The instructor's role in this seminar is to guide and facilitate the student's learning in what it means to build and participate in a knowledge community in technical communications. Because this seminar takes advantage of the vast resources of Web and electronic communication, the instructor must be a strong communicator to help students to visualize the virtual class and be flexible about helping students reach their potential without their overreaching and frustrating themselves. Students learn how to make effective contributions, both in discussion and written practice, to the field of technical communications. In this capstone seminar, they learn how to bring together various parts of their academic program in technical communications. Students must be encouraged at every step to state the problems that occur and search for their own solutions, using solid problem-solving strategies.
Students become responsible for their own learning, as individuals and in community.
The students' roles will be to define and document the experiences of their participation through their contributions to the online discussion. Our goal is to archive the E-Journal for future reference. Students demonstrate that they are selecting articles and readings appropriate to the discussion of the topics assigned for that week. Students demonstrate that they know how to develop a knowledge community through appropriate contributions and discussion in the conferences. Students demonstrate successful participation in a knowledge community by developing discussion and response strategies in the online forum.