Importance of Technical and Professional Writing Certificate Program in a Japanese Computer Science Context

Technical communication (TC) as a subject, and more so a department in the university curriculum are few and far between in the Japanese educational context, even with STEM education. As part of this paper, an exploratory pilot study is described explaining the overall importance of such a TC certificate program and how an optional TC feeder course could help students understand the value of the TC and professional communication (PC) discipline for a typical Japanese computer science academic context, in preparation for the job market. Further, such a TC-focused introductory feeder course helps the university administration, students and teachers better understand how computer science as a discipline should also emphasize on technical and professional writing and communication skills in the language curriculum, for better project management, and helping students develop soft skills for the market. Further, another strong argument for such coursework (offered in English as a medium of instruction) is also related to developing students’ entrepreneurial and transition skills for the market. This paper highlighted on one such rare certificate program and feeder course in the computer science (CS) department of a Japanese technical university which helped students understand the scope of the market, how technical communication as a discipline has wide-ranging opportunities, besides helping students develop basic understanding of content areas such as manual and information design, usability, content management and delivery, technical language, visualisation etc. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion of a few of the well-known TC certificate programs and TC organizational infrastructure in the US academia, and how we can catch up with that trend in Japanese higher education.


Introduction
There are numerous technical communication (TC) programs that are now part of the university curriculum especially for STEM students. It's becoming more commonplace with the emergence and importance of soft skills training in universities. Soft skills are incredibly important when preparing students for the job market. It's very difficult to define soft skills as concepts because that can neither be defined formally nor evaluated adequately. Generally, research has mentioned teaching computer science soft skills as soft concepts to include genres such as (1) software and its engineering (2) software creation and management (3) collaboration in software development and (4) programming teams [1]. However, that leaves out TC as a genre that is generally designed to support and develop both linguistic competence and communication skills in students. A survey of 73 top-ranked U.S. and Canadian engineering schools examined initiatives that engineering schools are putting in place to improve communication instruction for their students. The investigation revealed that 50% of the U.S. schools and 80% of the Canadian schools require a course in technical communication. About 33% of the schools utilize some form of integrated communication instruction, and another 33% offer elective courses in communication [2]. Establishing engineering communication centers in universities and communication-across-the curriculum teaching approach is becoming more of a movement in STEM departments, especially in western universities. In this context, it's also important to mention that globalization and multinational coordination is radically transforming technical communication (TC) both in the workplace and in higher education [3]. Following on this research, the idea is to integrate a high level of activity, planning, and interest in creative and innovative global *Corresponding author: droy@u-aizu.ac.jp partnerships that provides an opportunity to systematically integrate experiential learning, collaborative international research, and civic engagement in the TC curriculum. Interestingly, proper TC certificate programs in Japan that include courses in information architecture, usability, HCI, programming and algorithm, content management and delivery, information design and digital storytelling skills using CAD and other media design software are almost non-existent. The reference here is more on TC programs that cater to technical students with more technically-focused TC courses, and not only on courses offered in the English departments in universities with the broad focus on language-focused organization, editing and documentation skills, including design and social media use, and organizational, negotiations and teamwork focused genres. Another interesting point to mention in this context is that hardly any (if any) university in Japan has established a technical communication department, although statistics argue that demand for technical writers in the Japanese industry scenario, which is largely export-driven is likely to increase multifold over the next decade. There could be administrative and social reasons explaining the dearth of such programs or departments, including lack of expert faculty in the area, students lacking English levels good enough to learn technical communication in English (although the field is independent of language and technical communication could well be learnt in Japanese as well), lack of interest in the field including lack of marketing/promotion on the part of the university administration, and lack of interconnectedness and interdependence, and coordination between industry and academia that will allow establishment of such programs. This brings us to the discussion of how the Japanese Technical Communication Association (JTCA) is coordinating with universities in Japan to introduce TC certificate programs which will allow students to gain additional expertise in preparation for the job market. Technical communication certificates/programs are offered by many universities, especially in the western countries such as the US, Germany etc, as an alternative to full undergraduate or graduate degrees in the field. There are numerous such TC certificate programs right now in the US, but the literature is scant and there is a huge void in systematic information about such programs and its effectiveness. However, in this context, it must be mentioned that many of the US certificate programs are offered as an independent degree, and is not required to be earned concurrently with another degree (however, programs could prerequire a degree for admission to the program) [4]. As part of this study, the article highlighted a specific TC comprehensive certificate program, and an optional 1-credit elective course offered at a technical computer science university (Univ. of Aizu) in Japan in preparing the students with additional and productive communicative and technical competence to support market requirements and provide a competitive advantage as a candidate in the job market. Currently only two universities in Japan have the approval for this certificate program. Specifically, the article discussed an optional SCCP course design (a non-credit undergraduate course on special topics) that provided a summary of a few representative skills that we want students to master in preparation for the certificate. These representative assignments in the SCCP course have been designed to trigger interest in the computer science students and allow them to get a feel for the types of assignments they might be responsible for in the industry either working as a software professional and/or as a technical writer. This special course is being offered for the first time in the academic year 2020, and the single student who enrolled in the course offered some insight into both a representative understanding of a typical undergraduate computer science students' ability to respond to such assignments in English, and also get a feel for how they might do with industry-focused short TC assignments.

