Developing Critical Writing Skills in Engineering and Technology Students

Abstract This study culminated in the development, refinement, and evaluation of a system of writing instruction that allows even instructors without great confidence in their own writing abilities to help students develop better, more effective writing skills and strategies. The system consists of two components and works backwards, starting with teaching students the assessment strategy (rubric) to be used in evaluating their work. Therefore, the first system component or rubric becomes a guide to teach students how to connect their ideas (sentence subjects) in sequence without ambiguity or implied connectivity. The second component of the system consists of written assignments initiated with “work orders” that state specifically what is expected of the student in each paragraph and includes formatting instructions. Finally, the system was designed for use in any technical curriculum by engineering and technology instructors and incorporates research findings and suggestions by four influential professional writing associations: 1) the college teachers of English for Science and Technology (EST), 2) the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Committee on Assessment, 3) the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and 4) Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC).