About

Stacie Rohrbach is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the MDes, MPS, and MA programs in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. She teaches studio- and seminar-based courses in communication, information, and learning design at all levels of the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs, and regularly advises thesis projects. Her research, which stems from the study of communication, information, and interaction design, focuses on design for learning. Situated in formal and informal learning contexts, her work investigates the design of learning experiences as complex systems, translating abstract information into concrete, experiential forms to foster enjoyment in the learning process and aid understanding. She actively engages with student teams, colleagues, local experts, and project sponsors, applying innovative learning theories to contemporary challenges, including efforts to aid the understanding and treatment of eating disorders. Additionally, she has conducted design-based learning projects supporting financial wellbeing, chronic illness management, environmental mindfulness, middle school math and science concepts, and fundamental communication skills. Her work in design education explores student motivation as a critical factor in creating effective learning experiences, and she is applying her findings to develop interactive assessment tools that enable students and instructors to comment on and track performance over time to support continuous learning. Her recent research has been supported by various organizations including the National Science Foundation and Carnegie Mellon University, and she teaches courses related to her research, such as 'Designing Experiences for Learning,' which has been sponsored by multiple institutions. Prior to her academic career, she worked professionally in print, digital, and physical media, designing identity systems, corporate standards manuals, environmental graphics, interactive websites, and product packaging. She earned a BFA in graphic design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Graphic Design from North Carolina State University. She has contributed to the field through her involvement with professional organizations, serving on the AIGA Design Educators Community steering committee and as a board member for the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, and she currently serves on the editorial board for AIGA Design Educators Community publications.

Research topics

• Computer science
• Multimedia
• Humanities
• Human–computer interaction
• Knowledge management

Selected publications

• Designing Experiences for Learning: Reimagining Design Education with a Focus on Aiding Learning and Understanding

  2025-09-22

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper proposes a pedagogical framework for design education that utilizes learning theories to support students in constructing knowledge, fostering understanding, and applying theory in educational contexts and professional practice. Drawing on a decade of experience teaching a cross-disciplinary course titled Designing Experiences for Learning, the paper examines how structured engagement with learning frameworks enhances students’ ability to design for themselves and their audiences. Through qualitative data collection, including self-assessments, project deliverables, classroom observations, and alumni reflections, the research demonstrates that pedagogy informed by learning theories strengthens students’ theoretical application, collaborative learning, and reflective practice. The paper also explores the broader benefits of this approach for educators and practicing designers while addressing systemic barriers such as limited instructional training, institutional constraints, and misaligned assessment practices. Findings suggest that embedding learning theories within design education can bridge critical gaps between theory and practice, equip educators and students with transferable strategies, and prepare them to tackle the evolving challenges of the 21st century.

  PublisherDOI

• Transition Design: Teaching and Learning

  Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Comunicación · 2019-09-20 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Para el desarrollo del Diseño para la Transición, resulta fundamental su base en la Educación Superior. La base teórica que informa la práctica del Diseño para la Transición se desarrolla a partir de un proceso emergente compuesto de hipótesis, teoría y pruebas en entornos educativos. Estos enfoques, que se centran en abordar desafíos específicos, complejos y basados en la localización, deben adaptarse para abordar la naturaleza de contextos específicos y el aprendizaje variado de las cohortes de alumnos y sus respectivas necesidades. Este documento argumenta la importancia y la integración cuidadosa del Diseño para la Transición en la educación de diseño, e introduce un plan de estudios para estudiantes de diseño de pregrado y doctorado. Describe los métodos y herramientas que se utilizan en nuestra enseñanza, describe los éxitos, identifica los desafíos, presenta ideas para mejorar y propone oportunidades para el desarrollo.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Transition Design: teaching and learning

  Proceedings of DRS · 2018-06-25 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Central to the development of transition design is its foundation in higher education. The theoretical basis that informs the practice of transition design develops from an emergent process comprised of hypotheses, theory, and testing in educational settings. These approaches—which focus on tackling specific, complex, placed-based challenges—must be tailored to address the nature of specific contexts and the varied learning of student cohorts and their respective needs. This paper investigates the value and thoughtful integration of transition design practices into design education and proposes curricula for undergraduate design students. It outlines methods and tools that are utilized in our teaching, describes successes, identifies challenges, presents ideas for improvement, and proposes opportunities for development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Experiential Augmentation

  2018-04-20 · 8 citations

  articleSenior author

  As we move toward commercial usage of ubiquitous computing and augmented reality, it is important to think about how computing should communicate with us when it is distributed in our environment. This paper proposes that qualitative indexical visualizations based on learned understanding of physical phenomena (Experiential Augmentation) can enhance our interaction design language and aid digital interfaces in communicating in a real-world context. We present a study that gathers data on how participants interpret such visualizations, and propose a model with which to analyze their responses. Finally, we also give a set of design recommendations for those interested in creating similar augmentations.