The TC Certificate Program at the Univ. of Aizu
The University of Aizu offers a comprehensive professional 18-credit technical communication certificate course for the undergraduate computer science students at the University of Aizu. A professional certificate of completion is presented by the Japan Technical Communicators Association (JTCAa public incorporated foundation comprised of technical communication specialists). This unique technical communication program -one of its kind in a computer science program in Japan allows students to learn how to produce and communicate technical information using traditional and digital technologies. The professional technical writing certificate is designed to show a level of commitment and excellence for the potential applicant in the job market that impresses employers. This professional certificate is designed to show employers that students have the necessary language and communication ability in the target language, specialized training, and knowledge to synthesize technical information in a specialized area. In typical technical communication tasks, one often needs to create pieces for review or publication, use an editing software, understand the basics of content management and document production, and perform document testing to ensure technical information is communicated clearly and concisely. Clear, concise, and effective writing is always important; in the technical fields, it's critical. The certificate is issued by the Japan Technical Communicators Association (JTCA) after a student passes the approved 18-credits of coursework as mentioned above, and applies for a certificate. The advantage of this certificate program is that there is no extra effort to earn this certificate because the student will simply need to choose a selected set from the standard set of courses which are part of the existing university computer science program curriculum. Awareness of a problem in general and written communication skills for computer scientists is growing, as evidenced by its increasing prominence in computer science curricular recommendations. TOEIC exam scores which are often required for by the companies in Japan, taken by Japanese students in the university or for job hunting does not in any way guarantee professional and technical writing or communication ability. Most universities in Japan do not have a concrete plan to support student communication needs in preparation for the industry, or internships. In other words, there are no systematic transfer skills development with such an example of TC certificate program. The IEEE (Computing Curriculum Efforts) stressed the importance of including the mechanics and process of writing, acquiring the ability to communicate ideas effectively, and integrating these skills into the entire computer science program. This certificate identifies and includes only those courses that are related to analytical reasoning and technical writing, including understanding of educational technology, technical and professional presentations, information architecture, production processes and intercultural communication etc. The student gets a professional certificate as an added qualification and could be used during the job search process. The student taking the certificate can potentially build up industry connections by attending the annual JTCA conferences, and other associated TC-related activities on campus.
The following professional communication skills are expected at a reasonable or moderate level, at the least, as a natural outcome from taking the certificate courses: • Ability to communicate and network in the industry • Ability to secure job interviews • Ability to secure internship opportunities • Ability to negotiate and discuss an issue smoothly • Ability to show self-confidence and knowledge of the field • Ability to explain a problem or come up with a possible idea for solution So, why are technical communication specialists needed in an organization?
• A high-quality, well-versed documentation and manuals reflect well on the organization.
• Technical writers can understand complex content from the viewpoint of industry experts and average consumers. • Professional technical writers have the skill and knowledge necessary to complete an end product faster with the specific needs of the product market in mind.
• Technical writing can be concise, impartial, state facts clearly, and allow end-users to read exactly what they get. • From the document layout/font to appropriate chart size, a technical writer can make the content look professional.
What students are expected to learn: • The basic fundamentals of technical communication, such as audience analysis, document production, usability, electronic forms of communication, technical styles etc • Basics of technical editing, including grammar and understanding style guides • Develop information design skills for technical communicators and learn how to write technical online documents while addressing information design standards • Critical thinking and identifying major questions, assumptions, interpretations and conclusions, and application of criteria and standards to technical analysis The program is designed for computer science (CS) majors: • who will be working on international projects and dealing with international clients, competitors and vendors • who will write in their future employment • whose job will involve understanding and interpreting technical documents • who will have to design technical documents for print and online delivery • whose job will involve dynamic document production and delivery online • who will have to design visuals and make technical presentations for their projects

