Technical Communication Quarterly Apr 2025

Beyond Digital Literacy: Investigating Threshold Concepts to Foster Engagement with Digital Life in Technical Communication Pedagogy

Danielle Mollie Stambler James Madison University ; Nupoor Ranade Carnegie Mellon University ; Daniel L. Hocutt University of Richmond ; Stephen Fonash ; Jessica Lynn Campbell University of Central Florida ; Ann Hill Duin University of Minnesota System ; Isabel Pedersen University of Ontario Institute of Technology ; Jason Tham Texas Tech University ; Saveena (Chakrika) Veeramoothoo ; Gustav Verhulsdonck Central Michigan University

Abstract

As digital technologies rapidly evolve, updating and enhancing models of digital literacy pedagogy in technical and professional communication (TPC) becomes more urgent. In this article, we use "digital life" to conceptualize the ever-changing ways of knowing and being in postinternet society. Using collaborative autoethnography, we investigate features of threshold concepts in TPC pedagogy that may support models of digital literacy that are resistant to tools-based definitions, foster student agency, and facilitate accessibility, equity, and justice.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2025-04-03
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2024.2388038
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Topics
writing pedagogy collaborative writing threshold concepts technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric literacy studies race and writing
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