2021 Spring Research Showcase

Please join the Department of Writing Studies for our annual spring research showcase! This year's showcase will include 15 poster presentations by students across our graduate and undergraduate programs

Schedule of Presentations

Technical Communication in Changing Times (4:05 - 4:25pm)

Nicole Pieper (MS) -- Creating a Culture of Innovation: How Businesses Have Used the COVID-19 Pandemic to Instill Creativity and Change the Future Workplace    

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused companies to change the way they operate by adapting to a virtual work environment. Businesses have had to think outside the box to engage with their employees and think of creative ways to serve their clients. Many businesses have used the pandemic as an opportunity to create a culture of innovation by encouraging employees to be creative. This presentation explores how companies and employees have adapted to this new environment, with a combination of literature review and personal interviews from emerging technology and innovation personnel, and how this will impact the future workplace.

Parkker Burgan (MS) -- The Trajectory of Zoom: Analyzing the Development of Video Conferencing Software and Accessibility in an Age of Remote Work 

At the beginning of 2020, video conferencing became the new normal for workers across the globe. While many organizations were able to adapt their communication standards to suit remote work, the impacts of this change in communication invariably affected those with disabilities. Within my presentation, I will explore the following questions: How has video conferencing software adapted to the accessibility needs of at-home workers? How has the sudden increase in remote workers impacted the nexus of accessibility and remote work? How can video conferencing software open the door for increased equity for disabled remote workers?

Patrice Banks (MS) -- Measuring Impact of Hands-on Learning Through Internal Workforce

Impact measurement can be defined as a metric that identifies and considers the effects one’s business actions have on people and the planet. Too often, organizations fall victim to the belief that impact measurement must be complicated to be effective. However, although complex in practice, impact measurement varies in approach and rigor with several methodologies and practices emerging from organizations. A study by the Stanford Social Innovation Review found that 25% of nonprofits do not have a system in place for measuring program impact, and only 6% of nonprofits feel they are using their impact data effectively. 

For a non-profit organization supporting youth such as Spark-Y, impact measurement is vital to document the effectiveness of its programming. Moreover, measuring youth impact is becoming an increasingly important area for non-profit organizations and the funders and networks that support them, therefore it is equally important to create a data culture to measure an organization’s impact. Even for organizations that have established processes and tools in place for measuring youth impact, it can be difficult to know if what they are doing is of sufficient quality and how they can improve. Evaluations can complement ongoing monitoring activities by providing more in-depth, objective assessments, and an internal workforce can have a direct impact on the bottom line of any organization. To fully understand and survey the impact of a program/organization, I explore impact at the program delivery level, or directly by staff conducting the evaluation.

Design & Content (4:25 - 4:45pm)

Autumn Brower (MS) -- For the Love of Technology: How Aesthetics Define Emotions in a Digital Education Setting   

This presentation discusses Norman’s (2007) three levels of product design aesthetics (visceral, behavioral, and reflective) and analyzes them as a measure of emotion in an educational setting. To do this, a Canvas learning management system (LMS) is used as a form of educational technology and faculty at a local university are asked their views on Norman’s three levels of product design specific to a Canvas page layout and font. Interview transcripts are analyzed for themes, valence response, and meaningfulness. Future directions are also discussed.

Miranda De la Victoria (MS) -- Managing Technical Content: Investigating the Value and Impact of a Content Management System (CMS) 

As the field of technical communication evolves and expands into various industries, the content and how it is created and managed evolves, too. The maintenance of content, specifically technical content in this case, is where content management systems (CMS) come into play. While there are many CMS to choose from, how does one CMS get chosen over another? How is the value of a CMS communicated? To understand how technical communicators are introduced to CMS, what motivates implementation, and what challenges are encountered, I interviewed four people at a company undergoing a CMS implementation. 

Rorie Anders (MS) -- The Heart of the Matter: An Analysis of Instruction Manual Design on Customer Satisfaction 

Most products come equipped with an instruction manual or user guide that provides the consumer with details on how to assemble, use, or troubleshoot their new product. Oftentimes, consumers have negative perceptions of instruction manuals as a result of previous poor experiences or frustrations and instead will prefer to skim through the content or avoid the manual altogether. Research has found that the visual design and format of a document can impact customer satisfaction as well as readability, accessibility, and comprehension.

Expanding Technical Communication (4:45 - 5:05pm)

Stella Fundingsland (MS) -- Writing for Global Audiences: Insights into the Technical Translation Process within the Medical Device Industry  

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the technical translation process and determine what rhetorical strategies technical writers can implement to produce clear and consistent content for global audiences. As globalization practices and technological advancements pave the way for messages to reach broader audiences, technical writers must consider the cultural and communicative differences that these audiences may hold. Translation becomes a common practice for companies interested in reaching their audiences, and while most technical writers may not be involved in the direct translation of a text, they play an integral role in the technical translation process. Through practitioner interviews, I aim to understand the challenges and successes of different stakeholders within this process to develop evidence-based recommendations for future work.