The SCCP Course Design
This SCCP optional course (which is generally taken in the 3rd year of the computer science program) introduces students to the idea of this professional certificate program and the advantages of having such a professional certificate for the job market, to further support their computer science credentials. The course covered 8 major introductory themes and related assignments which were geared towards introducing students to the field of technical communication, and the certificate program, in general. The following themes were part of the coursework.
• SCCP Assignments: The next section outlined the typical assignments in the SCCP feeder course, and a typical representative response from a student who went on to complete the assignments while preparing to complete the actual TC certificate course. As part of this SCCP course, students wrote several short reports. The first three short report assignments (first three themes) mainly focused on lectures and discussions related to the certificate program, types of courses in the certificate, future expectation in the job market, motivation for the certificate as a computer science major, student understanding about working as a technical writer in the job market, desire to work in a certain kind of industry and understanding about the required skill set etc. From the 4th assignment onwards (4-7 themes), the course was designed to start with assignments that led to the understanding of how to design technical documents such as user manuals, visualisation design, and professional communication skills. The 4-7 themes were mainly focused on providing students with some basic idea about the kind of content research necessary to be a technical writer, and the kind of documentation and software skills necessary.

Short Report Assignment 1: Introduction to Technical Writer & Benefits for Computer Science Majors
This was the first week of the SCCP course, and the TC comprehensive certificate program was explained in detail, along with an introduction to the field, and what's in there for computer science majors. This assignment followed after an intense session introducing the field of technical communication, and how this feeder course, and the TC certificate specifically could prove immensely beneficial for computer science students. Below is a typical response for the above questions, which highlights the mindset of a junior-level undergraduate computer science student.

Short Report Assignment 2: Working as a Technical Writer in the Job Market
This was the second week of the SCCP course, and the focus was on an intense discussion about the technical writing job market and the outlook in Japan, and in several countries including the US. Discussions focused on salary, required skill set, and the typical work schedule in specific technical writing industries. Students watched YouTube videos about a typical technical writer's job schedule, studied job advertisements, salary scales etc.
Short Report Assignment: Please watch the 33-minutes video about the technical writing job market explaining the regular qualification of a technical writer, and the job expectations in the market. Also, go through the occupational profile of a regular technical writer. Now, write a short 200-250 words or more report explaining the following: Q1. Do you have an interest in working in the TC job market? If yes, why? If no, why not? Q2. How are technical writing skills a VALUE ADDITION in the computer science job market? Q3. What are some of the basic issues you understood based on the video you watched? Q4. What are some of the basic issues you understood based on the link we studied?
I have much interest in working in the TC job market, for I want to launch an ICT venture company in a country that speaks English in the future, and I thought technical writing skills will be vital if I provide services in and out of my homeland. Technical writing skills give a large benefit in the computer science job market. For example, when you provide your product in another country, a computer science worker should possess the technical writing skills to write an appropriate explanation of the product -for which they know much. Also, one needs to write in the appropriate method or procedure that suits the particular country. I understand the TC job market is getting bigger and bigger because technical writers are expected to communicate about technical issues with other countries for their multinational products and also, they need to write the use, repair and maintenance instructions for new merchandises and update information for new and existing merchandise using different media platforms and output forms. Moreover, it was important for me to understand the work environment of a technical writer and how to become a technical writer. Most technical writers work full time, and they work in a variety of industries, they are concentrated in the computer and management, scientific, and technical industries. Technical writers usually have a college degree and knowledge of or experience with a technical subject, such as science or engineering.

Short Report Assignment 3: Technical Writing Jobs in Different Industries/Different Technical Writing Specialties
The third week focused on technical writing jobs in different industries, including specialised areas such as technical editors, technical copywriting, technical proposal writing, technical communication consultant, technical content contributor, technical marketing writer, technical creative writing, and operations technical writing. Based on the lecture notes from today's class, write short 200-250 words or more report explaining the following: Q1. Which industry do you think you would fit in considering your interest, future education, and related qualifications? Q2. If you were to work in a certain industry as a technical writer, what industry-specific knowledge would you need to have? -Give an example from a specific industry type. *, Do your research from job advertisements and other sources. Q3. Design a one-page professional marketing information guide with https://www.canva.com/ putting the Q2 response as a professional guide that could be marketed for professional communication purposes. As could be noticed from the short report above, that students are also taught how to search for relevant information from the web on specific topics and use it in the report, by rephrasing.

