Explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives: the personal narrative, relating the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld, and the academic narrative examining how instructional communication informs students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice.Welding Technical Communication explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives. The personal narrative relates the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld. The academic narrative draws upon scaffolded learning theory to examine how four welding teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication-their tutoring strategies and their gestures-facilitated students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice. This book fills a gap in technical communication research: we do not fully understand how teachers' pedagogical technical communication scaffolds students' learning within the skilled trades. Novel in its approach and coverage, Welding Technical Communication will interest researchers in technical communication and technical education.
Jo Mackiewicz is Professor of Rhetoric and Professional Communication at Iowa State University.
IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Welding as Embodied Technical Knowledge1. Situating the Study2. A Mixed-Method Approach3. Teaching Core Components of Welding4. Teaching Expert Perception5. Developing and Maintaining Students' MotivationConclusion: Teaching and Learning Embodied Technical KnowledgeAppendix A: Informative Interview Questions for TeachersAppendix B: Postinteraction Interview Questions for Teachers and StudentsAppendix C: Informed Consent Form for Welding Teachers and Welding StudentsAppendix D: Solicitation Message for StudentsGlossaryNotesReferencesIndex
"Welding Technical Communication breaks new ground by examining how embodied knowledge develops through technical education, interaction, instruction, and mentoring." — Hilary A. Sarat-St. Peter, Columbia College Chicago