Sustainable Collaboration

A Co-taught, Client-based Course Sequence Integrating Computer Science and Technical Communication

Authors

  • Rebecca E. Burnett Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Andy Frazee Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Amanda K. Girard Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Liz Hutter University of Dayton
  • Halcyon Lawrence Towson University
  • Olga Menagarishvili Metropolitan State University

Keywords:

Linked Courses, Integrated Courses, Client-based Projects, Computer Science, Technical Communication, Stakeholders, Collaboration,, Interdisciplinarity, Sustainability

Abstract

This case study characterizes a client-based, capstone program integrating computer science (CS) and technical communication (TC). The interdisciplinary CS-TC program began with 50 students and 2 faculty; the current program involves 500–600 students, 8–9 collaborative faculty (half CS and half TC), and a full-time coordinator, and culminates in an end-of-semester public expo for the display and demonstration of student teams’ client-based projects. A summary of the three periods of programmatic development is based on observations and a review of documents related to administration, students, faculty, and clients. The case focuses on issues related to stakeholders, collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and sustainability.

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Author Biographies

Rebecca E. Burnett, Georgia Institute of Technology

Rebecca E. Burnett (PhD Carnegie Mellon) recently retired as Director of Writing and Communication at Georgia Tech, where she held an Endowed Professorship. Her research includes arts and humanities, collaboration, leadership, multimodality, risk, technical communication, and visual rhetoric. She is particularly interested in the engagement, comprehension, and response of public audiences, whether to the arts or to workplace discourse.

Andy Frazee, Georgia Institute of Technology

Andy Frazee (PhD University of Georgia) serves as the Director of Georgia Tech’s Writing and Communication Program (WCP), supporting teaching, research, service, and professional development for 38 Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows and WCP lecturers. In addition to research examining writing program administration, pedagogy, and faculty development, he is also a publishing poet (The Body, The Rooms, Subito Press).

Amanda K. Girard, Georgia Institute of Technology

Amanda K. Girard (PhD Michigan Technological University) works for the Division of Computing Instruction in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. A former Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech, she is currently the Computer Science Junior Design Capstone Course Coordinator. Her current research interests include digital humanities, writing program administration, technical communication, multimodality, and rhetoric.

Liz Hutter, University of Dayton

Liz Hutter (PhD University of Minnesota) is an Assistant Professor at University of Dayton. Her research centers around rhetorical and cultural studies of health and medicine, and her pedagogical interests span technical communication and the medical and health humanities. She is a former Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech and served as a co-coordinator of the computer science-technical communication program.

Halcyon Lawrence, Towson University

Halcyon Lawrence (PhD Illinois Institute of Technology) is an Associate Professor at Towson University. Her research focuses on speech intelligibility and the design of speech interactions for voice technologies, particularly for under-represented user populations. She is a former Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech and served as a co-coordinator of the computer science-technical communication program.

Olga Menagarishvili, Metropolitan State University

Olga Menagarishvili (PhD University of Minnesota) is an Assistant Professor at Metropolitan State University. Her research includes scientific and technical communication, online and blended learning pedagogy, multimodality, rhetoric, and lexicography. She is a former Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech and served as the first coordinator of the computer science-technical communication program.

Cover photo of Programmatic Perspectives 13.2

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Published

2022-12-14

How to Cite

Burnett, R. E., Frazee, A., Girard, A. K., Hutter, L., Lawrence, H., & Menagarishvili, O. (2022). Sustainable Collaboration: A Co-taught, Client-based Course Sequence Integrating Computer Science and Technical Communication. Programmatic Perspectives, 13(2), 11–51. Retrieved from https://programmaticperspectives.cptsc.org/index.php/jpp/article/view/21

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2022): Programmatic Perspectives

Section

Research Articles