Technical Communication Quarterly Jun 1999

Using portfolios to evaluate service courses as part of an engineering writing program

Cathie Scott ; Carolyn Plumb University of Washington

Abstract

Assessing the efficacy of technical communication service courses is a complex task, yet it is a task that service course providers should embrace as an opportunity to learn more about student and faculty needs and to update and improve curricula. This assessment has become more immediate for many educators because of ABET 2000 (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), a comprehensive revamping of the way engineering programs are accredited. ABET 2000 criteria require that engineering programs provide evidence of the efficacy of all instruction, including communication. When the new ABET criteria were released, we had already begun a comprehensive evaluation of not only our service courses but also the total writing experience of engineering students at the University of Washington. This paper gives a theoretical rationale for a portfolio evaluation project and describes a directly applicable structure and procedure for such a project.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1999-06-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259909364672
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
assessment portfolios technical communication
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Balzotti et al. (2019)
    Playable Case Studies: A New Educational Genre for Technical Writing Instruction
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (20)

  1. (1990)
    Portfolio Assessment at Alverno College.
  2. Barton James (1997)
    Portfolio Assessment: A Handbook for Educators.
  3. Belanoff Pat (1994)
    New Directions in Portfolio Assessment: Reflective Practice, Critical Theory, and Large‐S…
  4. Belanoff Pat (1991)
    Portfolios: Process and Product.
  5. Beyer Catherine (1992)
    The Freshman/Sophomore Writing Study: 1989–1991
Show all 20 →
  1. Black Lendley C. (1993)
    Making a Difference: Outcomes of a Decade of Assessment in Higher Education.
  2. Burnham Chris (1996)
    GenEd Writing Program Outcomes Assessment Report: ENGL 111G.
    Memorandum to Reed Dasenbrock
  3. Camp Roberta (1992)
    Validating Holistic Scoring for Writing Assessment.
  4. Camp Roberta (1991)
    Portfolios: Process and Product.
  5. Elbow Peter (1991)
    Portfolios: Process and Product.
  6. Faigley Lester (1985)
    Assessing Writers’ Knowledge and Processes of Composing.
  7. Gill Kent (1993)
    Process and Portfolios in Writing Instruction
  8. 10.2307/358837
     ↗
  9. Hewitt Geof (1993)
    Teachers and Writers
  10. Larson Richard L. (1991)
    Portfolios: Process and Product.
  11. Lovitt Carl R. (1994)
    New Directions in Portfolio Assessment: Reflective Practice, Critical Theory, and Large‐S…
  12. Murphy Sandra (1991)
    Writing Portfolios: A Bridge from Teaching to Assessment.
  13. Russell David (1995)
    10.1080/00098655.1995.9957242
    Clearing House  ↗
  14. White Edward M. (1994)
    Teaching and Assessing Writing.
  15. Witte Stephen P. (1983)
    Evaluating College Writing Programs.
CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Jun 2024
    Integrating Professional Preparedness ePortfolios Within an Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum ↗
    Julie Dyke Ford; Destiny Crawford
    teacher development assessment portfolios technical communication
  2. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  3. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Dec 2019
    Eportfolios on the Job: The Use of Assessment Eportfolios in the Business and Technical Communication Job Market ↗
    Ashley Clayson
    writing pedagogy assessment portfolios technical communication labor and working conditions
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2017
    Assessing Multimodal Literacy in the Online Technical Communication Classroom ↗
    Tiffany Bourelle; Andrew Bourelle; Stephanie Spong; Brian Hendrickson
    genre theory first-year composition writing pedagogy teacher development assessment portfolios technical communication multimodality literacy studies
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2013
    Creating Professional ePortfolios in Technical Writing ↗
    Florence Elizabeth Bacabac
    writing pedagogy assessment portfolios technical communication labor and working conditions literacy studies