Kimberly S. Baker, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor
- Milwaukee WI UNITED STATES
- Humanities, Social Science and Communication
Dr. Kimberly Baker researches the areas of rhetoric, composition, communication theory, composition and critical and analytical thinking.
Education, Licensure and Certification
Ph.D.
English
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2018
M.A.
English
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2012
B.A.
Communication
Marquette University
2001
Biography
Her current research interests include the experience of user experience professionals in workplaces, user experience practices as quality-assurance methods, collaboration in university classrooms, and Milwaukee's Settlement Cookbook and its author Lizzie Kander.
Dr. Baker also holds an undergraduate degree in advertising, and nearly a decade of professional experience in publishing, marketing communications, project management, and trade media relations, including serving several Fortune 500 clients in the construction, industrial, and heavy-industry sectors.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
MSOE CREATE Curriculum Integration Scholar
2021-Present
UW-Milwaukee Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award
2014 - 2015
Affiliations
- Milwaukee Turner Society : Member
- Association for Business Communication : Member
- National Council of Teachers of English : Member
- Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition : Member
- Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication : Member
- Association of Teachers of Technical Writing : Member
- Milwaukee Turners Executive Board: 2019-2022
Social
Event and Speaking Appearances
Constrained by Culture: How Well-Meaning Organizations Minimize User-Experience Research
Louisiana Tech Usability Studies Symposium (LaTUSS), 2019
“Usability Testing as Organizational Ethos Focused on Quality: Case Studies of Workplace Cultures
Association of Business Communicators International Conference (ABC), 2016
Boxed Cake Mix and a Fully Stocked Kitchen: Usability Research Projects Can Help Ease the Classroom-Workplace Transition
Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), 2016
Immigrants, Foodways, and Assimilation: The Settlement Cookbook’s Dual Audiences and Roles
Feminisms and Rhetorics 2015 Conference – Women’s Ways of Making, 2015
Usability Research as Tool to Ease Transition from Classroom to Workplace
Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication Annual Meeting (CPTSC), 2015
Teaching Areas
Technical Communication
Developing and applying effective visual, data-driven strategies and tactics for creating documents and communicating complex information.
Business Communication
Applying industry best practices for developing and creating professional documents and rhetorical strategies for successful workplace communication.
Presentations & Public Speaking
Using strategic content organization, visual rhetoric, persuasion, and storytelling to deliver professional messages through in-person and digital communication.
Communication Theory
Introduction to using theory as a lens to understand the contexts, goals, outcomes, and influences on communication within and across contexts.
Composition
Developing and applying strategies for using writing as a mode of learning in which writing is both process and product, as well as developing applying knowledge of rhetoric to communication contexts and goals.
Research Interests
The Experience of User Experience Professionals in Workplaces
Organizational culture influences and shapes UX work, and UX professionals work within and against rhetorical and operational constraints imposed on them by the culture of their workplaces
Lizzie Kander and Milwaukee's Settlement Cookbook
The Settlement Cookbook played an integral role in helping assimilate immigrant women and girls from Eastern Europe into urban, American ways of cooking and eating through its use as an instructional text in the Milwaukee settlement house movement and community fundraising cookbook during the early 20th century
Relationships and Technology
(In progress) with Dr. Tammy Rice-Bailey and Dr. Jan Fertig, examining the impact of social media in forming and maintaining relationships for college students
Research Grants
MSOE CREATE Institute Curriculum Integration Grant
MSOE CREATE $3000
GS 1002 Technical Writing, TC 342 Professional Presentations
Selected Publications
Introducing a Writing Coach into an MBA Course: Perspectives of Students and Coaches
Journal of Technical Writing and CommunicationRice-Bailey, T., Baker, K.
2016
This article describes an interdisciplinary partnership that resulted in the introduction of a writing coach into an MBA class on critical and analytical thinking. By examining the response to this role by the writing coaches themselves and by the students enrolled in three sections of this new course, this exploratory study endeavors to answer the question: How can a writing coach best support student writing in an MBA course? Major findings are that students predominantly liked receiving written feedback and mini-lectures by the writing coaches, mini-lectures were met with mixed reviews, and there was a strong perception by participants that their writing had improved.
What the Experience of User-Experience Work Within Organizations Can Tell Us About Preparing Students for Rhetorical UX Work, Self-Advocacy and Organizational Culture
Journal of Technical Writing and CommunicationIn progress
