Academics and Practitioners Posts
Academics and practitioners content covers posts related to the ongoing intersection between academic research and practitioner-relevant topics, especially if academic research or interviews are directly involved.
The following content is in the academics-and-practitioners category:
Prompt engineering series: Reverse engineering the recipe for excellent documentation | Mar 4, 2024
[Podcast] Breaking ground: New API documentation course at UW, with Bob Watson | Jan 5, 2024
Doing research with AI tools -- avoiding the trap of fabricated URLs | Nov 9, 2023
New article: AI and APIs: What works, what doesn't | Sep 28, 2023
New topic in API course: Using AI tools to write build and publish scripts | Jul 19, 2023
New topic in API doc course: AI document engineering with pattern-based prompts | Jul 6, 2023
Telling your conversion story into tech comm | Jun 25, 2023
How to find academic research to back up your tech comm decisions | May 19, 2023
AI starting to diminish work for student essay ghostwriters | May 19, 2023
Newsletter: Doctave, Chatbase, SiteGPT, small CLs, TC bibliography | May 9, 2023
Review of "Hashtag #TechComm: An Overview of Members, Networks, and Themes from 2016-2019" | Jul 22, 2021
WTD Australia event recording -- 'Remote discussion: Techcomm in the times of pandemic' | May 31, 2020
Guest post: Why are technical writers often treated as such an unimportant part of a company? | May 31, 2020
Are technical writers increasingly playing non-technical roles? Some thoughts on the evolution of technical writing roles | Mar 30, 2020
Podcast: Users as producers of knowledge -- conversation with Nupoor Ranade about how tech writer roles are changing | Mar 29, 2020
New topic in API course: Five strategies for documenting code | Aug 8, 2019
New topic in API course: Research on documenting code | Jul 29, 2019
New video recordings of Raleigh API documentation workshop now available | Apr 21, 2019
Why I decided not to become a grasshopper expert, or, Not deciding your focus based on where readers are clicking | Apr 9, 2019
Recognizing Research Realities Across Technical Communication -- guest post by Kirk St. Amant | Apr 1, 2019
Master's in technical writing at Mercer — FAQ | Mar 26, 2019
Should you get a degree in a tech comm program? Two considerations to keep in mind | Mar 13, 2019
How to design API documentation for opportunistic (active, experiential) learning styles | Mar 7, 2019
Corporate exodus narratives: A close look at the tension between the corporation and academia | Mar 1, 2019
Asserting your expertise as a SME in the workplace: Q&A with Jennifer Mallette and Megan Gehrke | Feb 15, 2019
Research on code documentation -- when not to comment on code | Dec 20, 2018
Tech comm trends -- why tech writers will be collaborating more with engineers | Oct 9, 2018
My conflicted thoughts about the decentralized web (while taking the Census of Technical Communicators survey) | Aug 6, 2018
Reciprocal knowledge networks and the iFixit Technical Writing Project -- Conversation with Guiseppe Getto | Jul 25, 2018
Looking at the theoretical foundations for tech comm -- Conversation with Lisa Melonçon | Jul 24, 2018
Adventures of a Techie Academic with Lightweight DITA (LwDITA): Conversation with Carlos Evia | Jul 23, 2018
Teaching Technological Adaptability to Bridge the Gap (Guest post by Melonie McMichael) | Jul 18, 2018
Combatting the "Make-It-Pretty" Philosophy: Technical Writers Fight Back (Guest post by Emily January Petersen) | Jul 18, 2018
Results from my Academic/Practitioner Attitudes surveys now available | Jul 17, 2018
The relationship between academics and practitioners -- Podcast with Kirk St. Amant | Jul 11, 2018
A short survey to measure academic/practitioner attitudes | Jul 2, 2018
Two open-ended surveys to gauge practitioner/academic attitudes | Feb 6, 2018
Podcast: The divide between academics and practitioners -- Interview with Lisa Meloncon | Aug 10, 2015
Why is there a divide between academics and practitioners in tech comm? | Aug 5, 2015
Are Academics Just Talking to Themselves? | Oct 18, 2010
Is Rhetoric Relevant? Considering the "Message in Context" [Organizing Content #27] | Sep 22, 2010
Reflections on Allison Reynold's Talk on Job Skills for the Workplace | Oct 23, 2007
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.