Best Practices
This research community recognizes that no single assessment model will be appropriate for all circumstances, in all programs, or at all institutions. Our perspective on defining and developing best practices for technical communication program assessment is consistent with diffusion of innovation theory, developed by Rogers in 1962 and validated by thousands of additional studies in multiple disciplines1.
Therefore, the dual roles of this community are both to provide an environment for collaborative research and to offer a mechanism for innovation transfer. That is, this forum will encourage and highlight the progress of cross-institutional work that begins with the NJIT model as but one stimulus and moves towards the eventual adoption of CPTSC Core Competencies.
In Context
At NJIT, we recognize that our assessment model itself represents a transferable technology. Therefore, we have developed a technology transfer model for program assessment that defines the complex processes that bring new technology (such as the Core Competencies) through the innovation process that result in discipline-wide best practices. As illustrated in the figure below, we propose a circular model composed of overlapping stages of development following by the bell-curve shaped technology adoption process²:
Identifying, detailing, and evaluating the core competency model internally brought NJIT through Stages 1, 2, and 3. Through CPTSC grant-supported collaborative work with Texas Tech University, NJIT moved from Stage 4 into the adoption process. The combined core competencies developed by NJIT and TTU in early 2007 are an important milestone for early adoption. Diffusion will continue as additional institutions and graduate programs in technical communications become partners in our collaborative research.
We invite CPTSC members to provide us with their best practices so that we may expand our community.
Suggested Resources
Wang, M., S. Pfleeger, D.M. Adamson, et al. “Technology transfer of federally funded R&D”. Paper presented at the RAND Science and Technology Policy Institute. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2003.
1Rogers, E.M. Diffusion of Innovations. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1962.
2 Nancy W. Coppola, and Norbert Elliot. " A Technology Transfer Model for Program Assessment Technical Communication." Technical Communication. 54.4 (2007): 459-474
