Engineering Writing for the General Public: A Classroom Approach

Elisa Warford

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Rethinking Engineering Writing
Tagged Division: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 23.526.1 - 23.526.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--19540
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/19540
Download Count: 724

Paper Authors

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Elisa Warford University of Southern California

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Elisa Warford is a senior lecturer in the Engineering Writing Program at the University of Southern California, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in written and oral engineering communication. Her current research interests include the rhetoric of science and portrayals of engineering and technology in American literature. She is also a professional technical editor specializing in engineering writing for academia and industry. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Maryland.

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Abstract

Engineering Writing for the General Public: A Classroom ApproachThe University of ____________________ School of Engineering requires its undergraduates totake a semester-long course, Advanced Engineering Communication, to gain writing and publicspeaking skills. One specific goal of the course is to improve students’ abilities to write for avariety of audiences, including the general public. To this end, all students in the course submitarticles to the Engineering Writing Program’s Illumin magazine, an online periodical whosepurpose is to educate the public on the ways engineering affects our everyday lives. Illumin hasa strong readership, providing students with a real audience to envision and invoke as they write.This paper provides background on Illumin magazine and presents a classroom approachdeveloped by the author for teaching about writing for the general public. The approach centerson research by Jeanne Fahnestock that argues that “transforming” technical information for thepublic often involves a shift in genre, from the forensic, in which facts are established, to theepideictic, in which the subject is praised or celebrated.After a summary of Fahnestock’s work and the ways the author introduces the research in theclassroom, the paper provides suggestions for discussion topics that the research raises.Fahnestock’s findings usually spark debate in the classroom on some of the following topics: • The persuasive nature of science writing that might seem “objective” to students or a general audience; • Ethical issues about reporting findings: strength of claim in scientific reports compared to strength of claim in writing aimed at the general public; • Ethical issues about promoting research in order to attract funding for it.The aim of this classroom approach is to enable students to better understand the rhetorical andethical implications of writing for the general public and apply them to their Illumin articles andtheir own professional writing. The paper concludes with a case study to illustrate one student’simprovement from draft to final submission.Reference[1] Fahnestock, J., “Accommodating Science: The Rhetorical Life of Scientific Facts,” WrittenCommunication, Vol. 3, 1986, pp. 275-296.

Citation
Format

Warford, E. (2013, June), Engineering Writing for the General Public: A Classroom Approach Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19540

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                      Engineering Writing for the General Public:                               A Classroom ApproachThe University of ____________________ School of Engineering requires its undergraduates totake a semester-long course, Advanced Engineering Communication, to gain writing and publicspeaking skills. One specific goal of the course is to improve students’ abilities to write for avariety of audiences, including the general public. To this end, all students in the course submitarticles to the Engineering Writing Program’s Illumin magazine, an online periodical whosepurpose is to educate the public on the ways engineering affects our everyday lives. Illumin hasa strong readership, providing students with a real audience to envision and invoke as they write.This paper provides background on Illumin magazine and presents a classroom approachdeveloped by the author for teaching about writing for the general public. The approach centerson research by Jeanne Fahnestock that argues that “transforming” technical information for thepublic often involves a shift in genre, from the forensic, in which facts are established, to theepideictic, in which the subject is praised or celebrated.After a summary of Fahnestock’s work and the ways the author introduces the research in theclassroom, the paper provides suggestions for discussion topics that the research raises.Fahnestock’s findings usually spark debate in the classroom on some of the following topics:   • The persuasive nature of science writing that might seem “objective” to students or a     general audience;   • Ethical issues about reporting findings: strength of claim in scientific reports compared to     strength of claim in writing aimed at the general public;   • Ethical issues about promoting research in order to attract funding for it.The aim of this classroom approach is to enable students to better understand the rhetorical andethical implications of writing for the general public and apply them to their Illumin articles andtheir own professional writing. The paper concludes with a case study to illustrate one student’simprovement from draft to final submission.Reference[1] Fahnestock, J., “Accommodating Science: The Rhetorical Life of Scientific Facts,” WrittenCommunication, Vol. 3, 1986, pp. 275-296.
AU  - Elisa Warford
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineering Writing for the General Public: A Classroom Approach
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/19540
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--19540
ER  -