SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES
DEVELOPMENT AND PATIENT USER EXPERIENCE EVALUATION OF AN MHEALTH INFORMATIONAL APP FOR OSTEOPOROSIS
2021. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. (Published online before print).
This mixed-methods study details the development, usability testing, and user experience evaluation of an informational mHealth app for older women who are considering diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of osteoporosis. Developers used heuristics from Universal Design theory adapted for older users. Formative usability testing measured 16 functional, informational, and navigational tasks. Data included transcripts of audio recordings, observer notes from video recordings, task completion times, and the results of a post-testing participant survey that evaluated user experience for app functions and information content. Participants interacted with the app in productive ways and with relative ease. The study also identified several app- and context-specific challenges that designers will address in future iterations of the tool. Researchers who are developing other mHealth products may benefit from using this study’s methodological framework, which includes both qualitative and quantitative results.
2022. Programmatic Perspectives 13(1), 33-60,
This case study describes the conditions, outcomes, and pedagogical implications of a project in which technical and professional communication (TPC) students worked as technical editing consultants for a mechanical engineering instructor to support the communication needs of five undergraduate mechanical engineering teams during the f inal semester of their client-driven capstone design projects. Study results revealed that the participants, including the instructor and internship advisor, thought the project was worthwhile as workplace preparation and as an undergraduate capstone experience that improved TPC competencies on ABET standards for professional communication. Additional themes developed from data analysis included insights on previous course preparation, editor-team communication and workflow, and leadership/power issues between editors and team members. Recommendations for further curriculum development included considering ways to integrate student editors more fully into the teams, increasing support for effective collaboration strategies, increasing client feedback, and providing a pedagogical structure for accountability to monitor team participation in the editorial process.
CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE PURPOSES: AN INTERNATIONAL, MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY
2021. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal 9 (2), 1-21
Capstone experiences (CEs) serve a variety of purposes in higher education as opportunities to apply academic skills, explore post-graduate life and employment, and achieve a meaningful undergraduate event. This study investigated the purposes of CEs through a content analysis of institutional course syllabi/course outlines/module outlines and catalog/calendar descriptions at five institutions of higher education: a large public research university in Canada, a large public teaching university in the United Kingdom (UK), a college of a large public research university in the United States (US), and two medium-sized private liberal arts universities in the US. Using the CE purposes found in a review of scholarly literature as a research guide, the authors analyzed 84 institutional documents. CE purposes that appeared in the sample at lower percentages when compared with published studies included oral communication, a coherent academic experience, preparation for graduate school, preparation for life after college, and civic engagement/service learning. Implications for practice include the need for instructors and administrators to consider revising CE documents to better reflect the content and goals of the courses and to address the requirements of other audiences (eg, program reviewers, accreditation evaluators). Moreover, the results of this study may assist educators in considering reasons for omitting explicit purposes from CE documents and/or justifying the inclusion of previously omitted purposes.
MHEALTH APPS FOR OLDER ADULTS: A METHOD FOR DEVELOPMENT AND USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (UX) EVALUATION
2021. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 51 (2), 199-217
This study details a method for mHealth app development and user experience design (UX) evaluation, which generates a comprehensive list of stakeholder-users, acknowledges UX barriers, advocates multiple methods, and argues that developers should address the UX needs of each stakeholder-user in a complex health care system. A case study of a research project on an mHealth app for women who are considering prevention of or treatment for osteoporosis assists to elaborate and define the method. To find any measure of success, a fully functional app for older users should be integrated into the entire health care system.
STUDENT AND FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF CAPSTONE PURPOSES: WHAT CAN ENGINEERING LEARN FROM OTHER DISCIPLINES?
2020. Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) Conference
Capstone Experiences (CE) are meant to integrate and culminate the student experience. The most common CE in the Canadian and American engineering curriculums is the final year design course, but other disciplines also have capstone experiences.
This paper presents initial results from a multi-institutional, multi-national survey of faculty and student perceptions of capstone experiences. Here, we investigate three criteria (Values, Skills/competencies, Attitudes) and discuss differences and similarities among the disciplines and between engineering students and faculty.
There is good alignment between engineering faculty and students, but values such as openness and compassion are selected at (comparatively) lower rates by engineering faculty and students than by other disciplines. These findings provide an opportunity for engineering educators to reflect on the intentions of their CE; e.g., are these results an intentional outcome of engineering capstones, or an oversight on the part of engineering educators?
