Developing an Integrated Logging Method for Process-Based Assessment and Feedback in Technical Writing

Traditional assessments of technical writing privilege final products or task outcomes and provide limited warrant for predicting writing competence across task types and workplace contexts. This article proposes a methodological shift toward process-based assessment, which evaluates the effectiveness of writers’ strategic actions during text production using observable process indicators and translates that evaluation into individualized, strategy-focused feedback benchmarked against group norms. To address alphabetic bias and genre/context blindness in keystroke logging, the article develops an integrated logging method for analyzing technical writing processes. To demonstrate feasibility and analytic affordances, it presents a case study adapting Perrin’s progression analysis for professional writing: Processes from 24 technical writers were captured and analyzed to generate performance feedback, strategy instruction, and process-based competence measures. By specifying analytic procedures, key process indicators, and principles for inferring writing competence from writing processes, this article advances process-oriented professional writing research and offers a transferable, scalable framework for workplace evaluation.