ASU offers a BS and a BAS in Technical Communication. The BS is offered both through ASUOnline and face-to-face on the Polytechnic campus. We also offer an undergraduate certificate in Technical Communication that is available to all admitted regular undergraduate or non-degree seeking students at ASU.
In the Technical Communication BS program, students learn how to write, design, produce, and manage information for a variety of audiences, using a range of traditional and emerging technologies. Courses focus on principles and hands-on application, and are designed to help students build their problem-solving, writing, editing, and design abilities. The BS in technical communication is the only undergraduate technical communication degree program available in the state of Arizona.
The user experience (UX) concentration is designed to provide technical communication majors with an interdisciplinary foundation in communication, research and design that is central to the rapidly growing area of UX. The concentration provides students with a conceptual understanding and applied skills in methods of gathering user information, analyzing data and communicating research findings to stakeholders.
The data visualization concentration in the BS program in technical communication prepares students for the innovative work of collecting, processing and visualizing data in clear, accurate and dynamic ways to a range of audiences. Students learn how to structure, model, clean and correlate data. They learn myriad types of data visualizations, how to develop and refine visualizations using a range of software, how to read and develop analytics dashboards, and how to communicate data-driven recommendations and findings.
Technical communication concerns communicating about, with and on technology. Social media is a rapidly developing aspect of the technology landscape. Thus, this social media management concentration in the BA program in technical communication concerns the management, history, theory, culture, practice and ethics of social media. While the technical communication major gives students a wide look at how professional technical communicators do many types of work inside and outside of organizations, this concentration hones in on social media creation as a specific type of technical communication work.
The Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in technical communication is a flexible degree plan designed specifically for students who have earned an AAS from a regionally accredited institution. This major combines the technical experience gained in the student's associate degree program with a broader education of skills in management, leadership, critical thinking and communication.