… the teaching of report writing in science and engineering through an integrated online learning environment, WRiSE (Write Reports in Science and Engineering … (original) (raw)
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Drury et al., Improving report writing for undergraduate students in engineering through an online learning environment: the case of second year civil engineering Abstract: This paper addresses the ongoing concerns about the discrepancy between engineering students' communication skills and those identified as necessary by government and professional bodies. Although written communication skills are critical for engineering graduates, many students find writing difficult and consider it a low priority, an attitude often reinforced within engineering curricula. Rising to this challenge, a collaborative project between writing specialists, discipline staff and technical and eLearning specialists across two institutions created an online learning environment (WRiSE: Write reports in science and engineering) to improve undergraduate students' report writing skills in science and engineering. Using the case of second year civil engineering students, this paper reports on the design, development, implementation and evaluation of the report writing module in this discipline. Although student performance improved for those students using the module, issues remain about whether students can transfer their online learning to new writing contexts.
An Online Writing Centre for Engineering Students
There are ongoing concerns about the discrepancy between graduate engineering students" communication skills and those identified as necessary by Government and professional bodies. Communication skills are critical for engineering graduates as surveys of actual work practices indicate that engineers spend 40-60% of their time communicating and an increasing amount of their time writing. However, many engineering students find written assessments challenging and although they may well understand that to advance in their profession requires excellent communication skills, both spoken and written, many remain unconvinced and believe that their skills in other areas such as IT or mathematics will be of greater importance upon graduation. This attitude is often indirectly supported within engineering curricula where teaching writing skills is still considered a low priority and presents faculty staff with a number of challenges such as the ability to articulate how they assess student writing, the capacity to address issues of plagiarism and the provision of timely, relevant and appropriate feedback on writing to bring about improvements. An additional challenge is the diversity of the engineering cohort with large numbers of students from non-English speaking backgrounds, both local and international and that commencing engineering students may have had limited practice in extended writing. A new online resource suitable for embedding writing skill development in the engineering curricula is described in this paper. It contains engineering based instructional materials, authentic writing examples, and eLearning feedback options. This online writing centre (iWrite), a collaboration between learning advisors and engineering faculty, can be mapped onto the CDIO Academy stages to develop writing skills across the undergraduate years.
Driving curriculum and technological change to support writing in the engineering disciplines
2013 IEEE 5th Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED), 2013
Written communication skills are essential for engineers in the workplace, yet developing these skills in undergraduate engineering continues to be an issue. Curriculum innovation can be increased through the use of online writing tools that are designed to support integration of written tasks in engineering courses, along with the appropriate leadership communication and integration in the faculty teaching culture. Moreover, research has shown that there is a need to incorporate writing activities to enhance both learning and communication. The overall aim of this project is to create an integration model in collaboration with leadership, learning support and academics at several Australian universities. The integration model is based on a risk communication framework, which will support the use of engineering-specific online writing tools and drive curriculum innovation in undergraduate engineering. To create this model data is being collected from academics and students on use of the online writing tools.
Research in Science & Technological Education, 2020
Background: This article presents the findings of a pilot study introducing students to emerging educational technologies to enhance their physics laboratory learning experiences. This follows a design-based laboratory approach in which the students move from constructing and developing their laboratory reports in a traditional cookbook pen-and-paper method towards design- based labs using cloud applications. Purpose: Google Docs and Sheets, in conjunction with educational add-ons, Doctopus and Goobrics, were introduced to students within an Extended Curriculum Program (ECP) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa, so they could write their physics laboratory report, receive feedback, and view the embedded rubric solely online. Sample: N = 49 students from a first-year ECP in physics at a South African university voluntarily participated in this study. Design and methods: Survey data were gathered through two non-standardized questionnaires, using both open-ended and closed questions, via Google Forms. The paper is framed in relation to three main research questions focusing on digital literacy and expectations, learning and engagement, and perceptions. Google Sheets was the database used for the surveys, in conjunction with Goobrics and Doctopus. Results: The research questions, particularly around learning and engagement, suggest that although challenges remain (as depicted in student perceptions and feedback), there is a clear benefit to introducing digital lab reports, through a scaffolded pathway. Conclusions: The use of the tools emphasises the idea that cloud technology and educational add-ons are not a magic bullet. We also discuss the role of an Academic Developer as a mediator. Moreover, we argue that educational technologies have a critical role to play in fostering and promoting the acquisition of scientific Discourse, but it must never be forgotten that the tools are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end – promoting student learning and preparing the next generation of scientists and scholars, and that serious challenges remain.