SHIFTS AND TRANSPOSITIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF GATEWAY DOCUMENTS FOR CANCER GENETIC TESTING
2019. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine 2 (4), 384-414
This study describes and analyzes a sample of non-commercial web pages that address cancer genetic testing. These “gateway documents,” which were returned in an initial Internet search for information, may serve as the only texts that people read when deciding whether to pursue genetic testing. Deliberative rhetorical theory elaborated into dimensions of embodied knowledge and scientific knowledge was mapped onto problematic integration theory to create a framework for investigating the documents. Analysis reveals the contingent nature of evaluating probability in genetic testing and the intrinsic need to examine the rhetorical construction of gateway documents as multi-dimensional communication events in which disadvantages and benefits shift—and sometimes transpose—according to the embodied knowledge of each person. Benefits and disadvantages of genetic testing become topoi that health care providers should consider carefully to improve the decision-making information offered to people who are searching for online resources.
WHAT TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALTH AND MEDICAL APPS
2019. Intercom Special Issue on Health and Medical Communication 66 (6), 18-20
Smartphone apps for mobile health (mHealth) have increased greatly in the past few years, with over 325,000 available in 2017 (mHealth Developer Economics 2017). MHealth seeks to untether technology from traditional desktop computers and enable people to wear or carry wireless devices and record data for themselves or their healthcare providers. The rapid rise of these technologies increases the chances that technical communicators may work on a project involving mHealth apps.
BIOETHICAL COMMUNICATION: SHARED DECISION-MAKING AND RELATIONAL EMPATHY
2018. Journal of Healthcare in Communication. 11(3), 164-174
Background: Theoretical tensions in shared decision-making (SDM) exist among bioethical principles, patient autonomy, and evidence-based medicine. Scholars in biomedicine have looked to empathy as a component of SDM that may assist in decreasing these conflicts. Method: This article outlines a theoretical foundation for incorporating relational empathy in SDM. Informed by interpersonal communication theory and bioethics, relational empathy becomes an intrinsic component in the initial phase of SDM. Results: Healthcare providers should consider developing relational empathy with their patients before they address treatment options. Relational empathy, especially in the context of values elicitation and clarification, may increase patient participation and provide more symmetrical communication opportunities. Relational empathy also assists in developing relational autonomy, which shifts the emphasis in SDM from the traditional bioethical view of the autonomous individual to a definition of autonomy that describes a person in relation with others. Conclusion: Increased opportunities for relational empathy through interpersonal communication may provide a more ethical communication context for SDM.
PATIENT DECISION AIDS FOR PRENATAL GENETIC TESTING: PROBABILITY, EMBODIMENT, AND PROBLEMATIC INTEGRATION
2017. Health Communication 32(5), 568-577.
Patient decision aids (PDAs) are documents that attempt to support patient participation in biomedical decision making by discussing information and options. Scholars have called for further elaboration and application of communication theory relating to the construction and uses of PDAs. This article analyzes gateway documents, a genre of PDAs that includes texts from noncommercial websites returned during an initial inquiry for decision-making information. Problematic integration theory informs and extends a meaning of balance in a sample of four PDAs for prenatal genetic testing. The study addresses several communication opportunities, including discussions of benefits, disadvantages, providers’ scientific knowledge, and patients’ embodied knowledge. The PDA authors’ emphases on statistical risk without more inclusive considerations of embodied knowledge highlight a conclusion that the documents in the sample are imbalanced. This research serves to introduce a theoretical communication context for analysis of PDAs that may assist scholars in further contributions to the interdisciplinary field of biomedical communication.
RHETORICAL GROUNDING AND AN AGILE ATTITUDE: COMPLEX SYSTEMS, MULTI-GENRE TESTING, AND SERVICE LEARNING IN UX
2015. Journal of Usability Studies, 10(4), 182-194. (co-authors: Cunningham, L., Reynolds-Dyk, A., Small, N., Tran, C., & Tucker, V.)
This article describes a graduate-level service learning usability project and illustrates the practical tensions generated by increasing complexity in technology design.Although a foundational body of usability research prescribes standards for high-quality test design, such guidelines may not be applicable or practical in a particular context.Usability students and professionals benefit from allowing themselves the space for adaptation in order to conduct rigorous testing and meet client needs. An agile attitude—theory based but not theory bound—emphasizes user-centeredness, functionality, customer collaboration, and flexibility. Such an attitude emerges from basic principles of rhetorical theory, such as timing (kairos), user-centeredness (audience), genre, and rhetorical context. Bridging industry and academia, service-learning projects provide a compelling opportunity to experience the tensions and decision making required at the nexus of theory and practice.
