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Abstract In this article, we identify eight common error patterns of nascent writers when they attempt to navigate the pathway to scholarly writing. We illustrate each error pattern via examples [...]

Proficiency in technical writing is required of the student or professional engineer throughout his or her career. Technical writing that communicates well depends upon good organization at every level, from the details of grammar to the broad outline of structural headings and a title. Some aspects of organization in technical writing are readily prescribed by rules. Others, involving organization at a higher level, are not. This Technical Note first considers some hindrances to clearly written communication that are often overlooked in the literature. Concerned with the logical flow of ideas and with presentational form, the problems are illustrated by two examples of poor practice and suggestions for remedial action. The subject of the structural outline is then discussed and illustrated by the same examples. The emphasis of the note is that organization in technical writing is vital if the writer is to communicate his or her intended meaning and achieve the required outcome. CE Database subject headings: Writing; Engineers; Engineering profession; Communication.

Abstract This paper describes two models for integrating technical writing with discipline-specific courses through service-learning: a linked course model and a linked project model. Both models allowed students to practice [...]

Abstract A case study detailing one student's involvement with supervisors, coworkers, and patients in a hospital physical therapy unit yields significant information about factors involved in the creation of documents [...]

A substantial writing assignment has been used in an organic chemistry course at Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College. It involves library research, peer review, and assessment and could be adapted to any field of chemistry. Very often student scientific writing is learned only in courses taught by teachers of English language. Developing scientific ideas by writing about a topic is often neglected in beginning science courses. Topics include the purpose of the assignment, student comments and comparison courses, and the grading criteria. Sample paper titles are listed.

Use of writing as an effective learning tool for students learning chemistry is discussed. Students will also develop an essential professional skill. Some strategies used at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, even in high-enrollment general chemistry courses, where microthemes are assigned, are discussed.

A great deal can be done to improve student writing without asking engineering professors to teach writing as a separate subject. This paper explains how to hone writing skills by convincing engineering students to be concerned simultaneously with technical content and the quality of writing. Many engineering courses offer opportunities for students to improve their writing, but the most effective motivation arises from design problems. Experience in several courses over a 10 year period indicates that some simple advice coupled with frequent opportunities to practice can improve writing skills rather easily and quickly. This can be done without trying to teach English or doing extensive editing on reports. Encouraging good writing in engineering courses has been well received by students. They see that it will be valuable after graduation and they appreciate the value of practicing writing skills in a realistic engineering problem-solving environment.

An integrated approach to teaching technical writing requires a unified faculty commitment to improving student writing, student motivation, appropriate writin assignments, strong evaluation standards, and productive instruction techniques Effective technical writing has certain distinguishing qualities: a clearly defined audience and purpose, careful organization and development of ideas, an a concise and accurate style. Students can best develop these qualities when writing assignments and instruction are presented in the realistic context of engineering problem solving. The writers advocate the collaborative development of student writing by both English and engineering faculties. In an effective collaborative program, all engineering instructors stress the importance of writing in engineering practice and in their evaluation of student writing assignments, while using effective teaching strategies like peer and self revie of writing drafts, one-to-one conferencing, and portfolio evaluation.

Taught in a state-of-the-art PC computer lab, technical writing at Eastern Technical High School in Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland, has drawn wide student interest because of its practical applications. [...]

Students of general chemistry can gain writing skills by writing laboratory reports in the format used for journal articles. Forms are easy to grade, but do not help students learn to write. A course at the Rose-Hulman Inst. of Technology, Terre Haute, IN, uses this learning strategy. Students in the course are to learn to write and to write to learn. The also, in the fourth report, focus on composing good figures and on the level of skill needed for writing about critical analysis.

Writing and computing are taught in the chemistry curriculum at the University of Southern Maine as part of the laboratory program. The faculty work toward the objective of graduating seniors who can write with clarity and precision using rules and principles of English grammar. Students must meet certain requirements in increasingly sophisticated assignments in successive courses.

Technical writing and communication as taught in a senior-level chemistry seminar at Missouri Western State College are discussed. The senior seminar requires faculty to guide student research in the literature and in use of databases, to emphasize audience and purpose, to illustrate a synthesis of sources, and to encourage writing as a process. After that faculty must help students to overcome fear of speaking in public, and teaching use of PowerPoint presentation software has proved helpful.

The scientific writing course at California State University, San Marcos helps students develop research skills as well as proposal and technical writing skills by making students design the project they write about. Students must write a research proposal for a project they choose and design using household chemicals and equipment. The instructor evaluates both the writing and the experiment design, given students the opportunity to experience real research in that their projects are self-generated and promoted.

Willamette University offers an integrated laboratory for physical, inorganic, biochemistry and analytical chemistry that includes scientific communication techniques. The program began in 1982 and was revised starting in 1995 to incorporate more modern techniques, such as molecular modeling, and to expand the writing aspects from just composition to informal and formal writing with an emphasis on editing and revision and an introduction to facets of writing individual to specific disciplines.

Separate writing courses offered by language specialists without the benefit of collaboration from their engineering colleagues can do little to improve the ability of engineers to express themselves in writing. The most effective way of dealing with issues of human communication in engineering curriculums is to consciously and deliberately integrate these processes into ongoing engineering courses in collaboration with language specialists. Doing so virtually eliminates the universal timetabling problem of trying to find a slot for yet another course. Putting a focus on human communication in engineering classrooms promotes multidisciplinary interaction among people of diverse backgrounds with various kinds of knowledge and experience, a major objective of the new engineering curriculums.

A new approach to teaching technical writing for physical chemistry experiments using peer review is examined. Results show that peer review teaches students how to review their own work, thus improving the quality of their lab reports. How their progress was evaluated is also explained.

The effectiveness of teaching lab report writing through piecemeal technique and peer review is investigated. Findings show that the students' writing skills were improved with the use of this strategy. The modified lockstep and rotational models of teaching laboratory courses are also discussed.

We have recently added a strong writing component to one of our freshman courses in electrical engineering. The students prepared two kinds of reports--memoranda and formal engineering project reports. Our instructional objectives were to execute well these two forms: to write with a professional tone, and to make good choices about which technical material to include. To meet these objectives, model memos and engineering project reports were developed, lectures about these memos and reports were presented, a Web site for the course was developed, the technical aspects of the reports were graded by a student hourly grader, the writing aspects of the reports were evaluated by a professor, and followup debriefings were conducted at the lecture class meetings. We report on the development process and discuss student response to the course. Index Terms--Electrical engineering education, engineering writing, freshman, project report, technical reports, technical writing, writing.

Examples of familiar grammatical constructions are presented in scientific context with a commentary for each. Had the thoughts been phrased in accordance with the commentaries, they would have been more understandable. English language is the main tool of modern scientific communication and anyone preparing for a career in science should be able to use it well. Topics discussed include Greek words misused in the plural, the use of the reflexive 'myself' for 'me,' transitive verbs that aren't (react), the use of 'data' preceded by 'little' instead of 'few,' dangling participles, and other interesting variations on proper English usage.

A semester-long writing assignment for advanced undergraduate chemistry involves having students trace the foundation, development and application of a particular chemist's research. Students discover the interdependence of scientific discoveries while exploring chemists' motivations and developing library and writing skills. The assignment involves reading the original article and tracing the influences through the references in the article. Students must give an oral presentation and submit a final paper by the end of the course.

The need for scientific literature searching, writing, speaking and career planning skills in science curricula is widely recognized and can be most successfully achieved through a course specifically focused on those skills. Students are better able to develop the skills when presented all together rather than incorporated piecemeal throughout the science courses. A curriculum for a consolidated course is included that has been popular among most science majors.