WRiSE: writing reports in science and engineering
I was one of the contributors to the Microbiology module on this WRiSe site (and ALTC, now OLT, funded initiative) and a contributor on the precursor writing module "How to write a report in Biology".
There is some concern that engineering students may only be concerned with technical content, and not with the quality of writing. There is also the issue that engineering writing is so different that only engineering lecturers are in the position to teach them better writing skills. This study examines recommendation reports written by Engineering students at a Malaysian university from the aspects of focus, analysis of data, and language for making recommendations. The data are obtained from reports written by Engineering students enrolled in an English for Professional Communication course which requires students to identify educational or physical conditions needing improvement in the university. The students conduct a study to assess the condition and make recommendations based on their findings. The recommendation reports of the Engineering students are compared with reports of students from the Arts faculties to highlight the distinctiveness of reports produced by Engineering students. The findings suggest that the nature of the engineering discipline is manifested in the precision and substance of the recommendation reports produced by the engineering students. The paper ends with a discussion of the contribution of language educators to the enhancement of writing to meet the needs of the engineering profession.
Learning the "write" way in science and engineering
31st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference. Impact on Engineering and Science Education. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.01CH37193), 2001
The educational benefits of adapting a writing approach in the classroom have been widely documented. Writing can serve as a tool to improve the quality of teaching as well as to promote deeper and more meaningful student learning. In this paper we will explore strategies in which writing can be used to enhance student understanding in introductory physics and engineering classrooms. In particular, strategies employed within an introductory physics course for non-majors at American University as well as strategies employed within a freshman introduction to engineering course at the University of Pittsburgh will be described. In both courses, students were asked to prepare and present a professional research paper for a "conference". Highlights of the curriculum developed in each course will be discussed. Through a description of the curricula and strategies developed for use in two very different courses, we hope to provide other science and engineering educators with useful tools to assist them in developing and/or enhancing the use of writing within their own classrooms. Results from feedback questionnaires given to students will also be shared.
The Labwrite Project: Experiences Reforming Lab Report Writing Practice In Undergraduate Lab Courses
2005 Annual Conference Proceedings
Laboratory reports have always been a part of the modern science and engineering curricula. However, it has also often been the least liked part of a students' (and instructors') laboratory experience. Despite research demonstrating the importance of lab reports to the undergraduate science and engineering lab experience, instructors are likely to minimize their use. Lab reports have been replaced with fill in the blank labs, reports that are worth only a token number of points towards a final grade, or excluded altogether. The LabWrite project has been developing online support materials to promote and support undergraduate lab report writing. A NSF-CCLI funded project, LabWrite is a web-based tool containing both static pages and an interactive tutor designed to support the lab report writing experience from before the student enters the lab through reviewing the graded lab report. Integral to LabWrite is a set of training materials for lab instructors, both faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Since 2000, LabWrite materials have been piloted in institutions ranging from Research I universities to community colleges. Our experiences and research have demonstrated the importance of lab reports in undergraduate education but have also pointed up the difficulties in successfully integrating lab reports back into courses.
Writing in science and technology: An analysis of assignments from ten undergraduate courses
English for Specific Purposes, 1989
If academic writing is to be taught successfully, composition teachers must be aware of what students write in the major disciplines. The numerous academic writing task surveys carried out to date have two characteristics: 1) most have used questionnaires, a somewhat unreliable data gathering method; and 2) none have focused on the writing in science and technology, disciplines which attract the majority of foreign students, especially at the undergraduate level. This study classified sixty-one writing assignments from ten undergraduate science and technology courses. The classification was according to task and audience specifications. Most of the sample fell into the Report on a specified participatory experience category, while 25 percent of the sample specified an audience other than the course instructor. All the assignments in the sample were of a highly controlled nature. Pedagogical implications such as forming composition classes exclusively for science and technology majors and "individualizing" assignments within such classes, emphasizing contributory skills such as paraphrase and summary, and using peer critiquing to practice audience expectations are also discussed.