Portfolio
This page includes a variety of artifacts that I created in the technical communications graduate program at ASU. Developing these artifacts has helped me become proficient with technical communication practices and processes. My development can best be described in the context of program outcomes (or learning objectives), which are outlined within the bullets below:
Rhetorical Knowledge
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Recognize and understand the ways in which genres shape communication
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Understand the importance of user-centered design
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Analyze, articulate and respond to the needs of specific audiences and communication situations
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Apply conventions of genre and form appropriate to specific audiences and contexts
Critical Thinking, Analysis, and Research
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Understand a variety of theoretical approaches to technical communication
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Understand relationships among language, knowledge, and power
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Recognize, analyze, and understand the contexts within which language, information, and knowledge are produced, managed, organized, and disseminated
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Integrate previously held beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge with new information and the ideas of others
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Understand ideological perspectives regarding research methods and research design
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Read, interpret, and evaluate research studies
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Identify and apply appropriate methods for investigating particular research questions
Practices and Processes
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Develop flexible strategies for drafting, revising, and editing
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Demonstrate ability to communicate verbally and visually in multiple genres
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Understand the collaborative and social aspects of research, writing, and design processes
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Demonstrate awareness of community and cultural patterns in communication
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Demonstrate understanding of legal and ethical uses of information and technology
Technology
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Demonstrate a critical perspective of technology, its uses, users, and contexts
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Understand the role of technologies/media in accessing, managing, developing, and communicating information
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Choose appropriate technologies for presenting, organizing, and communicating information for a range of audiences, purposes, and genres
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Demonstrate ability to use a range of technologies for writing, editing, and designing
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Develop flexibility in adapting to new technologies
The metacognitive analysis is a review of the two major types of research branches I learned about during the program: quantitative and qualitative. Within these branches are various methods for collecting data (interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc). This helped me to grasp rhetorical knowledge because it led me to understand the importance of user-centered design. The audience from which data is collected must be taken into account when picking a methodology. Additionally, it enhanced my understanding of research methods and design, and in what circumstances particular methods are most appropriate.
This assignment involved drafting a mock grant proposal that could be presented to a funding agency. This assignment heavily influenced my understanding of rhetorical knowledge - it taught me how to communicate within the confines of a specific genre (proposals). This assignment also helped me to develop technical communication best practices and processes. Peer review was a major component of this assignment, which led me to value the collaborative aspects of technical communication. This assignment was also especially helpful in shifting my perspective about information anxiety. I initially found grant writing to be quite daunting and complex, but I ultimately challenged my anxiety and used this assignment as a learning opportunity.
The UX review assignment challenged me to review an existing technology in terms of its usability. I chose to evaluate a financial management program that I used at my last job, which was dated and cumbersome. This assignment enhanced my rhetorical knowledge by teaching me how to approach a product review, and it also taught me the importance of user-centered design. It also improved my analytical skills because I had to combine my previously held beliefs about the system with my new knowledge of technical communication.
For this assignment, I evaluated the course catalog used by UW medical students. Students relied on this catalog to determine which clinical rotations to sign up for. I was challenged to determine a new design that enhanced usability, which contributed to my expanded rhetorical knowledge. I also had to familiarize myself with Microsoft Excel, which I did not have much experience with. This helped me to become proficient with a software technology that is often used in technical communication. This was another assignment which helped shift my perspective about information anxiety. Spreadsheets were a relatively new software for me, and I was very overwhelmed when I first tried to use it. However, by the end of the assignment I felt quite proficient with Microsoft Excel.
The surveys analysis was a group project that involved collecting data from ASU student. We sought to determine how feelings of connection were impacted during the pandemic, and how remote learning influenced these feelings. In working in a team, this assignment helped me to develop strong practices and processes for collaboration. It also helped me to develop an approach to survey collection and data analysis, both of which are important components of research in technical communication.
For this assignment, I created a mockup for a new website homepage design. This challenged me to consider visual design in terms of optimizing usability, which relates to rhetorical knowledge. I also became familiar with a new technology and a new design tool: Adobe InDesign. Additionally, I was challenged to communicate both verbally and visually, thereby expanding my knowledge of technical communication practices and processes.
This assignment challenged me to consider how to prioritize and structure information in the context of a progress report (memo format). Not only that, but the progress report was in the context of a realistic situation (project budgeting within an organization). This helped me to conceptualize how this genre is used in a professional work environment, thereby building upon my rhetorical knowledge.
This assignment involved creating a blog using a blogging website, which is a genre (and software modality) I had not used before. I had also not read many blogs in the past, so the genre was very unfamiliar to me. In creating my blog, I incorporated elements of visual communication, strengthening my visual technical communication skills as they relate to common practices and processes.
For this assignment, I had to put myself in the user's shoes to consider how instructions would be most helpful for me. This challenged me to think critically about the user journey. My end result was a blend of written and visual communication, which helped bolster my expertise with both written and visual communications practices and processes.
