The Nature and Treatment of Professional Engineering Problems—The Technical Writing Teacher's Responsibility

Ben F. Barton University of Michigan–Ann Arbor ; Marthalee S. Barton University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Abstract

Rhetoric teachers often defer responsibility for technical-problem treatment to either the technical student or the technical instructor. But these technical persons are trained largely in academic problems and treatments, which are shown to differ profoundly from their professional counterparts. For engineering students are traditionally trained in a discipline dissociated from a professional base at its very origins, enrolled in a science-oriented curriculum, and taught by technical instructors lacking professional experience. Rhetoric instructors should not, therefore, consider engineering students experts in the articulation and treatment of typical problems addressed by professionals. This paper describes representative student difficulties in the selection and treatment of technical problems in simulated professional reports. Based on results obtained with questionnaires and in-depth interviews, these difficulties are traced to the use of academic materials as sources. Representative case histories are used to illustrate typical student pitfalls in adapting academic source materials. Pedagogical suggestions are offered.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1983-10-01
DOI
10.2190/pkxj-tgff-456b-k6f1
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Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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