I think I would fit in the software industry and engineering industry
The following brochure has been designed by the student in the SCCP course highlighting a typical technical writing industry job position, and with the aim of making other students aware of the skill set required and employer expectations for the position. In the process of designing this brochure, the idea was also to teach students the art of organizing such information, layout, formatting and associated details from a marketing and promotional point of view.

Short Report Assignment 4: Developing preliminary ideas about the complex nature of the manual design in the aviation industry
The fourth week focused on a specific case study in the aviation industry (as a representative example) whereby the student was made to scan through a variety of aviation-related technical user manuals and user guides to get an idea about the complexities related to the design of aviation user manuals.
The following assignment was handled during this week. Read the link carefully: https://instrktiv.com/en/how-to-write-a-manual/ Section # 1: 5% Please study the aviation link provided with this class. Now, write a short 100-words or more report explaining the WRITING and ORGANIZATIONAL challenges faced by a technical writer when designing such documents. What nature of content complexity and writing styles are we talking about? What are some of the essential qualities that a technical writer must have when writing such documents? Section # 2: 10% Based on the information provided on the aviation manuals list and link, design a 2-page technical report with pictures (100-125 words approx. using CANVA) introducing the challenge for documentation in the aviation industry. No need to talk about the challenges with specific examples from the aviation manual as such, but provide a summary of the information, based on what you could read and understand from the link. Section # 3: 10% Try to design an online technical manual using the aviation industry links with the following software: https://www.manula.com/ Then, explain how the manual software works with voiceover using https://screencast-o-matic.com/ * Use the 7-day trial version The purpose with the Figure 2 short report was not to go very deep into understanding the aviation industry user manuals, but basically tried to form an initial first impression about the complexities as is seen for a 3rd year undergraduate computer science student for whom English is a foreign language. The report should be read in that perspective.

Short Report Assignment 5: Data Visualisation with Tableau
The fifth week focused on providing an elementary exposure for students to understand the range of visualization tools very frequently used by technical writers to showcase and demonstrate data, pattern, frequency etc. The following assignment was planned as part of this week: Open a trial account with https://www.tableau.com/trial/visualize-your-data and DOWNLOAD the free version. Now, study the interface first to understand the different data visualization options available. Practice: Then, use some fictitious data with at least two really innovative types of applications to learn how to use the program. * The trial version is valid for 14 days. Assignment: 1. What did you like about the program? (50-words) 2. Explain at least three good applications that you think you could use in the future? Show screenshots. (150 words @ 50 words per application) 3. Watch the Getting Started video. Explain the major points mentioned in the video. (50 words) It's important to understand that the purpose of this SCCP course is to introduce students to the field of technical communication at a very elementary level, and provide a solid understanding of the nature of basic technical writing skill set that is required in most industries where the student is likely to work as a computer science specialist (e.g., software developer) or a professional technical writer with a computer science background. The course did not provide much opportunity for sustained development of any specific skill-based domain in technical writing. So, it's best to see this course as providing a birds-eye view of the desired basic skill set needed as a technical writer. So, expectedly, this course was not suited to dig deeper into specific programs and applications related to more technical issues such as content management and delivery systems, and other design and information architecture software which are typical use case scenarios for technical writers, and probably more so for technical writers with a computer science background.

