Communicating Like Engineers: Using WAC to Improve Technical Students’ Writing and Thinking
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Transcript of Communicating Like Engineers: Using WAC to Improve Technical Students’ Writing and Thinking
Communicating Like Engineers:Using WAC to Improve
Technical Students’ Writing and Thinking
Faculty of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana
Communicating Like Engineers Context: RHIT and Engineering
Communication Across the Curriculum Short presentations: assignment
development, procedure, student reactions, assessment, plans for revision
Discussion and questions
Presenters Ed Wheeler, Electrical
and Computer Engineering
Wayne Padgett, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Anneliese Watt, Humanities and Social Sciences
Richard Layton, Mechanical Engineering
Patsy Brackin, Mechanical Engineering
Julia Williams, Humanities and Social Sciences
Context for Engineering Communication Across
the Curriculum
Julia Williams, HSS
What is WAC? Bi-annual conference Bloomington, Indiana Focuses on Writing Across the Curriculum
efforts National representation Engineers, scientists, mathematicians
participating
Engineering Communication Needs:
• Engineers who think, design, and communicate• Accreditation demands: student learning• Industrial demands: professional engineering
practice• Writing as learning tool: enhanced technical
proficiency and communication ability
Engineering Communication Constraints:
• Crowded engineering curriculum• Writing not integrated with technical content• Student attitudes: more work• Faculty attitudes: more work
Site for exchange and collaboration• Technical faculty• Technical communication faculty
EE 206 Elements of Electrical Engineering:
Writing on a Technical Topic, Guided Peer Review
Ed Wheeler, ECE
Not communicating effectively, particularly in writing, remains the greatest shortcoming of most engineers today.
Norman Augustine, Former Chair and CEO of Martin Marietta Corporation
"By the time I leave office, I want engineering to do a better job of supplying information on which public policy can be based.”
William Wolf, National Academy of Engineering
Paper Assignment for EE 206
Assignment• Initial topic choice
• Peer-revision
• Final draft
Two options for students• Technical or peer audience
• General audience
Technical or Peer Audience Paper assignment
• Write a paper on one or two specific uses of transducers in measurement & control in your discipline.
Objectives• Demonstrate independent learning of new technical
material
• Use of effective graphics where appropriate
General Audience Paper assignment
• Write a paper on some topic partly or wholly within your discipline. Consider your audience to be comprised of generally well informed members of the general public.
Objectives• Accommodate varied audience
• Learn that doing this well is difficult
• Appreciate that the goal is not to “dumb down”
Observations and Outcomes Successful assignment
• Many excellent papers
• Interesting and fun to read
• Students engaged in process
Peer-evaluation forms Burden not too heavy
EC 380 Discrete Time and Continuous Systems:
Literature Search and Oral Report
Wayne Padgett, ECE
Writing in Engineering Courses
- author may wish to remain anonymous
EC380 Course RequirementsEC 380 Discrete Time and Continuous
Systems 4R-0L-4C W, S Pre: EC 300
System properties applied to discrete-time and continuous systems. The z-transform, FIR and IIR filters. Convolution and the Fourier transform in continuous and discrete-time systems. Literature search and oral report.
Traditional Approach Student chooses technical topic Student researches topic (literature search) Student documents research (formal report) Student presents research (oral
presentation) Professor grades report and presentation
Traditional Disadvantages Research is unstructured, sometimes
ineffective Large number of topics Report grading is time-intensive Presentations use large amount of class time Other course assignments may be redundant Students sometimes re-use topics, papers
Alternative Approach Student reads pre-selected articles (one
topic), reads 1 self-selected paper (new topic)
Student analyzes papers for technical level and intended audience
Students research a topic in pairs and give oral presentation
Professor grades analysis and report
Alternative Advantages Student receives specific guidance on
research technique Writing assignment is shorter, and research-
skill oriented Research requirement is less intense, fewer
presentations
Alternative Disadvantages Less depth in research Students still want to re-use topics Some students still find the assignment
redundant Professor schedules assignment timing
instead of student (more structured)
RH 330 Technical Communication:Audience Analysis and
Accommodation
Anneliese Watt, HSS
Audience Analysis in Tech Comm:What We Want--Writing
Students should be able to:• Define their audience• Describe the relevant characteristics of that
audience• Craft a document that adequately
accommodates that audience. Audience Analysis Worksheet (handout)
Audience Analysis in Tech Comm:What We Want--Reading
Students should:• Consider the forum within which the document
is distributed, read, and/or published• Understand who constitutes the target primary
and secondary readers. They should then ask how the above may
have affected the presentation and reception of the material.
