Core strengths

At the heart of any program are the core strengths that push that program from a level of greatness to a level of excellence. Within the Technical Communication program, four core competencies combine to form the heart of Mercer's unique program.

Engineering Context

Unlike many communication programs housed in english departments and liberal arts schools, our program is housed in an engineering institution. This difference separates our program from programs at other institutions and has remained a defining program characteristic since the program's founding in 1993. Engineering has long been regarded by many as a rigorous choice of study, and our program lives up to these rigors. By taking technical courses side by side with engineers, our majors and minors are better prepared to communicate highly technical information. While some students may choose to enter careers in nontechnical fields, the versatility they possess in regards to the job market gives them an advantage over job applicants lacking the same technical background. For more information on the program's relationship with the engineering school, click here.

Instructional Design

Instructional design stands as a second of the program's core strengths. Instructional design, by definition, is the application of design methods to create training or instructional materials to serve a purpose within an organization. Unlike courses which teach design for the sake of art, in the Technical Communication department, we focus on the application of design to fulfill a need. Our focus is not on tools and technology as these are constantly changing; rather, we provide students with a foundation and process for designing effective materials which can then be applied using changing technologies. Adding to our credibility in this area is both industry experience and years of academic instruction.

USABILITY

A strong focus on usability further characterizes our program. We define the term "usability" to refer to the examination of a product in regards to ease of use for the typical user. With new technologies emerging daily, it is important to make sure these new products not only operate correctly, but even more importantly normal users must be able to understand how to use them, whether the products in reference are cameras, cell phones, operating systems, websites, or children's toys. The most effective products are those designed to match users' expectations of how a product should work rather than force the user to adapt to the product. This is a message we strive to reinforce in our courses as we teach students how to conduct thorough usability studies spanning from an initial audience analysis to the formation of clear recommendations and conclusions. Both our faculty, comprised of published authors and presenters on the subject, and our laboratory facilities support this focus.

Writing/ Editing

Finally, we focus on how to effectively write and edit within professional settings. This context within which we teach writing and editing is what differentiates our writing courses from those taught in english departments. Unlike creative writing or book reports, we teach students how to produce business documents to be read by audiences spanning from lower management personnel to company presidents and CEO's, as well as how to produce effective documentation. While students in other programs may commonly ask, "When will I ever need to know this?", this is not the case in our program. Our courses are uniquely designed with real-world application in mind. Industry-experienced faculty add to our expertise in this competency and are able to supplement classroom lessons and practice with effective ancedotes of their own experiences writing and editing in the real world.