Discussion & Conclusion
It's better to see this paper as providing an overview of how to get started on a technical communication journey in a Japanese university context, where technical communication in the university and technical communication as a collaborative field between academia and industry is still at its infancy.
TPC Certificates/Programs in the US & Germany: So, in this context, it's more important to focus on a few major TC certificate programs from the United States, and explore the difference between the two situations. The section will discuss how the Univ. of Aizu TC certificate program is different from those programs, and the reasons behind the difference. Fundamental differences between the Univ. of Aizu TC certificate program and the majority of the certificate programs from US universities mentioned below are as follows: (1) Students in the US will undertake this program in their native language (2) the US TC programs are generally more specific with a much wider range of specific TC courses available and (3) it assumes more student experience about the field in general and more writing background and (4) many of these programs are not highly technical in nature (e.g., programming skills are not as much needed). In comparison, for the UoA, the students are undergraduate CS students with low-moderate English language ability, and the entire 18-credit certificate includes recommended CS courses, and many other social science, and applied linguistics focused courses. So, it's a little different in terms of the focus areas, more comprehensive in a way, but is not focused entirely on developing the following skills such as the ones mentioned with the Univ. of Washington program: https://www.pce.uw.edu/certificates/professional-technical-writing Further, as a preliminary attempt at introducing a TC certificate program, Japanese universities may not be in a position to go for more specialised grouping of TC certificate programs similar to what has been mentioned on the Richmond University website. https://spcs.richmond.edu/noncredit/programs/technical-writing/index.html The UC Berkeley Extension sponsored/hosted Professional Writing Program has a range of interesting non CS-based courses on offer that uses different visual, social and information design toolset and media, for example, writing for social media, screenwriting: the art of visual storytelling etc. https://extension.berkeley.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do;jsessionid=2E85C56E3CC81F0EB49CF9B655 E0124C?method=load&courseId=41378#connectedCertificateDetails_17210 However, it's difficult to implement such courses at the UoA without having such a range of dedicated TC courses, and a department in the broad subject area and/or having faculty members in those specialised areas. Technical universities such as the UoA may explore the opportunity to construct a department or center focused on applied linguistics, professional and technical communication, language applications and technical communication, language and new media as part of the school of computer science and engineering. Such departments or centers or tracks could also be developed for the graduate school only. This can only happen with technical and professional communication is seen as an allied computer science discipline. Such a mindset has to develop from consulting a framework in which to teach (technical) communication to computer science majors [5]. Another important program which is, and could be very closely aligned and relevant for computer science students and computer science labs at the UoA is from a partner university -HSKA, Germany. https://www.hs-karlsruhe.de/en/faculties/information-management-media This faculty do not offer a certificate program, but the courses on offer are mostly very closely aligned to different computer science areas such as programming, information architecture, design, database and big data management etc. One possible example of a certificate program which could be developed in collaboration with HSKA, Germany which is a partner university with UoA is in new media and TC skills focused on content management and delivery systems. Such future discussions on expanding the scope of the certificate program, with possible collaboration with other partner universities are warranted. • Miscellaneous The comprehensive TC certificate program at the UoA, as it stands now is probably good enough as a starting point, as it has a range of approved courses which are considered relevant for TC certificate by JTCA officials. However, this certificate, when looked at from a standard TC perspective, may appear to be a little disconnected in its focus, mostly because the above-mentioned standard genres are not focused or included in the coursework. Also, for the UoA TC comprehensive certificate program, we have done a repurposing with the existing courses -it refers to the bringing together of existing resources into a new format -essentially redefining their purpose within a new framework. It makes more administrative sense in terms of time saved, money, and energy and helps the department and faculty shine in new ways. However, generating refers to the development of new courses that are designated specifically for the certificate program, but prior to its existence. This effort leads to more interdisciplinary initiatives, and the courses could be more focused on the purpose why they were generated (Bridgeford, 2003) [6]. As the importance of technical and professional communication (TPC) grows in Japan, we may look at courses generated specifically for the certificate program, either at undergraduate or graduate level. • American Medical Writers Association (https://www.amwa.org/) It will likely make reasonable sense if Japanese universities could collaborate with such organizations when offering the certificate program for raising student awareness about the profession. These associations are involved with many conference hosting activities, seminars, roundtables, post many teaching materials, advertise relevant university programs, interviews with technical communication specialists etc. In Japan, we only have JTCA -Japan Technical Communicators Association who is taking the initiative to promote such TC comprehensive certificate programs. https://www.t-kougei.ac.jp/activity/research/pdf/vol37-2-02.pdf Literature discussing the pedagogical design and implications of technical communication certificate programs are scant. Curriculum and instructional designers on the topic, especially in EFL and Japanese educational context would do well to read this article as a case study on how to develop bridging courses, how to design the courses with the certificate in mind, and how to go through the curriculum design and potential administrative challenges. Research by McCraken et al [7] mentioned work done by Johnson, Simmons, and Sullivan [8] who suggested that we should see TC comprehensive certificates as a way of maintaining a sustainable program by making use of existing resources. Such certificates can address what Johnson, Simmons, and Sullivan [8] identify as the "seven tenets" of lean technical communication.
• They intrinsically emphasize value over deficit • They may innovate and disrupt established approaches to TPC • They are often rooted in local needs, and are aimed at social responsibility • They can regulate costs • They often engage sustainability as impetus for innovation • They promote efficiency • They enhance the visibility of programs Johnson, Simmons, and Sullivan [8] further noted that when considering the sustainability of TPC programs, we should attend to the ecosystems in which they are embedded. At various levels of these ecosystems-the federal, state, institutional, departmental, and programmatic-such TC certificate programs look very different. Finally, curriculum designers of such certificates should read about 23 such TC certificate programs as identified at the undergraduate level as of 1994 [9] and 67 as of 2012 [10].