Toward Participatory Civic Engagement: Findings and Implications of a Three-Year Community-Based Research Study

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This article reports on the first stage of a mixed-methods community-based research project involving residents of a socioeconomically challenged neighborhood in Baltimore City, Richnor Springs, and service-learning students in technical and professional communication courses at Loyola University Maryland (Loyola). To measure outcomes, we analyzed student surveys from 80 respondents and critical reflections from two students. We also analyzed interviews from two students and two community members. Findings indicate that there were no statistical mean differences in the educational experiences between service-learning and nonservice-learning students; however, there were significant mean differences in transformational experiences. Findings also indicate that community members responded positively and that stakeholders valued the personal relationships that developed.

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-Impact Civic Engagement: Outcomes of Community-Based Research in Technical Writing Courses

Brizee

Pascual‐Ferrá

Caranante³

2019

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“…Accordingly, usability is best determined in consultation with potential users themselves (Barnum, 2002, 2011; Dumas & Redish, 1999; Johnson, 1998; Nielsen, 1993). More importantly, recent research by Brizee (2014) shows that participatory civic engagement can be a more effective approach to creating effective, accessible, and desirable designs (Scott, 2008; Zachry & Spyridakis, 2016) as the model allows designers to collaborate closely with users. Inspired by Agboka’s (2013b) and St.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usability for Social Justice: Exploring the Implementation of Localization Usability in Global North Technology in the Context of a Global South’s Country

Acharya

2017

As a discipline and a set of practices, technical communication focuses on designing technical products through the effective implementation of usability to facilitate users in performing tasks with speed, accuracy, and satisfaction. This article proposes that designers in the Global North should consider the effective localization usability implementation in their products or systems so that social justice can be promoted in the Global South’s countries that import such products from the Global North. Using a purposeful sampling research method, this article shares findings from a study, emphasizing that technical products developed through participatory localization for usability might be in a better position to be used for promoting social justice and human rights in resource-constrained settings. The article discusses the implications of the findings, suggesting that northern products should be designed according to the usability expectations of local users in the Global South so that the North–South divide can be, at least, narrowed, if not eliminated.

“…(p. 297)Such limitations illustrate the difficulty of integrating civic engagement into college writing courses. More recent publications from Flower (2008), Kahn and Lee (2001), and Brizee (2014) speak to these issues, but more work is needed.…”

Section: Limitations In Civic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Isocrates to Teach Technical Communication and Civic Engagement

Brizee

2015

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Building on work by Dubinsky, Haskins, and Simmons and Grabill, this article explains how a technical communication instructor used Isocrates and informal usability testing to help guide a service-learning project involving the One Laptop Per Child XO-1 notebook. For the project, engineering students received feedback from peers and elementary school teachers to determine the feasibility of using the XO-1 with at-risk children aged 6 to 9. Despite initial positive impressions, the service-learning students discovered that the XO-1 was not suitable in this situation. This article discusses Isocratean theory and how his ideas can inform a pedagogy of civic engagement in technical communication.