TC Career Development and Education

Technical communication is developing fast in China in the last decade, however, it is still only a job title, not a profession or a discipline yet.  In contrast, technical communication has been a recognized profession and a discipline in the US.  In this presentation, we intend to provide an overview on the current state of the technical communication industry and technical communication education in China and the US based on several reports conducted by a number of organizations in China and the US in addition to our observation of and visits to companies in China.  As graduates of technical communication programs in the US and now professors and director of technical communication programs, we not only introduce the common program and curriculum designs in technical communication, but also the best practices in preparing the next generations of leaders in technical communication through such initiatives as advisory board, internship, practicum, portfolio, client-based projects, community partnership, etc. We highlight what we can learn from each other.

Technical communicators should be able to do more than just writing. If we get a chance to present our documentation deliverables to others face-to-face, how can we leave a lasting impression on the audience? A good presentation makes your audience interested firstly in you and then the ideas and the products that you’re selling. While written documentation is characterized by being accurate, complete, and consistent—a euphemism, to some extent, for being boring—verbal presentations, whether on technical content or more general topics, should be engaging, fun, and unique. There are already way too many tips on how to write good documentation, but when it comes to verbally presenting the content, what are the few treasured secrets that, once unlocked, can make yours stand out from the crowd?

In recent years, technical communication teaching has developed rapidly in Chinese universities, and according to a survey conducted by Gao Zhijun’s team of teachers at Peking University, there are nearly 30 universities in China that offer technical communication courses. The main contradiction facing technical communication teaching in Chinese universities is what to teach? How? Who will teach it? The focus is on building China’s core competency framework system for technical communication and, on this basis, developing a corresponding practical teaching system. The current embarrassing situation is the general lack of supporting teaching materials, the lack of qualified teachers, and the lack of a more uniformly recognized teaching system. In terms of the use of teaching materials, there are basically two situations: the first one borrows from the existing technical communication teaching materials in Europe and the United States, with the disadvantage of lacking chapters on China’s compliance; the second one is organized by instructors based on their own experience, with the disadvantage of lacking systematization. In summary, one of the more feasible solutions for technical communication teaching in Chinese universities to cope with the current difficulties is to build a library of technical communication teaching cases. In this way, the core concepts, ideas, and practices of technical communication can be integrated into concrete cases, and students can put into practice what they have learned, avoiding the impression that it is boring and useless.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)