Michael J. Freeman
Additional papers
A selection of papers I wrote while earning my Master's in Technical Communication and Information Design at Illinois Tech.
Gamification Literature Review
In this literature review of “gamification”, I start by covering the theory side of gamification, focusing on its definition, and also the on-going discussion of its goals and objectives. Then, after I import theories on player/user motivation from other fields in order to bridge the gap from gamification theory to its practice, I review some practical gamification advice and case studies, evaluating them against the theory. Full text…
Alternatives to Email
In this literature review, I detail some of the problems with email as evidence that it is not a universal solution to communication needs. I then explain some of the characteristics of media, as defined in the communication literature, and how those characteristics can be used to match media to communication needs. Full text…
Improving the Comprehensive Editing Skills of Technical Communication Students – A report on the feasibility of a research study
This report examines the feasibility of conducting a research study into using specialized software to aid in teaching comprehensive editing to technical editing students. Full text…
Finding Research Value – the metrics and methods for evaluating research
The value of the research is used in the process of allocating resources. Traditionally, bibliometric methods, such as citation counts or journal impact factors, are used to evaluate the value of research. However, there are concerns of the accuracy and appropriateness of the bibliometrics being used. Most importantly, bibliometric methods do not capture the impact of research on economies and societies on general. In this thesis, I detail some common bibliometric methods—and their problems—after which I describe examples of government evaluation frameworks that include both the impact of research on other research as well as its socio-economic impact. A combination of areas of effect such as is used in those frameworks is likely future of evaluating the value of research. Full text…
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