Design: Changing Zeitgeists, Changing Communication

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Design: Changing Zeitgeists, Changing Communication

Philip B. Gallagher

Iowa State University, USA

Abstract. Teaching and learning how to communicate effectively is influenced by the zeitgeist of each new age. During each age, changing ideology, culture, and technology reshape communication and necessitate instructional redesign. An examination of communication instruction over the last half century reveals a trajectory toward designing documents using multiple modes of communication — the written, oral, visual, and electronic forms. This study looks at pedagogical change toward designing these artifacts in technical communication. It examines cultural attitudes affecting teaching practices and shows how communication instruction is trending toward visual, design-based methods for training technical writers. Ultimately, learning a design thinking practice is a worthwhile addition for teaching multimodal communication and document design for the digital era.

Keywords: Design thinking, digital communication, multimodality, pedagogy, technical communication, visual literacy

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