Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2003

Teaching and Learning Design Presentations in Engineering

Deanna P. Dannels North Carolina State University

Abstract

In courses within technical disciplines, students are often asked to give oral presentations that simulate a professional context. Yet learning to speak like a professional in this academic context is a process often laden with complications. Using activity theory and situated learning as theoretical frameworks, this article explores the teaching and learning of one of the most common oral genres in technical fields—the design presentation. A study of the teaching and learning of this oral genre in three sequential engineering design courses reveals critical academic and workplace contradictions regarding audience, identity, and structure. Results of this study show that in the teaching and learning of design presentations, audience and identity contradictions were managed by a primary deference to the academic context whereas structural contradictions were addressed by invoking both workplace and academic activity systems.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2003-04-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651902250946
Open Access
Closed
Topics
genre theory multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (13)

  1. Rounsaville et al. (2022)
    Relationality in the Transfer of Writing Knowledge
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Watts (2021)
    Rethinking Graduate School Research Genres: Communicating With Industry, Writin…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Weedon (2020)
    Emotion and the Economy of Genre in a Design Presentation
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Sánchez (2019)
    Trans Students’ Right to Their Own Gender in Professional Communication Courses…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Robles (2018)
    Visualizing Certainty: What the Cultural History of the Gantt Chart Teaches Tec…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 13 →
  1. Hart (2016)
    Learning How to Speak Like a “Native”
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Gaffney (2014)
    Communication Instruction in Landscape Architecture Courses
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Watts et al. (2012)
    Pairing Courses Across the Disciplines
    Written Communication
  4. McNair et al. (2010)
    Activity Theory, Speech Acts, and the ‘‘Doctrine of Infelicity’’: Connecting La…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Taylor et al. (2006)
    Ten Engineers Reading: Disjunctions between Preference and Practice in Civil En…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  6. Taylor (2006)
    Assessment in Client-Based Technical Writing Classes: Evolution of Teacher and …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. Abbott et al. (2005)
    How Academics and Practitioners Evaluate Technical Texts
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  8. Barton (2004)
    Discourse Methods and Critical Practice in Professional Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Cites in this index (13)

  1. Winsor (2001)
    Learning to Do Knowledge Work in Systems of Distributed Cognition
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Dannels (2000)
    Learning to Be Professional
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. WINSOR (1999)
    Genre and Activity Systems
    Written Communication
  4. WINSOR (1998)
    Rhetorical Practices in Technical Work
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. RUSSELL (1997)
    Rethinking Genre in School and Society
    Written Communication
Show all 13 →
  1. BLAKESLEE (1997)
    Activity, Context, Interaction, and Authority
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. FREEDMAN et al. (1996)
    Learning to Write Professionally
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. FREEDMAN et al. (1994)
    Wearing Suits to Class
    Written Communication
  4. HAAS (1994)
    Learning to Read Biology
    Written Communication
  5. McCarthy et al. (1991)
    Boundary Conversations: Conflicting Ways of Knowing in Philosophy and Interdisc…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  6. ANSON et al. (1990)
    Moving Beyond the Academic Community
    Written Communication
  7. WINSOR (1989)
    An Engineer's Writing and the Corporate Construction of Knowledge
    Written Communication
  8. Herrington (1985)
    Writing in Academic Settings: A Study of the Contexts for Writing in Two Colleg…
    Research in the Teaching of English
Also cites 17 works outside this index ↓
  1. Anderson-Rowland, Mary, Maria A. Reyes, and Mary McCartney. “Engineering Recruitment and Retention: A Success…
     ↗
  2. Brennan, Marin. “Job Market Healthy for New Chemistry Graduates.” Chemical and Engineering News 75 (1997): 10.
     ↗
  3. Brown, John Seeley, Allan Collins, and Paul Duguid. “Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning.” Educati…
     ↗
  4. Burke, James D. “The Emergence of Career Wellness Programs.” Chemical and Engineering News 76 (1998): 77-78.
     ↗
  5. 10.1080/03634520109379240
     ↗
  6. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1993.tb01075.x
     ↗
  7. Hunkeler, David, and Julie Sharp. “Assigning Functional Groups: The Influence of Group Size, Academic Record,…
     ↗
  8. Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, Eng.: Camb…
     ↗
  9. Lincoln, Yvonna A., and Egon G. Guba. Naturalistic Inquiry. London: Sage, 1985.
     ↗
  10. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1994.tb00111.x
     ↗
  11. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1994.tb01092.x
     ↗
  12. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1998.tb00338.x
     ↗
  13. Ong, Walter J. Orality & Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1982.
     ↗
  14. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2000.tb00489.x
     ↗
  15. 10.2307/357405
     ↗
  16. 10.1109/47.486046
     ↗
  17. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1998.tb00390.x
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 50 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Written Communication Jan 2026
    Writing Instruction for Adult L2-Learners: A Case Study From Three Swedish Classrooms ↗
    Clara Palm; Ann-Christin Randahl; Liss Kerstin Sylvén
    writing pedagogy genre theory qualitative research multimodality
  2. Written Communication Apr 2025
    Critical Incidents in the Expansive-by-Design Classroom ↗
    Brian Hendrickson; Rebecca Farias; Louis Fusaro
    genre theory literacy studies writing across the curriculum multimodality multilingual writers
  3. Written Communication Apr 2025
    Effects of Online Professional Development on First-Grade Writing Instruction: Coaching plus Manual Improves Teachers’ Implementation, Confidence, and Students’ Writing Quality ↗
    Zoi A. Traga Philippakos; Louis Rocconi; Ashley Voggt
    writing pedagogy genre theory multimodality affect and writing
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2025
    Synthetic Genres: Expert Genres, Non-Specialist Audiences, and Misinformation in the Artificial Intelligence Age ↗
    Brad Mehlenbacher; Ana Patricia Balbon; Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher
    genre theory multimodality artificial intelligence scientific writing multilingual writers
  5. Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2024
    Cultivating Genre Awareness of Speculative Genres: A Case Study of One Queer Latinx Educator’s Narrative Inquiry ↗
    James Joshua Coleman
    genre theory qualitative research multimodality race and writing