Dr. Jason Tham's research interests include design thinking, user experience (UX) & usability studies, collaboration, emerging technologies, and technical communication pedagogy. He is an inaugural Outreach & Engagement Faculty Fellow in Engaged Scholarship (2023–2024), sponsored by the TTU Provost's office, and a McNair Scholars + TrUE faculty mentor, supported by TTU Campus Access & Engagement. He serves as Assistant Chair of the English department and works on projects contributing to student recruitment, technology development, and alumni relations. Dr. Tham is most energized by people and ideas that promote equity and inquisivity. 

His current projects include a collaborative writing guide for workplace professionals, a study of collaborative writing in virtual reality environments, a survey of UX of artificial intelligence applications, and a constructive critique of design thinking methodology. He is the incoming editor of Computers and Composition (starting January 2025).

Pronouns: he/they

Ph.D., University of Minnesota (2019)
Website: www.jasontham.com

Books

Tham, J., Howard, T., & Verhulsdonck, G. (2023). UX writing: Designing user-centered content. Routledge.

Moses, J., & Tham, J. (2023). Writing to learn in teams: A collaborative writing playbook for students across the curriculum. Parlor Press.  

Tham, J. (Ed.) (2022). Keywords in design thinking: A lexical primer for technical communicators and designers. WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado.  

Andrews, D., & Tham, J. (2021). Designing technical and professional communication: Strategies for the global community. Routledge/Taylor & Francis. 

Tham, J. (2021). Design thinking in technical communication: Solving problems through making and collaboration. ATTW Book Series. Routledge/Taylor & Francis. 

Moses, J., & Tham, J. (2021). Collaborative writing playbook: An instructor's guide to designing writing projects for student teams. Parlor Press.

Grant Projects

2024–present, “Responsible AI and the Future of Work.” Responsible Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Design Project. National Humanities Center Institute for College/University Faculty. PI: Shan Xu (Texas Tech University). Co-PI: Jason Tham, Bryan Giamza, Yuanlin Zhang, Amy Hodges (UT-Arlington), Timothy Ponce (UT-Arlington), Vassilis Athitsos (UT-Arlington), Lu Tang (Texas A&M), Ruihong Huang (Texas A&M). 

2022–present, “Mapping Identity Development in Doctoral Engineering Students.” National Science Foundation. PI: Jennifer Cross. Co-PIs: Mario Beruvides, Kelli Cargile Cook, Jason Tham. 

2020–2022, “Understanding the Design, Delivery, and Impact of Multimodal Advocacy Projects: A Study of Instructors, Students, and Community Partners in Social Justice Writing Pedagogy.” National Council of Teachers of English. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Emergent Researcher Award. PI: Jason Tham. Co-PI: Jialei Jiang (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). 

2019–2020, “Ideals and Realities: Exploring the Usability of Born-Digital Scholarship.” SIGDOC Career Advancement Research Grant. PI: Jason Tham. Co-PI: Rob Grace.

2019–2020, “Building Digital Literacy through Exploration and Curation.” Research Grant. Council of Programs in Technical & Scientific Communication. PI: Ann Hill Duin (University of Minnesota). Co-PIs: Isabel Pedersen (Ontario Tech), Jason Tham.

Selected Publications

Tham, J., & Grace, R. (2024). Design thinking in localized service-learning: Innovating solutions through empathy, research, and advocacy. In A. Lancaster and C. King (Eds.), Amplifying voices in UX: Balancing design and user needs in technical communication (pp. 21–47). SUNY Press. 

Tham, J., & Hennes, J. (2023). The Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing (GPACW): The history of a cornerstone regional conference and scholarly network for field development, 1997–2019. Computers and Composition, 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2023.102804

Jiang, J., & Tham, J. (2023). Rethinking multimodal community-engaged pedagogy through posthumanist theory. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2023.2253758

Tham, J. (2023). The CCCC Outstanding Dissertation in Technical Communication award, 2004–2022: Doctoral research topics, methods, and disciplinary developments over two decades. Technical Communication Quarterly. DOI: 10.1080/10572252.2023.2229382

Tham, J., & Verhulsdonck, G. (2023). Smart education in smart cities: Implications for networked and pervasive learning. IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, 4(1), 87–95. 

