Communication Design Quarterly
4 articlesDecember 2021
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Unlikely allies in preventing sexual misconduct: Student led prevention efforts in a technical communication classroom: experience report ↗
Abstract
Students' participation in relevant service learning can have a unique impact on their institution of higher education, if provided the opportunity. This article explores student-designed sexual misconduct prevention efforts taking place in an undergraduate project management course at one institution of higher education. We found that involving students in particular kinds of campus communication design and implementation simultaneously improved those efforts and offered students the opportunity to participate in impactful civic projects. In our article, we first examine the most common approach to sexual misconduct prevention, while considering its limitations. We then introduce a nontraditional collaboration---technical communication student involvement within prevention work---which resulted in new efforts. Finally, we illustrate how instructors can integrate similar collaborations.
January 2019
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Preparing communication design students as facilitators: a primer for rethinking coursework in project management ↗
Abstract
Building from previous work by Lauren and Schreiber (2017) and research individually conducted by the author (Lauren, 2018), this brief teaching case provides a rationale for coursework in project management that draws from experiential learning to teach facilitation. The case begins by providing a research context for how communication designers are increasingly focused on practices of facilitation in their work, particularly in fast-paced, distributed work environments. The case presents two metaphors (gardening and cooking) for helping students think about facilitation techniques. Then, the article describes a project management course that emphasizes the importance of facilitation in classroom exercises and major assignments by developing skills in three foundational areas: improvisation, document design, and systems design. Each area is described with examples to help instructors of project management adapt or use similar approaches at their own unique institutional, programmatic, and classroom contexts. The article concludes with four suggestions, such as partnering with industry practitioners and arranging site visits to see project management in action. As well, the concluding suggestions explain recent iterations of the course's design.
February 2018
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Abstract
In this article, we explore connections among rhetoric, usability studies, user-centered design, and civic engagement as core concepts for developing a systemically aware Rhetoric of Advocacy for technical communicators. We propose a model for visualizing scenarios and stakeholders that is based on the structure of atoms. The Atomic Model for Technical Communication provides a visual model for mapping projects and for framing the kind of dialog that we associate with a Rhetoric of Advocacy.
November 2013
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Abstract
As Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) utilized in workplaces, classrooms, and community organizations continue to proliferate, it follows that the kinds of knowledge necessary to assemble those technologies in order to engage in effective professional communication are becoming increasingly complex. This article details a study conducted of two student teams engaged in a service-learning class in which they were tasked with producing high-quality digital products---a mini-documentary and a simple, but interactive website---for client organizations---an art classroom in a local public school and a mentoring initiative within a local non-profit. The main findings of this study are that students mobilized a variety of resources and created a flexible network of technologies, knowledges, people, and modes of communication in order to address issues pertinent to their clients. In addition, I argue that the most important resource students mobilized was knowledge itself, indicating that one of the most important aspects of digital composing may be in-depth, practical knowledge of technologies, modes, and the genres they involve. Ultimately, the implications of this limited, classroom-based case study are that a situated understanding of how to assemble knowledges for the effective design of communication within a given communication infrastructure may be more important than access to the most cutting-edge modes and technologies, especially when working with resource-poor organizational clients.