SECONDARY SCHOOL INSTRUCTORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) WITH COURSE CONTENT
2012. American Secondary Education, 40(3), 17–33.
This study surveyed instructors in a small central Texas secondary school about the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into curricula. 27 participants’ responded to the research question: How do secondary school instructors perceive their effectiveness at delivering course content and teaching the use of computer technology with more stable technology, increased availability of dedicated pedagogical applications, and the accessibility to efficient technological support? Findings supported similar studies, which show instructors becoming somewhat comfortable in their roles as both technology and content facilitators. This study also indicated, however, that instructors—especially those with 6-19 years of classroom experience—felt they needed more opportunities to learn new technological applications and to teach those applications to their students. Recommendations include increased advocacy by school leaders to provide support for improved instructor ICT training.
THE CYCLE OF OMISSION: OPPRESSIVE AND OPPRESSED GENDER ROLES IN RECENT CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.
2011. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 36(1), 94–107.
Using thematic analysis informed by Bell Hooks’s “power of disbelief,” relational theory, and role model theory, I consider three children’s literature books that were recent nominees for the Texas Library Association’s Bluebonnet Award: Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes, Silk Umbrellas by Carolyn Marsden, and Circle Unbroken by Margot Theis Raven with illustrations by E.B. Lewis. I argue that, though the female main characters seem to be portrayed as autonomous, their actions and reactions to plot developments demonstrate that they hold tightly to traditional female social roles—and that the other characters in the books support and reify this (in)action through their dominance. I discuss implications for teachers, caregivers, and children’s literature authors.
ACCOMMODATING TRADITIONAL AFRICAN VALUES AND GLOBALIZATION: NARRATIVE AS ARGUMENT IN WANGARI MAATHAI'S NOBEL PRIZE LECTURE
2007. Women and Language, 30(2), 12–17.
Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, has transformed Kenyan life through her grass roots activism. Maathai 's 2004 Nobel Peace Prize lecture unites the01y from classical rhetoric (Quintilian) and African tradition (dilemma tales) to bridge the ontological divide that exists between traditional African culture and the globalization. By constructing a narrative of the Green Belt movement in her lecture, MaaJhai calls on world leaders to examine their own environmental values. Maathai 's leadership is a component of change in the social, political, and environmental spheres of African life. Her work illustrates that rhetors can effectively use narrative as an instrument to spread the principles of social movements. Additionally, I explore implications for social movement leaders and rhetorical critics.
BOOK CHAPTERS
ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
2019. In A. Braziller & E. Kleinfeld (Eds.), WOVENText: Georgia Tech’s Bedford Book of Genres (3rd ed.). Plymouth, MI: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Ethical communicators make arguments supported by logical and emotional appeals. However, ethical communication practices begin long before you address an audience. An ethical approach to communication shows that you understand and act on an argument for the right reasons, whether you are researching a topic or deciding which mode to use to communicate your ideas.
CAPSTONE INFLUENCES AND PURPOSES
In Press. In Moore, J., Ketcham, C., and Weaver, T. (Eds). Cultivating capstones: Designing high-quality culminating experiences for student learning. Stylus Publishing
Coauthors: David Lewis and Julie Vale
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
2020
DEVELOPING TECHNOETHICS TO ENGAGE COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION COURSES
Forthcoming. Proceedings of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
FROM HOMO NARRANS TO HOMO ATTENDENS: A REVISION OF THE NARRATIVE PARADIGM
2008. Conference Papers— National Communication Association (1–19). San Diego, California.
A UNIFYING VISION: ARGUMENTATION, VALUES, AND AUDIENCE ADAPTATION
2007. Conference Papers—National Communication Association (1–24). Chicago, Illinois.
BOOK REVIEWS
REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL COMMUNICATION: A GUIDE FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE BY SCOTT A. MOGULL
2020. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
REVIEW OF FROM HYSTERIA TO HORMONES BY AMY KOERBER
2020. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
REVIEW OF COMMUNICATING TO MANAGE HEALTH AND ILLNESS EDITED BY DALE E. BRASHERS AND DAENA J. GOLDSMITH
2012. Technical Communication Quarterly 21, 370-372.
REVIEW OF VIRTUALLY YOU: THE DANGEROUS POWERS OF THE E-PERSONALITY BY ELIAS ABOUJAOUDE
2012. Technical Communication 59, 168.
MANUSCRIPTS IN DEVELOPMENT
PATIENT DECISION AIDS: COMMUNICATION CONTEXTS IN HEALTHCARE
Monograph with chapters on the history of the genre, the role of patient decision aids in shared decision-making, patient and provider literacies, intercultural communication, visual design, and achieving informational balance. Audiences are healthcare professionals, technical communicators, and undergraduate students interested in pursuing those careers. For submission to Routledge Press book series Studies in Technical Communication, Rhetoric, and Culture.