Faculty Research in Technical Communication and Interactive Design

Explore the groundbreaking research being conducted by our dedicated faculty members in the fields of design, technical communication, and social theory. From improving cognitive learning through instructional media to advancing open educational resources and the role of social theory in design education, our faculty's innovative work is shaping the future of education and industry.

Discover how their expertise is contributing to transformative learning experiences and valuable academic knowledge.

Kei Tomita, Ph.D.

Dr. Kei Tomita is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Interactive Design. Her research investigates how the visual design of instructional media can enhance people’s cognitive and affective learning experiences. She studies instructional media because of her belief that media can create personalized learning environments for people with diverse instructional needs.

Publications:
Tomita, K. (2018). Does the visual appeal of instructional media affect learners’ motivation toward learning? TechTrends, 62(1), 103-112.

Tomita, K. (2016). Interaction of a vocabulary quiz with cognitive instructional strategies in first language learning among Japanese undergraduates. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 25(1), 75-100.

Boling, E., Alangari, H., Hajdu, I., Guo, M., Gyabak, K., Khlaif, Z., Kizilboga, R., Tomita, K., Alsaif, M., Bae, H., Ergulec, F., Lachheb, A., Zhu, M., Basdogan, M., Buggs, C., Sari, A., & Techawitthayachinda, R. (2017). Core judgments of instructional designers in practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 30(3), 199-219.

Jonathan Arnett, Ph.D.

Dr. Arnett’s research interests lie in technical communication pedagogy and the intersection of technical communication and open educational resources (OER). Since 2017, Dr. Arnett has presented his research into developing OER and into students’ use of OER at seven international conferences, three national conferences, and two statewide conferences, and on one webinar. Dr. Arnett’s recent publications include peer-reviewed papers in the 2017 and 2018 International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings; two single-authored and six co-authored chapters in Open Technical Communication, an OER that is the primary textbook used in the TCOM 2010 courses at Kennesaw State University; a co-authored, successful $30,000 grant from Affordable Learning Georgia for developing OTC, the grant’s follow-up report, and a subsequent $25,800 “Scaling Up” grant currently under review; and a publicly available 280-page technical report for the Cobb & Douglas Health Department.

Publications:
Reardon, T., Powell, T. M., Arnett, E. J., Logan, M. C., Rice, C., McMurrey, D. (2019). Open Technical Communication (3rd ed.). Kennesaw, GA: Kennesaw State University. open-tc.com

Powell, T., Arnett, E. Jonathan, Logan, M., Race, C., Reardon, T. (2017). Technical Communication. GALILEO Open Learning Materials -- Communication Grants Collections (4th ed., pp. 46). University System of Georgia. https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/communication-collections/4

Arnett, E. J. (2018). If You Build It, Will They Come?: Research into Students’ Use of an Open Educational Resource in Technical Communication. Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference 2018 (pp. 207-214). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Professional Communication Society. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8476855

Bohannon, J. L., Arnett, E. J., Greer, E. (2017). Learning Information Literacy Across the Curriculum (LILAC) and Its Impacts on Student Digital Literacies and Learning Across the Humanities. Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference 2017 (pp. 7 pages). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Professional Communication Society. ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8013935/

Arnett, E. J. (Supporting), Nandan, M. (Principal), Contract, "Cobb & Douglas Health Dept. report", Sponsored by Cobb & Douglas Public Health Department, Local, $3,000.00, Funded. (April 2016 - June 2017).

Michael Lahey, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Lahey is currently working on a research agenda that interrogates the role social theory—specifically cultural value and taste—plays in design education. He believes that incorporating the insights of social theory more firmly into design education practices would better attune designers to the conditions and context of their designs. This, in theory, would create better design experiences. To do this, he is using a mixed methodological approach (ethnographic research and discursive analysis).

Referred Articles:
“Uncovering the importance of soft skills in user interface design-related fields.” (w/ Aaron Ganci) Communication Design: Interdisciplinary and Graphic Design Research. February 2018 (Issue 1-2: 5-20)

“The Framing of Value: Television, user-generated content, and interactive involvement.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. December 2016 (22: 633-646)

“Invisible Actors: Web application programming interfaces, television, and social media.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. August 2016 (22: 426-439)
“Everyday Life as a Text: Soft Control, Television, and Twitter.” Sage Open. February 2016, 6 (1)

Conference Proceedings:
“Design Research and the Borrowing of Methodologies.” AIGA DEC Decipher Conference (Ann Arbor, MI, September 27-30, 2018) (forthcoming)

“Competing Agendas: Applying Actor-Network Theory to Design Education.” AIGA DEC Makers Conference (Indianapolis, IN, June 7-19, 2018) (forthcoming)

“Design as a Form of Soft Control: Television in Digital Spaces.” Design Evolution: Education and Practice (Karachi, Pakistan, February 20-22, 2017) Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and Kennesaw State University, ISBN 978-969-9343-03-2