Tham, J. (2022). Instructional design pedagogy in technical and professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 32(4), 327–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2022.2130991 
 
Tham, J., & Jiang, J. (2022). Examining multimodal community-engaged projects for technical and professional communication: Motivation, design, technology, and impact. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 53(2), 128–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816221115141 
 
Tham, J. (2022). Pasts and futures of design thinking: Implications for technical communication. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 65(2), 261–279. 

Verhulsdonck, G., Howard, T., & Tham, J. (2021). Investigating the impact of design thinking, content strategy, and artificial intelligence: A “streams” approach for technical communication and UX. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 51(4), 468–492. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00472816211041951

Tham, J. (2021). Design thinking in first-year composition: Writing social innovation into service-learning pedagogy. Currents in Teaching and Learning, 13(1), 11–24.

Duin, A.H., Tham, J., & Pedersen, I. (2021). The rhetoric, science, and technology of collaboration. In M. Klein (Ed.), Effective teaching of technical communication: Theory, practice, and application (pp. 169–192). Fort Collins/Boulder, CO: The WAC Clearinghouse/University Press of Colorado. http://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/effective/chapter9.pdf

Tham, J. & Grace, W.R. (2020). Reading born-digital scholarship: A study of webtext user experience. Computers and Composition, 58. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102601

Duin, A.H. & Tham, J. (2020). The current state of analytics: Implications for learning management system (LMS) use in writing pedagogy. Computers and Composition, 55. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102544

Tham, J. (2018). Interactivity in an age of immersive media: Seven dimensions for wearable technology, internet of things, and technical communication. Technical Communication, 65(1), 46-65. (Winner of Frank R. Smith Best Article Award)

Teaching

Undergraduate and graduate courses in UX research, information & document design, instructional design, online publishing, web design, interaction design, and digital rhetoric.

Awards & Honors

2024, TTU Arts & Sciences Excellence in Research Award for the Humanities. 

2023–2024, TTU President's Leadership Institute.

2023–2024, TTU Outreach & Engagement Faculty Fellowship for Engaged Scholarship. 

2023, Ellen Nold Award for Outstanding Article in Computers and Composition.

2023, Rudolph J. Joenk Award for Best Paper in the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

2022, Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarship. TTU Teaching Academy. 

2020, Faculty Research Award, Department of English, TTU. 

2020, Hermann's Lecture Series, Invited Speaker, University of Texas at Arlington.

2020, NCTE/CCCC Emergent Researcher Award.

2019, SIGDOC Career Advancement Research Award.

2019, Frank R. Smith Outstanding Article in Technical Communication. Society for Technical Communication.

2019, Research Grant. Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication. 

Service

2024–present, Associate Editor, Computers and Composition: An International Journal. 

2023–present, Assistant Chair, Department of English.

2022–present, Vice President, Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication.

2022–present, Mentor, TTU McNair Scholars Program & Transformative Undergraduate Experiences (TrUE) Program.

2019–present, International Research Partner, Digital Life Institute. Ontario Tech University.

2023–2024, Strategic Enrollment Planning, Online & Off-Site Programs Workgroup. 

2023–2024, Associate Editor, Technical Communication Quarterly.

2022–2024, Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

2020–2023, Book Review Editor, Composition Studies.

2020–present, Faculty Sponsor & Advisor, TTU Society for Technical Communication Student Chapter.

2021–2022, Co-Advisor, Raider UI/UX, a student club for user experience designers and researchers.

2019–present, Editorial Board Member, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy

2019–present, Editorial Board Member, Xchanges: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Technical Communication, Rhetoric, and Writing Across the Curriculum

Associate Professor
Technical Communication & Rhetoric

Email: jason.tham@ttu.edu