Instructional Design Pedagogy in Technical and Professional Communication

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how instructional design manifests in TPC pedagogies and where educators draw resources from. As TPC expands into areas in which instructional design traditionally governs, scholars need to discern how TPC distinguishes its specialty while providing training to support instructional design practices. Through textbook and syllabus analysis, coupled with instructor interviews, this study reports findings about instructional design pedagogy within TPC based on the themes gathered from the instructors’ experiences and existing resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Instructional design
• pedagogy
• textbooks
• course syllabi
• learning objectives
• instructor interviews

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. I avoided using the acronym “ID” for instructional design in this writing due to its conjugating uses in information design, industrial design, interior design, interaction design (also called IxD), and interface design.

2. Interestingly, five other individuals showed initial interest in being interviewed but later decided that they do not fit the scope of the study. They all perceived instructional design to be something outside the purview of TPC and did not consider their work to be relevant to the audience of this project.

3. I am cognizant of the risks involved in citing works by Elizabeth Tebeaux, who in 2020 was called out by some ATTW members for spouting hate against international students in the U.S. [refer to the message from ATTW Past President Eble (2020) for context]. As international faculty myself, I found Tebeaux’s comments to be hurtful. Her and Dragga’s textbook used in this study was analyzed with care. My inclusion of the textbook here does not condone Tebeaux’s actions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jason Tham

Jason Tham is an assistant professor of technical communication and rhetoric in the Department of English at Texas Tech University. His books, Design Thinking in Technical Communication, Collaborative Writing Playbook (with Joe Moses), and Designing Technical and Professional Communication (with Deborah Andrews), apply design thinking to technical communication pedagogy and practice. He can be reached on Twitter via JasonCKTham.