Development and Deployment of a Hybrid Technical Communication and Instructional Design Graduate Program Keith B. Hopper

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1 Development and Deployment of a Hybrid Technical Communication and Instructional Design Graduate Program Keith B. Hopper Two ships sailing parallel courses, the professional fields of Technical Communication and Instructional Design share foundations of theory and practice as they inexorably converge in partnership and synergy. Southern Polytechnic State University has initiated an innovative new graduate program blending these disciplines, a master s program in Information and Instructional Design. Based on an established graduate program in Information Design and Communication, the new program shares core courses that build a foundation in technical communication, and then diverges to include core courses in instructional design/instructional technology, with liberal electives allowing students to tailor their studies to fit their career interests. INTRODUCTION Technical Communication (TCOM) and Instructional Design (ID) programs are remarkably similar, manifestly compatible sister fields, and yet seem to be curiously unaware of one another. Both TCOM and ID graduates may find themselves unprepared for workplace expectations in a time of corporate staff trimming coupled with increased work output demands. ID projects involve document design, and while TCOM graduates are proficient in information preparation and presentation, this is not instruction. ID graduates often work in document and website design roles without an instructional component. The fields share research and literature, employ closely related tools and techniques, and enjoy a high degree of employment crossover. STC has a training SIG, its largest. Each field has a robust professional organization and discourse community, while sharing influential theorists and authors. Carliner astutely notes that while both (TCOM and ID) focus on the design of informative materials and both have well-defined processes for doing so, those processes are incomplete (and) the way they are incomplete is compatible with one another. (1) Similarly, Dayton writes that There is presently a convergence of the two complimentary fields in industry, while academe has not yet adapted. Information design and instructional design are manifestly complementary disciplines. (2) Sister Fields Technical Communication: The process of conveying usable information about a specific domain to an intended audience. (Society for Technical Communication) Instructional Technology: The theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) Instructional (Systems) Design: A system of procedures for developing education and training programs in a consistent and reliable fashion(3). (Leading instructional technology graduate programs are beginning to use variations of instructional technology and instructional design as names of graduate programs related to professional instructional development, e.g., University of Georgia and Syracuse University.) Manifest Destiny The similarities in theory, tools and techniques in instructional design and in technical communication projects are striking. Consider the seminal model of instructional design, ADDIE(4), the basis for most instructional design models(5), compared to the well known Hackos(6) model for managing documentation projects: ADDIE model of instructional design Analyze learner characteristics, task to be learned Design develop learning objectives, choose instructional approach Develop create instructional materials Implement deliver instruction Evaluate assess efficacy Hackos model for managing documentation projects Information Planning Content Specification Implementation Production Evaluation Figure 1. ADDIE compared to Hackos model Copyright 2010 Society for Technical Communication 66

2 Note that the influential ID and TCOM project models are made identical by merely reversing the positions of Hackos model steps three (implementation) and four (production). Descriptions of the activities involved in the Hackos model and in her book on user and task analysis(7), such as careful attention to user (learner) characteristics and to application context, are very nearly interchangeable with equivalent steps in instructional design(8, 9). Perhaps best known of the ADDIE model derivatives is the ID model of Dick and Carey(10), and the authors point out that the ID model is not strictly stepwise but recursive. TCOM projects are often similarly cyclical. It seems clear that these model designs from the two fields are the same, although each falls short of the sensible overarching goal of developing products that can readily serve both informational and instructional roles. The Southern Polytechnic Epiphany Southern Polytechnic State University s (SPSU) long established graduate program in Information Design and Communication (formerly Technical Communication) has benefited from a series of instructional designtechnology faculty specialists who discovered or rediscovered(11) a remarkable similarity between graduate programs in the disciplines of TCOM and ID. Dr. Saul Carliner taught in the SPSU TCOM program, followed by Dr. Michael Hughes both highly accomplished and well known in ID and TCOM professional discourse and scholarship. Carliner wrote about the inherent and inevitable TCOM-ID partnership in 2000(12). Hughes proposed placing TCOM in the conceptual framework of the field of performance technology(13), considered the parent field of ID(8, 14). This author followed these visionaries as ID specialist on the SPSU IDC faculty, and set out to explore the potential for a new graduate program spanning TCOM and ID, and aimed at the corporate arena. The new graduate program name would be Information and Instructional Design (IID). Atlanta is a corporate training hub. Located in Atlanta s engineering corridor, SPSU is uniquely positioned and qualified to implement a TCOM-ID amalgam graduate program. The advisory board for the existing IDC program expressed enthusiasm for the venture, considering it a sensible extension to a graduate certificate in ID already offered. SPSU s IDC graduates often work in instructional development and training roles. While there are two well known area graduate programs in instructional technology/instructional design, these tend to primarily serve the needs of K-12 education and there was an apparent gap in serving the area s substantial corporate sector. The program in IID has been developed to meet a conspicuous need for corporate arena professionals developing both informational resources and instructional solutions for adult workers. SPSU IID program graduates will have demonstrated a flexible, highly competitive knowledge and skill set preparing them to serve corporate needs as instructional developers, trainers, and content developers/managers. Student Demand There is a pressing need for graduates holding an amalgam of both TCOM and ID skill sets. These workers will likely be highly flexible, capable of fulfilling a wider range of workplace needs, and employable across both fields. U.S. organizations are spending an estimated $ billion annually on employee learning and development, at a cost per employee of about $1, for about 41 hours of training per employee(15). Moreover, these investments in learning accrue efficiency gains directly due to technology-infused instruction. This hybrid program is in keeping with current industry trends toward developing more generalized information and training employees focusing on return on investment in the workplace. They are sometimes termed workplace learning and performance (WLP) professionals. In each year over the past decade, the WLP field has witnessed increasing investment in employee learning and in the technology used to deliver learning. (15) According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics(16), employment outlook for WLPrelated fields is favorable through 2014: Opportunities should be best for technical writers and those with training in a specialized field Rapid growth and change in the high-technology and electronics industries result in a greater need for people to write users guides, instruction manuals, and training materials. Money Magazine recently ranked the top fifty jobs in America on salary and job prospects ( p50/index.html) and technical writer was ranked thirteenth while curriculum developer was ranked eighteenth. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT The SPSU graduate faculty in IDC began an extended investigation of the new program concept in 2004, eventually reaching consensus on the desirability and workability of the initiative. Program design Copyright 2010 Society for Technical Communication 67

