Helen M. Grady

Web site design: a case study in usability testing using paper prototypes

Paper prototypes are a low-tech, low-cost, but highly effective, form of usability testing for Web site design. Creating a Web site is relatively easy, given the technology and tools now available. All too often, Web site developers tend to be enamored with the technology and forget the needs of the end user. As a result, many Web site developers delay usability testing until their Web site is completely designed, only to uncover significant interface, content, or structural problems with the site once the customers try to use it. Significant redesign may be impossible due to time, cost, or personnel constraints. This paper discusses the benefits of using paper prototypes to conduct usability testing of a Web site for Mercer Universitys School of Engineering Center for Excellence in Engineering Education (CE/sup 3/). The design of the CE/sup 3/ is a project of a team of senior technical communication students in the Department of Technical Communication at Mercer University. This paper also discusses the importance of training technical communicators to be user advocates.

Educating reflective practitioners

One of the marks of true professionalism is the ability to learn from reflection on practice. Observing the practice of themselves and others provides practitioners with essential knowledge in addition to the core knowledge of the profession. Programs in technical communication, especially graduate programs, should foster the habits and skills of reflecting on practice. This panel discussion will demonstrate ways we have incorporated reflection on learning into our degree programs in technical communication at Mercer University.

What Does the Transactions Publish? What do Transactions' Readers Want to Read?

Research Problem: Investigate the match between content published by the Transactions and content sought by its readers. Research Questions: What content does the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication publish? How does that compare to the content published by other journals in the field? And what content do readers of the Transactions want to read? Literature Review: Researchers in most fields occasionally analyze the entire body of literature within a discipline to assess the current state of the literature, identify leading works, assess the state of the literature, provide a basis for changing the direction of a journal, and assess alignment among parts of the literature. Methodology: To identify what journals published, researchers used the STC Body of Knowledge schema and a list of categories of research methods that classify all peer-reviewed articles published between January 2006 and December 2010 in the Transactions, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Technical Communication, and Technical Communication Quarterly. To identify reader preferences of the Transactions, researchers surveyed members of the IEEE Professional Communication Society about their preferences for content and types of research. Results and Discussion: In terms of the topics covered, the three most widely covered topics in the Transactions were: (1) Deliverables, (2) Information Design and Development, and (3) Academic Programs. Readers prefer (1) About Technical and Professional Communication, (2) Information Design and Development, and (3) Research Theory, and Practice. The three least-covered topics were (1) Business Knowledge, (2) About Technical Communication, and (3) Technical Communication Standards. Of least interest to participants were: (1) Deliverables, (2) Quality Assurance, (3) Management, and (4) Technical Communication Standards. The Transactions primarily publishes experiments, surveys, and tutorials while readers prefer case studies, literature reviews, and tutorials.

From chalkboard to PowerPoint to the Web: a continuum of technology

Historically, the chalkboard has been the medium of choice for delivery of classroom instruction. With the advent of the PC and audiovisual equipment, many teachers began using PowerPoint to deliver lectures. Now, however, technology-savvy students expect teachers to use the Web to deliver course materials and faculty are under increasing pressure from both students and administrators to Web-enable their courses. This work discusses how to help faculty become more proficient with media and technology in the classroom. In particular, we focus on our experiences with faculty in the School of Engineering at Mercer University. For the past three years, our faculty development center has been assisting faculty in learning how to use instructional technology. However, apart from the early adopters, faculty resistance was high due to lack of time, skill, motivation, or equipment. Recently, however, we have seen a dramatic increase in web-enabled courses and use of technology in the classroom. We discuss factors we think contributed to this increase, including the development of individual home page templates and training in a user-friendly Web editor, Macromedia Contribute.

Instructional Scaffolding for Online Courses

Instructional scaffolding is a process by which an instructor supports a student in executing a learning task. Designers of virtual learning environments are challenged with replacing the verbal and visual scaffolding present in face-to-face classes for their online students. This paper describes how to build scaffolding in online interactive graduate courses

Integrating technical communication into engineering education: a case study

The ability to communicate effectively is a critical skill for todays engineer, and the ABET 2000 curricular initiative reflects this requirement. The authors discuss how Mercer Universitys School of Engineering integrated technical communication into its engineering curriculum, beginning at the freshman level. We believe the level of integration of writing and speaking with traditional engineering fundamentals is unusual and is a reflection of the fact that the Department of Technical Communication resides within the engineering school. We describe how and why we changed the way we educate engineers to communicate.

The information economy: Educational opportunities for industry-based professionals

The information economy requires skilled industry-based professionals who can communicate effectively and contribute to a global economy. Moreover, many industries require innovative strategic leaders with solid theoretical and research grounding. Such leaders draw on their education and experience to develop strategically aligned technical communication practices for specific domains and industries. What opportunities are available for industry professionals to pursue advanced degrees while continuing to work in the field? We examined 267 masterpsilas and PhD-level programs in technical communication and related disciplines worldwide to determine if these programs were accessible to professionals seeking to further their education and careers. This research indicates that some graduate programs reach a wider demographic through greater flexibility and technological investments. Nevertheless, our research revealed potential gaps in the availability of PhD educational opportunities for industry professionals who must work full time while attending school. We identified opportunities to close these gaps through expanded distance learning, changes in residency requirements, improved international articulation, and alternatives to dissertations. This paper describes the research methodology used, the current state of graduate and PhD educational opportunities available for industry professionals, the challenges we encountered during our research, and additional research opportunities.

Diverging currents: Continuous innovation in an engineering-based Technical Communication program

Mercer Universitys Department of Technical Communication has continuously moved away from established currents to create new ones that aid in making learning most effective. This paper presents three approaches to continuous innovation: innovations in teaching freshman writing as a general education course located in engineering, improving teaming strategies through strategic metacommunication, and incorporating open-source software development methods and tools into the curriculum.

Extended abstract: A professional communication course for engineering freshmen

Technical Communication faculty at Mercer Universitys School of Engineering have created a new professional communication course for engineering freshmen designed to give them experience in library research, introduce them to major challenges for 21st_ century engineers, and give them practice in designing communication products in genres that they will use in their coursework and as engineers in industry. Results of a survey of students who took the course in 2013-14 indicate that the course is achieving the desired outcome by equipping students with theory and techniques that enable them to be more effective writers, speakers, and presenters, as well as providing them with practical strategies for research, team work, and problem solving.

Preparing students to participate in the global business environment

In a global business environment, technical communication products must meet significant demands of different cultures and languages. The employees, our graduates, who work across time zones, cultures, and languages to create those products, need to prepare for this globally networked professional environment. As academics, how do we educate these students to participate in the global business environment? This panel of professors and students will discuss the benefits, as well as the challenges, of working with faculty and students at a German university to understand the complexities of intercultural technical communication. Two professors will describe how they introduce students to the cultural variables (beliefs, attitudes, and values) that shape the communication process and how they have established cooperative learning experiences with the University of Applied Sciences (HsKA) in Karlsruhe, Germany, to help students translate the theory of intercultural communication into practice. Students will describe the types of products and their experiences working and interacting with HsKA students.