Alison Campbell (MS) -- Exploring the Relationship Between Technical Writing and Marketing     

The goal of this study is to explore the relationship, or lack thereof, between technical writers and marketers within an organization. This study is based on a preconceived notion that the relationship between technical writers and marketers is strained, much like the relationship between technical writers and engineers has a historical tension. Through a literature review and interviews with practitioners, this study aims to make sense of this relationship and offer a critical lens through which to view this professional relationship. It is my goal that technical writers will be able to use this research as guidance in forging a strong professional relationship.

Mary Frances Hull (MS) -- The Role of Technical Communicators in Open-Source Software: A Systematic Review

For Free/Open-Source Software (FOSS) to survive, projects must attract and retain new contributors. Research has studied the many barriers that newcomers face when trying to contribute to FOSS projects. These barriers can cause newcomers to give up on contributing to FOSS projects. Many of the hurdles that newcomers face can be reduced or eliminated by skills that technical writers possess.  In this presentation, I aim to 1) present the results of a systematic literature review aimed to identify the barriers that newcomers face 2) identify roles that technical writers can take to help alleviate those barriers, and 3) identify ways that contributing to FOSS as part of the technical communication curriculum would be beneficial to students.

Break (5:05 - 5:15pm)

 

Teaching Technical Communication (5:15 - 5:35pm)

Evelyn Dsouza (PhD) -- Adapting the Process of Structured Decision Making (SDM) as a Teaching Tool for Technical Communication  

This presentation is connected to our field’s ongoing efforts at incorporating interdisciplinary knowledge into our teaching practices. Structured decision making (SDM) is an approach to problem-solving that has been authored and promulgated by ecologists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Conservation Training Center and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. I argue that there are transferable skills for teaching and learning in technical communication, such as problem definition and the articulation of project objectives, responsive translation of information for new audiences and appropriate audience analysis, and communication of research-based recommendations in professional and organization contexts.

Brandon Nguyen-Calkins (BS) -- TWC Projects Spotlight

The presentation will focus on a website that makes sharing academic projects easy. The site is for technical writing students and staff, presenting projects in a browsable fashion. It can be used to gather ideas for current students, to showcase projects for the department, and to act as a collection for past projects. The submission process is designed to be simple for users. The submitted content is general, rather than in-depth, and focuses on big ideas.

Cody Bursch (PhD) & Ethan Voss (Minor) -- How are writing instructors scaffolding virtual peer response? 

First initiated by 3rd year undergraduate Ethan Voss and co-presented at the MnWE Conference March 26, this is on-going preliminary, grounded research for what will eventually be a much larger tree of projects. This presentation intends to reflect on what faculty, lecturers, and graduate instructors of writing intensive courses in the RSTC department are thinking about how and the various technologies being used to scaffold online peer response in the wake of the pandemic.

Business of Technical Communication (5:35 - 5:55pm)

Liam Vertal (BS) --   Blindspots in Technical Communication 

This project seeks to establish a framework for understanding technical communication in terms of its position in a capitalist political and economic system, what Dallas W. Smythe would call the “Consciousness Industry.”  This project will also specifically seek to define what specifically technical communication produces as a commodity (something that is bought and sold) and how this commodity relates to the audience.  From initial research, there seems to be a lack of robust discussion within technical communication regarding what specifically the industry produces; that is a fundamental absence that this paper will seek to address.

Ryan Wold (PhD) --  The Technical Communicator-Entrepreneur: The next frontier of a hyphenated industry  

Our field has a history of embracing hyphenated titles such as as technical writer-usability specialist, technical writer-content strategist, or technical writer-project manager. Now as companies embrace the idea that the experience is the product, the work of technical communicators is moving from the outskirts of their organizations to the center. To succeed in this new environment technical communicators must embrace a new hyphenated title: technical communicator-entrepreneur. 

Katlynne Davis (PhD) -- Why Should Technical Communicators Care about Social Media? 

Closing Thoughts & Thank You! (5:55 - 6:05pm)

Our thanks to members of the Technical Communication Advisory Board who assist students throughout our BS, Cert, MS, MA, & PhD programs.

 

TCAB members scheduled to attend:

• Aki Ito, LocalizationGuy, LLC
• Daphne Walmer, Daphne Walmer & Associates
• Joann Hackos, Comtech
• Jim Willenbring, Medtronic
• Matt Brundage, MEDITECH
• Matt Abe, Graco, Inc.
• Priyanka Mohan