3 fundamentals and operational plans were worked out in consultation with other campus programs that would provide essential new courses, and with the SPSU Graduate Programs Committee. After a three year cycle of design and revision, the new program was approved in concept by the SPSU faculty senate in 2007 and the proposal in final form was approved by the general faculty and SPSU administration in An initial letter of intent for the new program was approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. Exemplary (related and complementary) graduate programs were studied (Boise State University, Mercer University, and Indiana University) and the formal program proposal was refined and ushered through administrative channels, officially approved April The new program was formally announced summer 2009 and began to accept its first students. Program Objectives and Outcomes Four fundamental program objectives guided design and development of the new IID program: 1. Meet the educational requirements of professionals for the design and delivery of informational and instructional products. 2. Create specialized learning opportunities that use best practices in communication and instruction. 3. Provide focused analytic contexts to address audiences and communicative situations. 4. Engage students with the tools and technologies to meet the needs of a variety of learners. Nine specific program outcomes for IID program graduates: 1. Write and edit professional documents demonstrating mastery of grammar, usage, and structure; remove errors and improve readability. 2. Identify, evaluate, and document source material. 3. Use design principles to produce professional quality documents. 4. Use design principles and professional tools to produce communication and instructional graphics in digital media. 5. Demonstrate proficiency with technologies that instructional developers and technical communicators use. 6. Apply project management tools and techniques to professional communication and instructional development needs. 7. Use instructional design models, tools, and techniques to design, develop, integrate, and evaluate instructional media, methods, and systems that integrate research in cognitive psychology and contemporary theories and perspectives of teaching and learning in different modes of delivery for adult learners. 8. Create work products that can be assembled into a professional portfolio. 9. Demonstrate mastery in application, research, or content by successfully completing internship, thesis, or additional coursework. CURRICULUM AND PROGRAM OPERATION DESIGN Curriculum Both IDC and IID students begin with the same core of three IDC courses: Professional Practices of Communication Information Design Foundations of Graphics IID students are also required to take Website Design as a core course and then take four additional IID core courses: Instructional Systems Design Foundations of Instructional Technology Theories of Cognition (new course to be developed by another SPSU program in the School of Arts and Sciences) Educational Psychology The Adult Learner (new course to be developed by another SPSU program in the School of Arts and Sciences) IID students choose twelve additional credits from selected IDC-IID offerings, providing high flexibility to tailor the program to the student s career objectives. Information Design and Communication Course Electives: Applied Graphics I Applied Graphics II Usability Testing Online Documentation International Technical Communication Writing Across Media Professional Oral Presentations Information Architecture Communications Project Management Copyright 2010 Society for Technical Communication 68

