We are pleased to announce that UX in Pedagogy has been awarded a research grant from the Council for Programs in Scientific and Technical Communication (CPSTC ). The funds from the grant will support software, participant incentives, and stipends for undergraduate research assistants.
Grant Abstract
While Technical Communication and User Experience (UX) have long, intertwined histories, Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) programs have been slower to transition to preparing students for UX roles. In this research project, we will research existing teaching practices related to UX through a mixed-method research project that includes a survey of TPC instructors about their current UX teaching practices, a corpus analysis of syllabi and assignments, and qualitative interviews with instructors of UX courses in TPC programs. The outcomes of this research will contribute to the development of best practices for teaching UX within TPC courses and programs. It will also help support the future creation of a repository of example teaching materials such as assignments and syllabi. This proposal responds to CPTSC grant opportunity as a curricular exploration that could lead to best or effective practices. UX is an important topic to the future of TPC and to date there has not been a large scale study trying to understand existing teaching practices related to UX.
Press release: CPTSC 2020 Research Grant Awards (PDF)