Technical Writing Pedagogy and Empathetic Medical Intervention: Using Design Thinking to Teach Wholistic Patient Care

Abstract

When my nursing students walk into the first day of my Introduction to Technical Writing course at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA), many come with assumptions about the content of the class and its purpose within the nursing curriculum. The infographics, graphs, tables, ordered lists, and data visualizations from their nursing textbooks swirl in their minds as they take their seat. After the standard pleasantries and first day introductions, I project the collage from figure 1 on the main screen to begin addressing my student's assumptions about technical writing.