Communication Design Quarterly Jan 2019 Open Access

Cultivating code literacy: course redesign through advisory board engagement

Ann Hill Duin University of Minnesota System ; Jason Chew Kit Tham

Abstract

This experience report shares the story of course redesign for cultivating technological and code literacy. This redesign came about as a result of listening to advisory board members as well as responding to recent scholarship calling for more specifics on the teaching of component content management and content strategy. We begin with discussion of code literacy differentiation between code-as-language, code-as-tool, and code-as-structure. We then share detail about our advisory board engagement and the resulting advanced-level technical communication course in which, framed by technological literacy narratives, students produce a static HTML site for a client, develop a repository for this work (GitHub), use XML and the DITA standard for dynamic document delivery, and create a digital experience element to accompany the site. We document and analyze student narratives and online course discussions. We emphasize a more holistic approach to code literacy and that course redesign should be a collaborative endeavor with advisory board members and industry experts. Through these experiences, students gain requisite knowledge and practice so as to enter the technical communication community of practice.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2019-01-22
DOI
10.1145/3309578.3309583
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Topics
curriculum design teacher development collaborative writing technical communication online writing instruction literacy studies
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