Integrating effective `writing to communicate' experiences in engineering courses: guidelines and examples

• Autores: S. M. Lord
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 25, no. 1, 2009, págs. 196-204
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Incorporating writing into the curriculum is a challenge for engineering faculty. Constructivist and knowledge transformation frameworks of how writing helps build knowledge suggest that successful writing experiences in engineering are `writing to communicate'. Drawing from that literature, the author advocates five guidelines for integrating effective `writing to communicate' experience into undergraduate engineering courses: authentic investigation, tying the writing to the technical content, an authentic welldefined audience, providing useful practice for an engineering career and not being overly burdensome to the engineering faculty instructor. Specific examples of activities based on these guidelines, from classroom, homework and laboratory activities in sophomore, junior and senior-level classes serve as suggestions for faculty seeking to creatively incorporate writing throughout the engineering curriculum.