Wrapping Up...

In trying to wrap things up, I came across several more pieces of related literature that seem to be very appropriate to my research design project. One article concerns the development a writing program to teach writing in order teach engineering literacies. The other article is an explanation of the formation and philosophy of a discipline-centered writing center at an engineering college. From both of these, I have gleaned much more specific information on learning styles of students with engineering majors.

For instance, a major discourse convention for the engineering field is the lab report, which is actually “revered” as a genre for writing. Students often have difficulty learning to write a lab report, but the process they go through – working and discussing with their peers and the instructor - is an example of writing-to-learn. Problem-solving skills, which they enjoy using in their field, are adapted for the writing process. Another interesting observation was the amount of notational and verbal languages that engineering students use in their work. These include designs, compositions of images, diagrams, computer languages, symbols, etc. The articles note that to explain a concept, students often draw while talking. and thus, I believe, visual rhetoric seems to have a place in this study as well. These articles provided a much more enriched picture of the students this research study will focus upon, and definitely will help to round out my hypothesis.

I am very excited to see this project come to fruition, and am looking forward to the semester when I can actually implement this study to confirm whether my suppositions could be true. Thank you to my fellow students who provided such helpful comments and direction for me, as well as Dr. Blair for her interesting course and great encouragement this semester!