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Category: Forthcoming

State of the Field: Teaching with Digital Tools in Writing and Communication

Citation

Robinson, J., Dusenberry, L., Hutter, L, Lawrence, L., Frazee, A. and Burnett, R. (2019). State of the Field: Teaching with Digital Tools in Writing and Communication, Computers and Composition.

Abstract

Recent rapid technological change has influenced the ways writing and communication teachers and students use digital tools in their classrooms. We surveyed 328 writing and communication teachers about their use of digital resources in the classroom, in planning, and in course management. Our study finds that over one-third of teachers either teach themselves or use their existing knowledge to support digital pedagogy; learning management systems are used overwhelmingly to distribute materials; teachers perform a range of teaching tasks with both digital and non-digital tools; and teachers often depend on familiar, commonly available resources to perform teacher and learner actions. We recommend that the field should offer more targeted training for writing and communication teachers about the use of digital resources, support development of a repository of crowdsourced best practices, advocate for teachers to become stakeholders in the development and selection of digital resources to encourage more deliberate and targeted use of digital tools, and systematically collect information about digital resource use in the field.

Supplementary Materials

User Experience Methods in Research and Practice

Citation

Robinson, J., Lanius, C., and Weber, R. (Forthcoming). User Experience Methods in Research and Practice, Manuscript proposal accepted to JTWC special edition 2020.

Abstract

User experience (UX) researchers in technical communication and beyond still need a clear picture of the methods used to measure and evaluate UX. This article charts current UX methods through a systematic literature review of recent publications (2016-2018) and a survey of 52 UX practitioners in academia and industry. Our results indicate that contemporary UX research favors mixed methods and that usability testing is especially popular in both published research and our survey results. Other methods, such as surveys and ethnography, get widely used in published research but prompt varied reactions from survey respondents. This article presents these findings as a snapshot of contemporary research methods for user experience.

Supplementary Materials

Useful Usability in an Introductory Technical Communication Course: An Extended Case Study

Citation

Robinson, J. (Forthcoming) Useful Usability in an Introductory Technical Communication Course: An Extended Case Study. 1st Annual Louisiana Tech Usability Studies Symposium (LaTUSS 2019) Yearbook Edited Collection.

Abstract

User experience (UX) courses are increasingly housed in Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) programs due to the field’s dual rhetorical premise of shaping and evaluating products for the audience (Redish & Barnum, 2011). Our basic TPC service courses support a wide variety of majors making it a logical choice to include UX coursework. Unfortunately, few publications provide useful and actionable information for teaching these concepts. In this chapter, I provide a 1) pedagogical framework for teaching complex user-centered design concepts and 2) practice-level overview of how usability can be included in an introductory technical communication service course.

Supplementary Materials

Gaming Design Thinking: Wicked Problems, Sufficient Solutions, and the Possibility Space of Games

Citation

Cooke, L., Robinson, J. and Dusenberry, L. (Under review). Gaming Design Thinking: Wicked Problems, Sufficient Solutions, and the Possibility Space of Games, Technical Communication Quarterly. Manuscript accepted.

AbstractA

The multiple conceptualizations of design thinking make it difficult to implement and teach in TPC, especially given classroom constraints. We propose a framework (mindset and process) that balances knowing with the thinking/doing of design thinking. This framework is effectively implemented through game design. We demonstrate that game design increases students’ ability to iterate and solve macro- and micro-level problems along with their ability to approach unfamiliar or ill-structured tasks while facing such wicked problems.

Supplementary Materials

  • Manuscript