4 Information and Instructional Design Course Electives: Performance Technology Foundations of Multimedia Applied Multimedia Online Instructional Development Corporate Applications of Instructional Technology Technology Applications in Teaching and Learning New Course Development Building the new IID program based on an established IDC program proved workable and efficient. As new students in both programs share three initial core courses, all students proceed only having demonstrated proficiency in TCOM fundamentals of technical writing and editing and graphic design. Five new courses have been (or will be) developed: Corporate Applications of Instructional Technology (to be developed and taught by an adjunct instructor) Foundations of Instructional Technology Technology Applications in Teaching and Learning Theories of Cognition (in development by SPSU department psychology professor) Educational Psychology (in development by SPSU department psychology professor) This may be considered remarkably efficient and effectively creates an entirely new graduate program offering with no new full time faculty hires this was a major selling point for SPSU administration and for the University System Board of Regents evaluators. Same Ingredients Different Cake As a few recipe changes may result in markedly different culinary results, orienting program curriculum to address cognition and instructional development yields practitioners with viable skill sets in both TCOM and ID. Other graduate TCOM programs may well find preexisting courses in cognition, educational technology, and other areas within programs at their own institutions. Program Operation The IID program is delivered as a mix of fully online and hybrid (partially online) courses. Students will (eventually) be admitted in cohorts beginning in the fall semesters and will first take the same three core courses currently required of students in the IDC program. IID students may choose one or two internships to substitute for up to two IDC-IID electives in the major. Students able to attend full time may take three courses per semester to finish the program in twenty-one months. As in the existing IDC program, most students will be working professionals taking one or two courses per semester. If they choose to take a course each summer semester, these students will complete the program in about thirty months. The program began to accept applicants immediately and without substantial marketing. A few current students in the IDC program have elected to switch over to the new IID program. But as SPSU continues to offer a graduate certificate in instructional design, the concern that the new program would siphon away current IDC students in numbers has not been seen. PROGRAM STATUS AND FUTURE The dramatic economic downturn experienced nationally is especially problematic in the Atlanta area, and funding for aggressive marketing for the new IID program is not yet available. The intentional program design for students entering in cohorts must necessarily be delayed and coordinated until applications are seen in sufficient numbers. IDC faculty and administration foresaw this awkward period of ramping up a new cohort-based program and deal with it on a case-by-case basis as our student ranks grow. Having established a robust program in IID to complement the older and larger IDC program, a sensible next future step envisioned is to develop a full fledged new program in instructional technology-design, serving corporate needs as does the new IID program. This will require substantial investments in technology and fulltime faculty and must await a more positive economic climate. REFERENCES (1) Carliner, S. "Letter of Support for Southern Polytechnic Program in Information Design and Communication," to A. Gabrielli, Montreal, (2) Dayton, D. "Letter of Support for Southern Polytechnic Program in Information Design and Communication," to A. Gabrielli, Silver Spring, MD, (3) Branch, R. M, and Gustavson, K. L. "What is Instructional Design?," in Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, R. A. Copyright 2010 Society for Technical Communication 69

5 Reiser and J. A. Dempsey, Eds. Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice-Hall, 2002, pp (4) Reiser, R. A. "A History of Instructional Design and Technology," in Instructional Design and Technology, R. A. Reiser and J. V. Dempsey, Eds. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2002, pp (5) Piskurich, G. M. Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right, 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, (6) Hackos, J. T. Managing Your Documentation Projects. New York: J. Wiley, (7) Hackos, J. T. and Redish, J. User and Task Analysis for Interface Design. New York: Wiley, (8) Smith, P. L. and Ragan, T. J. Instructional Design, 3rd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons, (9) Cennamo, K. and Kalk, D. Real World Instructional Design, 1st ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, (10) Dick, W. and Carey, L. The Systematic Design of Instruction, Fifth ed. New York: Addison- Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc., (11) Mehlenbacher, B. "Communication Design and Theories of Learning," in Proceedings of the 26th annual ACM International Conference on Design of Communication Lisbon, Portugal: ACM, (12) Carliner, S. "Different Names, Similar Challenges: What's Behind the Rumored Merger of Instructional Design and Technical Communication?," Performance Improvement, vol. 39, pp. 5-8, (13) Hughes, M. "Mapping Technical Communication to a Human Performance Technology Framework," Technical Communication, vol. 51, pp , (14) Mager,, R. F. and P. Pipe, Analyzing Performance Problems, or, You Really Oughta Wanna: How to Figure Out Why People Aren't Doing What They Should Be, and What to do About it, 3rd ed. Atlanta, GA: Center for Effective Performance, (15) Rivera, R. J. and Paradise, A. "State of the Industry in Leading Enterprises," American Society for Training and Development, Alexandria, VA (16) "Occupational Outlook Handbook," B. O. L. Statistics, Ed.: U.S. Department of Labor, program. His research focus is technology integration in higher education and the medical industry. Keith Hopper Associate Professor Southern Polytechnic State University 1100 S. Marietta Parkway Marietta, Georgia USA Keith Hopper earned his doctorate in instructional technology from Georgia State University after a career as a health professions educator. He is the instructional design-technology specialist for the Southern Polytechnic Information Design and Communication graduate Copyright 2010 Society for Technical Communication 70