Recycling methods: the value of replicated research in the classroom

Abstract

Reusing datasets and research methods defined from students in prior Digital Humanities (DH) courses is an effective means to quickly introduce new students to methods-driven research projects. The pedagogical strategy along with two specific assignments are explained in the article. The first assignment uses the open source application ImagePlot to visualize 398 comic book covers for color values such as hue and saturation. The second project uses the open source tool MALLET to render topic models of essays published in the online literary journal Brevity. Coursework prepares technical communication students to contend with complexity and indeterminacy in the workplace. Information design is a valuable skill for technical communicators and the strategies outlined here demonstrate to students the importance of a well-defined, or methods-driven approach to collecting, analyzing, and displaying data.