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Sorry, but I can't just let this die, because in a way you (Andrew)
are slamming me. You are slamming my choice to get a tech comm degree,
and my pride in finishing the program.
> I saw this in a recent thread. I am NOT slamming the poster,
> but tech comm degrees in general.
>
> > When I did my tech comm degree, we were taught about concepts
> > (white space, fonts, page layout, usability, etc.)
Actually, we were taught a lot more than just the few concepts
I mentioned. I only listed those as a examples because I was
replying to a thread about DTP. (The main point of my original
post was that the specific tool didn't matter, which you seem to
agree with.) We were also required to take classes which taught
many of the things you listed in the degree program you designed.
The program I went through was the tech comm. MS degree at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Instutite (RPI). I picked it, ironically
enough, after hearing it generally praised on this listserv.
I found it a worthwhile program and would recommend it to anyone
interested in getting a degree in tech. writing (unless you absolutely
abhor having to dig your car out from underneath 2 ft of snow).
A fair amount of what I learned in the program was (as I tell my
husband) "intuitively obvious once it's been pointed out to you",
but I learned it far faster than I would have if I had jumped into
the profession without going to RPI. I also think that one of the
best things the program taught was how to describe what works
in a document, what doesn't work, and how to improve it, so that a
lay person could understand. (Including content, organization, wording,
layout, delivery method, cost, etc.) It's all very well to "bang out
a doc", but sometimes the mortals here have to justify that doc.
-Kuovonne
=====
kuovonne -at- yahoo -dot- com
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