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• NMSU
• English Department
• Faculty
• Jennifer Sheppard

Research Interests
My dissertation examined the development of a science-based multimedia web site for middle school students.  During this project I studied both strategies used by communicators for learning technical subject matter and the intellectual challenges of producing digital media faced by developers.  I continue to be interested in workplace communication and multimedia development. 

My current research is focused on issues of development and administration of digital communication resources for technical and professional communication programs. This work examines technical, pedagogical, and institutional challenges of setting up and supporting our department's new Design Center.

In a second ongoing research project I am working collaboratively with another NMSU scholar to investigate computer games as a tool for learning. We are conducting qualitative research on interaction and learning styles of video game players. I am currently co-authoring an article on our assessment methodology.

Recently Taught Courses

• ENGL 218: Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication
• ENGL 318: Advanced Technical and Professional Communication
• ENGL 315: Writing for the Web
• ENGL 478: Document Design
• ENGL 449/549: Web Communication: Design and Development
• ENGL 543/643: Multimedia Theory and Production
• ENGL 578/678: Topics in Technology and Rhetoric: Multimedia Theory and Production
• ENGL 572: Technical Communication Theory and Pedagogy
• ENGL 610: Proseminar in Rhetoric and Professional Communication

Selected Publications

"Multiple Source Research and Persuasive Professional Communication for Nurses." Resources in Technical Communication: Outcomes and Approaches. Cindy Selfe (Ed.). Baywood. Amityville, NY: 2007, 37-61.

Invited Book Review: Communication of Complex Information: User Goals and Information Needs for Dynamic Web Information by Michael J. Albers. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. 263 pages. Appearing in Technical Communication Quarterly 17(1), Spring 2008, 138-142.

"Communities of Practice in New Media Learning Spaces: Negotiating Pedagogy, Disciplinarity, and Sustainability in a Center for New Media Communication Design."
Reading (and Writing) New Media. Jim Kalmbach and Cheryl Ball (Eds.). Hampton Press for New Dimensions in Computes and Composition series. Forthcoming.

"The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production Practices: It's More than Just Technical Skill." Computers and Composition. Forthcoming.

Manuscripts in Development
"Multimedia Composition: The Role of Collaboration and Constraints in the Design of New Media Assignments."

"Digital Games for Learning: Research Assessment Methodologies in a Learning Games Lab," (working title). Co-writing with Barbara Chamberlin.

Professional Statement
My experience teaching composition, technical writing, web design, and speech communication has shown me the value of situated, activity-based learning, as well as the importance of helping students to develop rhetorically-aware, multimodal approaches to communication. No matter what the medium, my primary goal in teaching is always to support students as they try on various perspectives, generate new ideas, and work to consider rhetorical issues that influence how their positions are received by others. Further, I believe that while introducing students to new communication technologies is important, this should always be done to support pedagogical goals rather than for the sake of the technology itself. Without this approach, technology instruction risks being taught as a set of decontextualized skills that are unrelated to the purposes and objectives of a communication course.