Research

I received my Ph.D. in English and Communication from Ohio University. My book, Management Principles and Practices for Technical Communicators, was published in the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication in 2004.

A book chapter, "Cultural Impediments to Understanding: Are They Insurmountable?" serves as the lead essay in Mirel and Spilka's Reshaping Technical Communication (Erlbaum, 2002). Another chapter, co-authored with Brad Mehlenbacher, covers innovative approaches to teaching technical communication based on usability studies. It appears in Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication edited by Bridgeford, Kitalong, and Selfe (Utah State University Press, 2004). Another chapter, "The Effects of Digital Literacy on the Nature of Technical Communication Work," appears in Spilka's Digital Literacy for Technical Communication:  21st Century Theory and Practice with Erlbaum Press in 2010. A fourth chapter, "Designing Usable and Useful Solutions for Complex System," appears in Alber and Still's Usability of Complex Information Systems: Evaluation of User Interaction, Taylor & Francis, 2011. Another chapter, entitled "How Do Technical Communicators Manage Their Projects?" will soon appear in Johnson-Eilola and Selber's Solving Problems in Technical Communication, University of Chicago Press, 2012.

I have published articles on computer and text-related issues in the SIGDOC Journal of Computer Documentation, on integrated online support systems and on audience analysis in the SIGDOC Conference Proceedings, and on management in the Society for Technical Communication's Conference Proceedings. I presented a tutorial on calculating the value added by technical communicators at the 2004 STC Conference in Baltimore. I also co-presented with colleagues Susan Katz and Jason Swarts at the 2007 CPTSC Meeting on "Multi-modal Program Assessment" and at the 2011 CPTSC Meeting on "Three Effective Methods for Improving Collaboration with Industry." I presented at the 2011 ATTW Conference on "The Effects of Social Networking for Technical Communication Practice and Pedagogy."

I am currently working on research in the areas of technical communication management and usability testing, especially as it relates to electronic communication.

home | teaching | research | professional activity | curriculum vitae | ms in tech comm | e-mail