Summary

Writing in the Disciplines (WD)/ Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) (The rhetoric of engineering communication: Using Writing in the Disciplines for authentic student experiences)

This activity discusses the process of integrating engineering writing into two courses, Project Management and Capstone for Civil Engineering Students, at the University of Minnesota.To address accreditation issues raised by the new ABET standards with respect to communication and writing intensive courses, the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota used teaching teams of Engineering Faculty, Writing Faculty, and practicing engineers.

The case will be used to explain how we built successful teaching teams and how we integrated writing and communication into the engineering classroom, helping engineering students become more effective at authentic communication situations, and increasing the quality of engineering assignments for the Project Management and Capstone courses to meet ABET standards.

Target

Activitat adreçada al PDI de la UPC, i particularment al professorat que està impartint o té previst impartir la seva docència en anglès, així com al professorat de la secció d’anglès del departament de Projectes a l’Enginyeria.

This activity is addressed both to Writing and Engineering faculty who are willing to talk about their courses and look for opportunities to bring more writing into their courses.

Faculty should come with 2 copies of their syllabus to share.

Objectives

To introduce cases of Writing in the Disciplines from a collaboration between Rhetoric and Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota

To enable participants to engage in strengthening connections between writing and engineering faculty around communication requirements for international and European engineering accreditation programs.

To define opportunities for joint activities

To build an understanding of key classroom strategies for teaching communication skills from a multidisciplinary perspective

To lay the groundwork for future collaboration between engineering and writing faculty in fulfilling European and International engineering accreditation requirements related to communication.

Contents

This activity is intended to explore opportunities for fruitful cross-disciplinary collaboration in engineering communication. It begins with an overview of writing in the disciplines (WID), with examples of Rhetoric and Engineering instructors sharing the classroom and teaching in teams for Project Management and Capstone courses in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota. The second part is an interactive workshop designed to support cross-disciplinary collaboration in curriculum. Here participants will bring relevant syllabi and work together in groups to discuss issues, strategies, and opportunities for collaboration, as well as preliminary designs for possible joint teaching activities.

Methodology

The first part will be a presentation and Question and Answer in the morning, and in the afternoon, we will host a workshop to look at Engineering classes that might benefit from the WID model and discuss possible options for implementation.

References

Kampf, C., Stefan, H. & Labuz, J. (2004).The Rhetoric of the Capstone Project: Working Towards an Explicit Definition of the Capstone Project Writing Process.” IEEE International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings, Minneapolis, September 2004.

Smith, K. & Kampf, C. (2004). “Developing Writing Assignments and Feedback Strategies for Maximum Effectiveness in Large Classroom Environments.” with Karl Smith. IEEE International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings, Minneapolis, September 2004.

Kampf, C. Eiler, T., Carlson, R., Toglo, Y. (2004). “The Triple Constraint of the Document: Coordinating Concepts in Rhetoric and Project Management for Engineering Students.” IEEE International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings, Minneapolis, September 2004.

Zhu, Wei. (2004). “Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines.” Journal of Second Language Writing Volume 13, Issue 1, March 2004, Pages 29-48.

L’ICE expedirà un certificat d’assistència a les persones participants.