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting Technical Professionals’ Metacognitive Development in Technical Communication through Contrasting Rhetorical Problem Solving

  Technical Communication Quarterly · 2016-08-23 · 7 citations

  article

  This article presents an experimental pedagogical framework for providing technical professionals with practice on writing skills focusing on the development of their metacognitive rhetorical awareness. The article outlines the theoretical foundation that led to the development of the framework, followed by a report of a pilot study involving information technology professionals in a global setting using an online learning environment that was designed based on the framework.

  PublisherDOI

• An analysis of engineering students' use of instructor feedback and an online writing tutorial during drafting and revision

  2015-07-01 · 2 citations

  article

  This study is part of an ongoing research effort to provide every engineering student the opportunity to learn technical communication concepts via an integrated system of learning and feedback tools, including an online technical communication learning resource developed for this population. Students in a junior-level engineering course were presented with two different forms of instructor feedback on their writing tasks: in-line comments embedded in the students' papers, and an “interactive pdf” rubric that included summative feedback based on the in-line comments, as well as hyperlinks that, if clicked, take students directly to pertinent module in our online writing tutorial. Because the online tutorial tracks students' login and access data, we were able to monitor if, whether, and when students were using our online tool during drafting and revision periods. Results indicate that although the interactive pdf increased traffic slightly to the online tutorials (as compared to a previous cohort), students prefer to rely on the instructor's in-line comments as a just-in-time revision strategy.

  PublisherDOI

• Integrated system of learning resources for technical communication: A report on a student survey

  2015-07-01 · 1 citations

  article

  Communication skills are widely recognized as critical to engineers' professional success. However, many engineering programs face logistical realities that hamper their ability to help students become effective technical communicators. This work-in-progress paper reports on a pilot study that examines how engineering students utilize the integrated system of learning resources that surround them. Preliminary findings from a student survey in an Environmental Engineering course are reported. The results suggest a need for further studies on the emotional-motivational dimension of engineering students with regard to their communication skills.

  PublisherDOI

• Practikon: A Mobile-first Practice/Feedback Application to Support the Development of Communication Skills in Technical Subjects

  2015-07-08

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  His disciplinary training includes a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication with an emphasis on technical/professional communication in science-related fields, which is at the core of his teaching and research efforts. In his position at MIT and as a member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Professional Communication Society, he is primarily interested in designing curricula and tools which can help engineers and scientists develop life-

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Designing an online learning environment to support the development of rhetorical skills

  2015-07-01 · 1 citations

  article

  This short paper presents the design of Practikon, an experimental online learning environment, aimed at providing students and professionals, primarily in engineering and technical disciplines, with practice on technical communication skills and rhetorical strategies. The primary focus of this article is on the design and implementation of Practikon's learning activities. The high-level design requirements are presented, followed by an overview of specific design choices. The results of the two exploratory pilot studies are then presented, along with the iterative design changes made based on the findings.

  PublisherDOI

• Designing an engaging digital learning tool: A report on a motivation study and its impact on the design of an online learning tool

  2014-10-01 · 6 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Communication skills are critical to the success of students entering the working world as professional engineers because effective writing underpins many of their duties. Unfortunately, engineering curricula are usually filled with discipline-specific courses, leaving little room for communication-related electives. Some engineering programs have started to integrate communication instruction into their existing curricula. However, subject instructors frequently struggle to teach communication skills in their courses as lessons often extend beyond their areas of expertise, and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs are not available at every school. Our project addresses this problem through the development of an online self-learning resource that incorporates video lessons, self-assessment activities, and hands-on exercises. This paper describes a major challenge that we encountered while testing our online self-learning resource-motivating students to try the tool when they are not required to use it-and how we addressed the problem by conducting a testing exercise of motivation approaches that lead us to modify the ways we engage students in the online self-learning resource.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Molly Steenson

  Carnegie Mellon University

  37 shared

• Suguru Ishizaki

  Carnegie Mellon University

  14 shared

• Marsha C. Lovett

  Carnegie Mellon University

  8 shared

• Andreas Karatsolis

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  8 shared

• Mollie Kaufer

  University of Maryland, College Park

  7 shared

• Necia Werner

  Carnegie Mellon University

  5 shared

• Janel Miller

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  5 shared

• David A. Dzombak

  Carnegie Mellon University

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• National Science Foundation grant
• Qatar National Research Foundation grant
• Fine Foundation grant
• Institute of Education Science grant
• Carnegie Mellon University ProSEED grants