAssessing technical communicationwithin engineering contexts—tutorialDavis, M. T. (2010). IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication,53, 33–45.“A major challenge in engineering education is toprepare professionals for communicating well inwriting and speaking, using appropriate technologies,within professional contexts. Communication inthe global engineering world includes collaborationon cross-functional teams, virtual-project teammanagement, and writing for multiple, complexaudiences. This tutorial discusses how one smallengineering school has integrated technicalcommunication teaching and assessment throughoutthe curriculum with demonstrated success. Theintegrated curriculum, formative and summativeassessments, and real-world contexts offer one modelto address growing communication challenges.”Gowri SarafThe effect of social presence on affectiveand cognitive learning in an internationalengineering course taught via distancelearningMacKey, K. R. M., & Freyberg, D. L. (2010). Journal of EngineeringEducation, 99, 23–34.“Distance learning course formats can altermodes of information exchange and interpersonalinteraction relative to traditional course formats ….To determine the effect of a distance course formaton the knowledge acquisition (cognitive learning)and satisfaction (affective learning) of students, weinvestigated student learning responses and socialpresence during a graduate-level engineering coursetaught via traditional (i.e., professor present in theclassroom) and synchronous distance-learning formats…. Direct quantification of participation, academicperformance assessment based on homework andexam scores, and survey-based assessments of studentperceptions of the course were collected. Based onthese data, cognitive and affective learning responsesto different technological and interaction-based aspectsVolume 57, Number 3, August 2010 l Technical Communication 363