Associate Professor of Technical Communication at North Carolina State University.
Program Faculty in the Science Technology and Society Program.
Associate Director and Program Faculty in the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media Ph.D. program.
Campus Box 8105
Department of English
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
1.919.515.4115
Jason_Swarts[at]ncsu[dot]edu
Advanced study of usability inspection, inquiry, and testing theories and practices related to instrumental and instructive texts (i.e., computer-related, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, financial, etc.). Practical experience testing a variety of texts using several testing methods, including completion of a substantial, lab-based usability test. For students planning careers in technical communication, human factors, software design, and multimedia design.
Introduction to research and scholarship in professional writing and writing in the workplace. Major theoretical perspectives for studying writing; current issues (such as usability, readability, collaboration, gender, authorship); and various research methods.
Concepts and practices related to multimedia information design, information architectures, human-computer interaction, and genre for complex websites.
A stepwise approach for studying written and spoken data that come from a variety of sources, including: interviews, meetings, instant message transcripts, emails, recordings, notes, and others. Theories of discourse and discourse analysis; study design; sampling; coding and reliability; descriptive statistical analysis; reporting techniques.
Capstone course for M.S. in Technical Communication. Students engage in major semester-long individual project under direction of instructor.
Intensive study of theories, histories, and practices of networked communication. Emergence, development, acceptance, and dissolution of a variety of networks organized around information and communication technologies. Survey of network theory and methods for studying networks, networked communication practices, and their effects on issues such as identity, labor, organization, power, etc. Research/applications project developed in consultation with the instructor.