Radio Sloyd: An amateur radio approach to a University-level critical thinking and writing class

This paper outlines the use of amateur radio in teaching a general education writing seminar at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. The paper first presents a review of amateur radio activities in terms of their cross-curricular potential. This is followed by an overview of the course, which begins by presenting the earliest means of communication over a distance - horns and drums, couriers and smoke signals - and continues into the developments of postal systems and newspapers, optical semaphores, electrical telegraphy and undersea cables, radiotelegraphy, broadcast radio, television, the Internet, and space communication. We examine the issues in each of engineering and content regulation, and of censorship. The censorship issues are presented and discussed including both governmental and voluntary or market-based forms. We conclude with a summary of how writing is integrated into the course, including a discussion of writing assignments and writing-to-learn strategies.