<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">INTRODUCTION<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10330210" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State of UX in Technical and Professional Communication: Courses, Programs,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Jobs</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">,
G. Getto, J. T. Labriola, and A. Lancaster, Guest Editors<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As the technical and professional communication (TPC) field has evolved in response to broader changes in the world economy, numerous professions have arisen within its ranks that co-exist with the traditional
roles of technical writer and technical editor. These include instructional design, content strategy, and user experience design (UX). Including training in numerous professions within a single college major or program is a unique challenge for TPC. Some programs
have chosen to focus on specific professions, even going so far as to rename their program around that profession. Others have continued to focus broadly on the overall field while updating their curricula as needed to serve students seeking training in a
particular career path.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10306332" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State of UX Pedagogy</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, P. B. Gallagher
and G. Getto<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A considerable amount of scholarship has amassed over the last 20 years regarding the teaching of user experience design (UX), but there has been no systematic attempt to review this literature. Rhetorical theory
provides technical communication literature reviews with keen discourse analysis, and critical thinking offers objectivity to the evaluation. Our review of sources revealed a variety of trends and a remarkably diverse conversation on UX, including various
definitions of UX pedagogy, and a large variety of theoretical orientations, educational models, instructional approaches, industry influences, methods, and ethical concerns. From this diverse corpus, we hazard a unifying definition centered on teaching the
UX process through hands-on approaches such as engaged learning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">RESEARCH ARTICLES<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10280624" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Longitudinal Study of Usability and User Experience in Technical and Professional Communication Research</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">E.
Friess and C. Liles<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Prior studies on the role of usability/UX in TPC have found that usability/UX appears infrequently in TPC research and curriculum requirements. However, usability/UX remains a routinely referenced core identity
of TPC. Our study shows that less than 8% of the total publications in the field are tied to usability/UX, though the percentage has increased in the most recent timeframe (2020-2022). Publications are shifting from research that expands usability/UX knowledge
to research that uses usability/UX to explain TPC phenomena. Additionally, the object of analysis has shifted to process-centric analysis, design thinking has become an increasing component of TPC usability/UX research, and over a quarter of the research on
usability/UX provided did not provide enough methodological description to enable replicability. Although usability/UX has been consistently published in the TPC research journals, the amount of research suggests that usability/UX is not core to TPC’s field
identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10280626" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Finding the Gap: A Comparison of UX Industry Practices and UX Course Outcomes in TPC Programs</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">,
S. J. Cosgrove<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although there is some scholarship addressing competencies required for UX positions as well as some investigation into UX course content within TPC programs, there is still a need for a comparative analysis of
outcomes in UX courses in TPC and industry expectations for UX positions. A qualitative content analysis of UX job advertisements and UX course outcomes shows job ads prioritize on project management including Agile and Scrum, and other skills such as writing,
designing prototypes, software and coding languages, and portfolios. Course outcomes reflect strengths in writing and design, but do not include significant reference to specific concepts or tools. Suggestions for improving TPC/UX courses include diversifying
existing skills and addressing deficient skills in project management and digital literacies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">CASE STUDY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10315014" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What Can Technical and Professional Communication Do for UX Education: A Case Study of a User-Experience
Graduate Certificate</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Q. Zhou and Z. C. Moeggenberg<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Our user experience (UX) graduate certificate is a 16-credit, fully online program that can be completed in nine months. Such programs have sprung up across the academy and industry, but little scholarship has examined
their effectiveness. We conducted 13 semi-structured interviews to examine what draws learners into the program and how it has helped them in their career advancement.<b> </b>We found that a short-term, asynchronous certificate program is effective for novice
learners to get into the field and advance their careers. Our program’s most prominent strengths include its conceptual depth, quality of teaching, and flexible learning.<b> </b>The power of TPC programs’ rhetorical foundation enables them to cultivate UX
leaders and advocates. In turn, UX education helps TPC programs adapt to the changing landscape of higher education.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">TEACHING CASES<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10314838" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Fostering Advocacy, Developing Empathetic UX Bricoleurs: Ongoing Programmatic Assessment and Responsive
Curriculum Design</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">S. J. Kowalewski and B. Williamson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We share our programmatic journey that represents more than a decade of reflection and evolution, culminating in the launch of a re-designed major and a user-experience design minor in a standalone department
at a regional, primarily undergraduate teaching-focused university. Our programmatic identity began to shift toward a designer mindset that embraced three core frames for professional action—information design, problem solving, and civic engagement—and three
complementary design tenets—empathy, advocacy, and bricolage. Our self-study data indicated that our students would benefit from stronger audience awareness and design competencies. We discuss curricular revisions, which include creating a UXD minor. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10275734" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Toward Integrated UX Instruction with Symbiotic Classrooms</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">K.
M. Jacobsen and D. DeVasto<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Preparing students for UX careers requires instruction in several courses in a degree program, but adding courses is a slow process. For this collaboration, we forged a relationship between a lower- and upper-class
course to introduce students to UX early in their program and apply additional UX methods in several. A close reading of test plans, usability reports, and reflection essays from 200-level students provided key insights into the understanding of UX strategies.
Introductory students struggled to make explicit connections between UX strategies and their work but gained UX skills by the end of the project.<b> </b>Students realized many benefits learning about and conducting UX research that helped them become more
empathetic professional writers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br>
</body>
</html>