Defining “Research”: Undergraduate Perceptions of Research in a Technical Communication Classroom

Abstract

This article presents data from a two-part study of student perceptions of research. Fifty-one research proposals are analyzed in order to understand perceptions of research, and results from a survey are analyzed to better understand how students both perceive and articulate their understanding of research. The data show that students assign multiple definitions to the concept of research, and suggest that increased attention to clarifying terminology and identifying student perceptions would facilitate better work .

Quantitative Data Analysis—In the Graduate Curriculum

“…Many of the jobs technical communication students perform outside of the university require research skills; thus, we need to teach research methods (Ross, 2014). I hope that claim is accepted as undisputable, but we also need to think deeply about what we mean by research methods (Chong, 2016).…”

Rhetorics of Proposal Writing: Lessons for Pedagogy in Research and Real-World Practice

“…Proposal writing (or grant writing, as it is often termed) is often part of a larger course in technical and professional communication (Kimball, 2017; Ross, 2014; Spilka, 2009). Research on course design finds that there are not many courses solely dedicated to teaching this important area of technical and professional communication (Blankenship, Jones, & Lovett, 2010; Walsh, Bonner, Springer, Lalasz, & Ives, 2013).…”

Preparing technical communication students for workplace practitioner research

“…Table 1 provides an overview of how these two realms of research may differ. Researchers may study communication approaches [7], subject matter [4], [8], and/or their audiences [6], [9] as they apply to an organization's situation.…”