Honing the Writing Skills of Engineers
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 122, Issue 3
Abstract
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.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Evans, M. D.(1995). “Student and faculty guide to improved writing.”J. Profl. Issues in Engrg. Educ. and Pract., ASCE, 121(2), 114–121.
2.
Srunk, W. Jr., and White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style, 3rd Ed., Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, N.Y.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Jul 1, 1996
Published in print: Jul 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.