Beyond Drag and Drop: Balancing Experience and Innovation in Online Technical Communication Course Development

Jessica Livingston; Sarah Summers; Mary Jane Szabo

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Design, Assessment, and Redesign of Writing Instruction for Engineers
Tagged Division: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29846
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/29846
Download Count: 581

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Paper Authors

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Jessica Livingston Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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Jessica Livingston is an associate professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She received a B.A. from the University of Georgia, an M.A. from the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Her areas of interest include engineering communication and pedagogy, the intersections of gender and work in a global economy, and documentary film.

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Sarah Summers Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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Dr. Sarah Summers earned her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Penn State University and joined the RHIT faculty in 2014. Her work focused on writing in the disciplines, particularly at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels. She teaches courses in writing and engineering communication, including technical and professional communication, intercultural communication, digital writing, and grant writing.

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Mary Jane Szabo Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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Mary Jane (Janie) Szabo is currently pursuing her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology from Indiana State University. In her current role as an Instructional Designer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, she collaborates with faculty on developing face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses. Janie also coordinates and provides training and support for the campus Learning Management System, Moodle, and Multimedia System, Panopto.

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Abstract

When adapting a technical writing course to an online learning management system, it’s tempting to rely on existing pedagogies first and then integrate technology into that tried-and-true structure. Yet, a strictly pedagogy-first attitude assumes that technologies are neutral and that any practices can be simply mapped onto any technologies to serve any student. But merely dragging and dropping face-to-face content into an online course misses opportunities for the multiple means of representation and customized learning experiences that technology can afford (Camplese & McDonald, 2010; Kumar & Wideman, 2014; Moxley, 2008; Schreiner, Rothenberger & Sholtz, 2013).

Our proposed paper, “Beyond Drag and Drop: Balancing Experience and Innovation in Online Technical Communication Course Development,” written by two technical communication instructors and an instructional designer, draws on best practices in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to evaluate newly-designed hybrid and online technical communication courses. Technical communication courses generally include students who are from multiple disciplines and who may be resistant to taking a required course offered by faculty outside their major. A UDL framework that enables students to engage with course content in multiple ways can both lessen student resistance and increase students’ confidence in their professional skills. By comparing face-to-face assignments and student outcomes with online assignments and outcomes, we demonstrate how the incorporation of UDL principles encouraged us to make our courses more engaging, accessible, and flexible for diverse groups of students. We also highlight the recursive nature of these changes by explaining the ways our online course development has influenced the design of our face-to-face classrooms and assignments.

C. W. Camplese, and S. McDonald, “Disrupting the Classroom,” Edge, Volume 5, Issue 4, 2010, pages 1-19. Available: https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/downloads/70795771g

T. Daher, S. Bernstein, and B. Meyer, “Using Blended Learning to Address Instructional Challenges in a Freshman Engineering Course,” American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Exposition, June 26-29, 2016 Available: https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/64/papers/15344/view

P. Fidaldo and J. Thormann, “Reaching Students in Online Courses Using Alternative Formats,” International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Volume 18, Number 2, April – 2017

K. L. Kumar and M. Wideman, “Accessible by design: Applying UDL principles in a first year undergraduate course,” Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume 44, No. 1, 2014, pages 125 – 147

J. M. Moxley. “Datagogies, writing instruction, and the age of peer production,” Computers and Composition, Volume 25, Number 2, pages 182-202.

F. G. Smith, “Analyzing a college course that adheres to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework,” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2012, pp. 31 – 61.

D. Rose, W. Harbour, C. S. Johnston, S. Daley, and L. Abarbanell, “Universal Design for Learning in Postsecondary Education: Reflections on Principles and their Application,” National Center of Universal Design for Learning, Available: http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/UDLinPostsecondary.pdf

Schreiner, M. B., Rothenberger, C. D., & Sholtz, A. J. (2013). Using brain research to drive college teaching: Innovations in universal course design, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 24(3), 29-50.

S. Wu, “Accessibility, Usability, and Universal Design in Online Engineering Education,” American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Exposition, June 14-15, 2015, Seattle, WA. Available: https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/56/papers/12194/view

Citation
Format

Livingston, J., & Summers, S., & Szabo, M. J. (2018, June), Beyond Drag and Drop: Balancing Experience and Innovation in Online Technical Communication Course Development Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29846

TY - CPAPER
AB - When adapting a technical writing course to an online learning management system, it’s tempting to rely on existing pedagogies first and then integrate technology into that tried-and-true structure. Yet, a strictly pedagogy-first attitude assumes that technologies are neutral and that any practices can be simply mapped onto any technologies to serve any student. But merely dragging and dropping face-to-face content into an online course misses opportunities for the multiple means of representation and customized learning experiences that technology can afford (Camplese &amp; McDonald, 2010; Kumar &amp; Wideman, 2014; Moxley, 2008; Schreiner, Rothenberger &amp; Sholtz, 2013).

Our proposed paper, “Beyond Drag and Drop: Balancing Experience and Innovation in Online Technical Communication Course Development,” written by two technical communication instructors and an instructional designer, draws on best practices in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to evaluate newly-designed hybrid and online technical communication courses. Technical communication courses generally include students who are from multiple disciplines and who may be resistant to taking a required course offered by faculty outside their major. A UDL framework that enables students to engage with course content in multiple ways can both lessen student resistance and increase students’ confidence in their professional skills. By comparing face-to-face assignments and student outcomes with online assignments and outcomes, we demonstrate how the incorporation of UDL principles encouraged us to make our courses more engaging, accessible, and flexible for diverse groups of students. We also highlight the recursive nature of these changes by explaining the ways our online course development has influenced the design of our face-to-face classrooms and assignments.

C. W. Camplese, and S. McDonald, “Disrupting the Classroom,” Edge, Volume 5, Issue 4, 2010, pages 1-19. Available: https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/downloads/70795771g

T. Daher, S. Bernstein, and B. Meyer, “Using Blended Learning to Address Instructional Challenges in a Freshman Engineering Course,” American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Exposition, June 26-29, 2016 Available: https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/64/papers/15344/view

P. Fidaldo and J. Thormann, “Reaching Students in Online Courses Using Alternative Formats,” International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Volume 18, Number 2, April – 2017

K. L. Kumar and M. Wideman, “Accessible by design: Applying UDL principles in a first year undergraduate course,” Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume 44, No. 1, 2014, pages 125 – 147

J. M. Moxley. “Datagogies, writing instruction, and the age of peer production,” Computers and Composition, Volume 25, Number 2, pages 182-202.

F. G. Smith, “Analyzing a college course that adheres to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework,” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2012, pp. 31 – 61.

D. Rose, W. Harbour, C. S. Johnston, S. Daley, and L. Abarbanell, “Universal Design for Learning in Postsecondary Education: Reflections on Principles and their Application,” National Center of Universal Design for Learning, Available: http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/UDLinPostsecondary.pdf

Schreiner, M. B., Rothenberger, C. D., &amp; Sholtz, A. J. (2013). Using brain research to drive college teaching: Innovations in universal course design, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 24(3), 29-50.

S. Wu, “Accessibility, Usability, and Universal Design in Online Engineering Education,” American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Exposition, June 14-15, 2015, Seattle, WA. Available: https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/56/papers/12194/view

AU - Jessica Livingston
AU - Sarah Summers
AU - Mary Jane Szabo
CY - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA - 2018/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Beyond Drag and Drop: Balancing Experience and Innovation in Online Technical Communication Course Development
UR - https://peer.asee.org/29846
DO - 10.18260/1-2--29846
ER -