Common Student Complaint:
“I don’t understand the article I’m reading.” Why?--you may not be the audience. In doing research for a technical report,
students need to be reminded to consider the audience for the article they are reading, and how that affects the presentation of the material.
They also need to be encouraged to pursue material from a variety of forums.
Example: DVD Articles Handout: DVD articles
• Epinions.com• Scientific American “Ask the Experts” (2
articles)• IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics.
Common topic Differences in audience and purpose Drastically different in strategies of
language, organization, tone, etc.
Regarding DVD Articles, Students Are Asked:
What readers are targeted by this publication?
What can the document tell us about the audience it is intended for?
What elements of the document reflect reader accommodation?
Tech Com Assignment Summary Audience analysis worksheet
• Students analyze their reading• Students prepare for their own writing.
DVD articles as a 1-2 day assignment• Students become more effective researchers
and readers of technical info• Students more successfully accommodate their
own audiences.
ME 406 Control Systems:Laboratory Report
Richard Layton, ME
Writing? In a technical course? Basic needs
• Critical thought about class-related work• Technical coherence in reporting
To meet these needs• Open-ended problems• Writing, writing, writing, writi…
Course attributes ME406 Control Systems, Fall 00
• 61 seniors in 17 teams in 2 sections• Lecture + lab + design• “Jigsaw” structure for lab instruction
Writing assignments by teams• 3 or 4 students per team• Heterogeneous, instructor-assigned• Peer-ratings to address hitchhiking
Team writing assignmentsAssignment
Lab report Revise outline,
in-class Oral presentation
of outline Revised report
Feedback Graded w/ marginal notes Focused mini-lectures on
technical errors/omissions Active listening and
student critique Graded w/ general
comments
Writing goals Report results of lab or design problem
• Many paths to a satisfactory outcome• Discussion, implication, inferences
More than just reporting• Why these deliverables?• Vertical synthesis
Coherence, coherence, coherence
Issues Team writing and editing
• Team commitment• Coherence
Clarity of expectations• “Open-ended” shouldn’t mean “obscure”• Timeline given in advance
Motivate the writing
Mechanical Engineering 450/460/470
Machine Design:Professional Writing Practice
Patsy Brackin, ME
What is Senior Design? Mechanical Engineering 450/460/470 Machine Design Traditional machine design concepts:
fatigue, buckling, use of machine components, etc.
Design project with an industrial sponsor: Sagian, Union Hospital, Neoteric, Caterpillar
Writing Components of ME 460 Team meetings: Agenda and Minutes Weekly progress report memos to instructor Logbook Final design report
Areas for Improvement Logbooks:
• Poor documentation.• Students have difficulty reflecting on their learning.
Design Reports• Inappropriate level of abstraction: either too general or
too detailed• Students ignore guidelines: omit required sections, leave
out supporting materials, etc.• Students don’t believe they should be explicit and direct
about their project: reluctant to answer the question, what is the problem?
Communicating Like Engineers:Using WAC to Improve
Technical Students’ Writing and Thinking
Faculty of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana
Communicating Like Engineers Context: RHIT and Engineering
Communication Across the Curriculum Short presentations: assignment
development, procedure, student reactions, assessment, plans for revision
Discussion and questions
Website for Handouts
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~williaj/wac2001