Amarillo College's Technical Writing courses Introduce students to the principles, techniques, and skills needed for college level scientific, technical, or business writing. ENGL 2311 Technical Writing, in particular, includes a service project, research, digital design, web publishing, and collaborative writing in various genres.
For several years now, the only course in this program offered has been online ENGL 2311 Technical Writing. Assignments include a resume, business letter, proposal, progress report, instructions, analytical report, Web page, and presentation. Students work hard, but they learn and improve much. Concepts used in this course can be used in many types of communication situations in the workplace. While this 2311 is a quality course, the English Department committed to changing--expanding-- it. Although it has taken some time, the fruits of labor are becoming evident.
ENGL 2311 Technical Writing Online continues to offer excellent writing education for business and industry to student irregardless of location. Students have taken this course from their homes around the state of Texas and outside of it, such as El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. They get the same learning opportunity as a traditional course, except instead of face-to-face interaction, the interaction is written or by phone. Even this aspect, by itself, is short-lived as AC begins to incorporate video/audio into its online courses. Many students taking this course are industrial-, engineering-, or science-related majors attending universities who are looking for a flexible and less expensive way of taking this course, a requirement for their degrees. Required or not, this course helps students become professional communicators in their field of work.
ENGL 2311 Technical Writing Traditional was offered many years ago at AC, and it is being offered again in Fall 2009 as a weekly, evening class on-campus. This format suits students who already have full-time jobs, who prefer this time setting, and who want the face-to-face, peer-to-peer collaboration to learn.
ENGL 2311 Technical Writing Dual Credit will be offered to high school students beginning Spring 2010. This is exciting news for career-minded teenagers who are serious about communicating well from the get-go. These students will be equipped for presenting information at the college-level and for presenting information at the workplace, whichever direction they choose to go. The course instructor has high expectations of these students, however, so they should plan for serious, critical thinking and plenty of hard work.
Future courses planned are Science Writing and Technical Reports.