Activity Theory: A Versatile Framework for Workplace Research  

During the past decade activity theory has attracted a small but influential group of researchers in two fields that contribute to theory and research in technical communication: human-computer interaction and composition studies. In my STC-sponsored research into electronic editing in technical communication, I am applying activity theory to provide a coherent explanatory perspective on the findings of the qualitative portion of my study. This paper provides a brief introduction to activity theory and applies its analytical framework to help make sense of the qualitative data I gathered on electronic editing practices and attitudes in three different technical communication workplaces.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Rhetoric>Theory>Activity Theory

Bringing Practitioners into Programs

Four presentations about how to connect academic programs with workplace practitioners in technical communication.

Barker, Thomas, David Dayton, Elizabeth O. (Betsy) Smith and Tracy Bridgeford. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Collaboration>Workplace

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: A Model of User-centered Technology Adoption    

This article connects the research into electronic editing reported by the author in two previous articles to a well-established theory of innovation adoption and diffusion. Everett M. Rogers's theory is first summarized, with emphasis on the perceived characteristics of innovations central to the innovation-decision process. The three most important of these categories for organizing personal judgments about an innovation are used to develop a model of the innovation-decision process with regard to electronic editing in technical communication. The central role of reinvention in the gradual, erratic diffusion of diverse e-editing practices in technical communication is discussed. The author explains and advocates a user-centered ethic of technology adoption, a perspective that values the agency of workplace communities in selectively adopting and reinventing innovations to support the work they do while preserving or enhancing their quality of life on the job.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: A Survey of Practices and Attitudes    

Presents results of a sample survey on why, how, and to what extent technical communicators use computers to edit. Suggests that electronic editing is becoming a common editing mode.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Editing>TC

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: Different Strokes for Different Folks  

The author conducted a multi-modal study of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes among technical communicators. Data were gathered from focus groups and face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as from email discussions and responses to open-ended questions on a Web-based survey. Observations based on a preliminary analysis of this data will be presented and discussed.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: The Compelling Logics of Local Contexts    

Reports a qualitative study of e-editing practices and attitudes in specific workplace contexts. Sheds light on how specific workplace contexts influence perceptions and interpretations of e-editing's benefits and drawbacks.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing: Results of a Dual-Mode Survey  

The preliminary results from an STC-sponsored survey of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes will be presented. In addition to a full-scale survey of a random sample of STC members, the research included a pilot survey administered on the World-Wide Web and a pretest using email software that automates the survey administration process. The potential advantages and problems associated with these innovative survey methods will be discussed.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online

The Emergence and Evolution of a Research Project  

Research never goes exactly according to plan; nor should we expect it to because research is a rhetorically situated activity. This paper illustrates this truism by providing a brief summary of the author’s experiences in designing, proposing, re-designing, and carrying out an investigation into electronic editing using both quantitative survey and qualitative methods.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Research>Rhetoric

Evaluating Environmental Impact Statements as Communicative Action    

An environmental impact statement (EIS) is supposed to ensure that a government agency thoroughly evaluates a project's impacts, studies feasible alternatives, and gives all stakeholders an active role in project-related decisions. Previous rhetorical studies of the EIS describe a failed or subversive genre routinely used to advance the strategic aims of an agency seeking to implement a project despite significant opposition. This article contends that an EIS motivated by a genuinely persuasive purpose can serve as the discursive focus of democratic decision making about major projects and substantially achieve Habermas's norms of communicative action. This may happen, for example, when a local transportation agency develops an EIS for a federal transportation agency. To illustrate this possibility, two EISs involving distinct federal-local relationships in Puerto Rico are evaluated using criteria proposed by John Forester for investigating the degree to which public decision-making processes fulfill Habermas's norms of communicative action.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Communication>Environmental>Government

Report of the STC Education Task Force: Considering the Current and Future Role of STC in its Mission to Educate its Members  

To date, STC has not been very aggressive or innovative in terms of electronic delivery of educational content to our members or others in the profession. Aside from telephone seminars/Webinars and the online availability of articles from Intercom and the journal, the Society has largely ignored the methods that its members, their companies, and other professional organizations are using to deliver content to stakeholders. Because only a fraction of the membership attends the annual conference and regional/chapter conferences, and because the Society is attempting to reach out to members of the profession outside North America, it is imperative that STC pursue other means of offering educational opportunities. By truly leveraging the power of the Web and other emerging technologies, STC can address a worldwide audience and provide significant educational offerings to members and prospective members alike.

Barnum, Carol M., Saul Carliner, David Dayton, Lynn Harris, George F. Hayhoe, Bill Horton, Kathryn Northcut, Makarand Pandit, Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish and Alison Reynolds. STC (2006). Articles>Education>Reports>STC

Results of a Survey of ATTW Members, 2003    

This article presents the results of an April 2003 electronic survey of ATTW members. Results and interpretations are categorized as follows: a professional profile of respondents; member observations about ATTW and its activities (member participation, appraisal of benefits, and preferred topics for TCQ); and current issues and views of the field's future.

Dayton, David and Stephen A. Bernhardt. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>TC>Academic>Surveys

The Technical Communication Knowledge Portal

The STC web-based knowledge portal will make accessible both broad and deep information about the practice of technical communication. It is intended to be the first step in defining a body of knowledge (BOK) for technical communication. The draft site map displayed at the 2008 Summit as “the wall” is a way of organizing the domains of knowledge, skills, and concepts necessary for the practice. The final version of the map will be the initial framework for the knowledge portal.

Dayton, David, Hillary Hart, Michael A. Hughes and Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish. STC Proceedings (2008). Presentations>TC>Professionalism>Body of Knowledge

The Future of Technical Communication According to Those Who Teach It  

What do those who teach technical communication think about the present state of the field? How do they envision its future? This article answers those and related questions by presenting results from a survey of technical communication teachers in higher education. The Web-delivered survey was administered in 2003 by the author in collaboration with Stephen Bernhardt (University of Delaware). The data we analyzed came from 228 members of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW), almost half of the organization's members. Among the respondents were 185 teaching faculty. These teachers' diverse views about the future of technical communication reflect a fundamental fault line within the academic sphere of our discipline.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>TC

Usability Testing in Academic Programs: A Report from Five Universities  

This paper reports on usability testing within five leading academic programs in technical communication. The authors give some background on usability testing at their respective institutions, describe their facilities, and briefly relate how their programs in technical communication incorporate usability testing into teaching, research, and consulting.

Dayton, David, Susan Feinberg, Roger Grice, Tharon Howard and Judith A. Ramey. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing

The Impact of Agile on User-Centered Design    

Discusses the impact of an agile software development process on usability testing. Reports opinions about usability testing within a company before and after a change to agile. Presents strategies to incorporate usability testing into agile product development.

Dayton, David and Carol S. Barnum. Technical Communication Online (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Collaboration>Agile