WIP: Comparing Engineering Faculty’s Perceptions of Undergraduate Student Writing Abilities with Students’ Self-Perceptions

Amy Barton; John Aaron Grimes; Shelly Sanders; Alexis Nordin

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Faculty Development Division Technical Session 3
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41287
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41287
Download Count: 202

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Paper Authors

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Amy Barton Mississippi State University

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Coordinator of the Shackouls Technical Communication Program at Mississippi State University; research interests include engineering ethics, faculty development, writing in the disciplines, professional communication

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John Aaron Grimes Mississippi State University

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Aaron is currently an instructor in the Shackouls Technical Communication Program in Mississippi State University’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. Prior to teaching technical communication, Aaron served as a lecturer in Mississippi State's Department of English. As a lecturer, he also worked in the Quality Enhancement Program as a Writing Coordinator, where he worked with faculty to encourage writing across the curriculum.

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Shelly Sanders Mississippi State University

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Shelly is currently an instructor in the Shackouls Technical Communication Program in Mississippi State University's James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and has taught technical writing as well as various English composition and literature courses at MSU since 2005. She also tutored writing with the English department's Writing Center from its inception in the early 2000's until 2015. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from The University of Alabama and a master's degree in English from Mississippi State University.

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Alexis Nordin Mississippi State University

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Alexis Nordin is currently an instructor in the Shackouls Technical Communication Program in Mississippi State University’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. She has taught technical writing and various other writing- and communication-based courses at MSU since 2004. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Mississippi State University and Louisiana State University and is certified as a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

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Abstract

This Work in Progress Paper compares faculty perceptions of engineering undergraduates’ writing skills to students’ self-perceptions of their writing abilities. While the importance of writing to professional success is widely recognized, many studies have shown that university faculty consistently rate their students’ writing as poor. In engineering education, writing is an essential part of the design process, and incorporating writing into engineering assignments allows faculty to evaluate students’ understanding of course material as well as their writing abilities. At the same time, through the process of submitting formative and/or summative assignments, students also form opinions about their own writing efficacy. This study compares the opinions of both groups—do engineering faculty and students make similar judgments about the quality of students’ writing and the importance of writing in the workplace?

At Mississippi State University, the Shackouls Technical Communication Program distributed similar surveys to engineering faculty and junior- and senior-level engineering students in the spring and summer 2021 semesters. The two groups’ responses for matching questions were then compared. These questions focused on students’ writing ability, level of preparation for workplace writing expectations, and how much of a typical workweek a recent graduate should expect to spend writing. Overall, students’ ratings of themselves were significantly higher than faculty’s, with most students rating their writing as “very good” (33%) or “good” (47%) and most faculty rating their students’ writing as “acceptable” (42%) or “poor” (34%). Students also expressed more confidence about their preparation for workplace writing; 77% agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared, while only 15% of faculty agreed or strongly agreed. One point of consensus was how much time a recent graduate should expect to spend writing; 52% of both groups selected 10-25% of a typical work week.

The importance of this Work in Progress is twofold: 1) to pinpoint where disparities exist and 2) to inspire new research into techniques and strategies that more closely align faculty and student expectations. From a practical pedagogical perspective, more exploration would be useful in how faculty present purpose/expectations for writing assignments, and in what kinds of writing assignments and writing feedback might better prepare students for the writing they will encounter in their various engineering disciplines. We would like our paper to be considered for a lightning round because we are interested in hearing participants’ thoughts on our findings so far and suggestions for future work.

Citation
Format

Barton, A., & Grimes, J. A., & Sanders, S., & Nordin, A. (2022, August), WIP: Comparing Engineering Faculty’s Perceptions of Undergraduate Student Writing Abilities with Students’ Self-Perceptions Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41287

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This Work in Progress Paper compares faculty perceptions of engineering undergraduates’ writing skills to students’ self-perceptions of their writing abilities. While the importance of writing to professional success is widely recognized, many studies have shown that university faculty consistently rate their students’ writing as poor. In engineering education, writing is an essential part of the design process, and incorporating writing into engineering assignments allows faculty to evaluate students’ understanding of course material as well as their writing abilities. At the same time, through the process of submitting formative and/or summative assignments, students also form opinions about their own writing efficacy. This study compares the opinions of both groups—do engineering faculty and students make similar judgments about the quality of students’ writing and the importance of writing in the workplace?

At Mississippi State University, the Shackouls Technical Communication Program distributed similar surveys to engineering faculty and junior- and senior-level engineering students in the spring and summer 2021 semesters. The two groups’ responses for matching questions were then compared. These questions focused on students’ writing ability, level of preparation for workplace writing expectations, and how much of a typical workweek a recent graduate should expect to spend writing. Overall, students’ ratings of themselves were significantly higher than faculty’s, with most students rating their writing as “very good” (33%) or “good” (47%) and most faculty rating their students’ writing as “acceptable” (42%) or “poor” (34%). Students also expressed more confidence about their preparation for workplace writing; 77% agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared, while only 15% of faculty agreed or strongly agreed. One point of consensus was how much time a recent graduate should expect to spend writing; 52% of both groups selected 10-25% of a typical work week.

The importance of this Work in Progress is twofold: 1) to pinpoint where disparities exist and 2) to inspire new research into techniques and strategies that more closely align faculty and student expectations. From a practical pedagogical perspective, more exploration would be useful in how faculty present purpose/expectations for writing assignments, and in what kinds of writing assignments and writing feedback might better prepare students for the writing they will encounter in their various engineering disciplines. We would like our paper to be considered for a lightning round because we are interested in hearing participants’ thoughts on our findings so far and suggestions for future work.


AU  - Amy Barton
AU  - John Aaron Grimes
AU  - Shelly Sanders
AU  - Alexis Nordin
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - WIP: Comparing Engineering Faculty’s Perceptions of Undergraduate Student Writing Abilities with Students’ Self-Perceptions
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41287
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41287
ER  -