Contextualize Technical Writing Assessment to Better Prepare Students for Workplace Writing: Student-Centered Assessment Instruments

Abstract

To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better teach workplace writing, technical writing teachers also need to contextualize how they assess student writing. To this end, this article examines some of workplaces' best assessment practices and critically integrates them into an introductory technical writing classroom through a method called student-centered assessment instruments. This method engages students, as workplaces engage employees, in the assessment process to identify local requirements for writing tasks. Aligned with theory and practice, this method is not only an effective classroom assessment method, but becomes an integrated part of students' genre-learning process within and beyond the classroom.

Teambuilding, Innovation And The Engineering Communication Interface

“…The need for engineering juniors to plan and to document their planning and their decision making is an ABET requirement and an industry necessity. It is our belief that the teaching and learning of requisite professional communication skills, in particular calling for meetings; preparing meeting agendas; minuting meeting procedures; documenting teamwork decisions; distributing work tasks and setting timelines should be contextualized (Yu, 2008). In our course the teaching of these skills within the engineering multidisciplinary project demonstrates their appropriate uses in various authentic communication situations (Amare and Brammer 2005).…”

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“…writing reports; calling for meetings, preparing meeting agendas and taking, writing and editing minutes; writing and sending formal email messages and letters; giving formal presentations; etc.) out of their relevant contextual settings does not guarantee full student involvement in the learning process and may be futile (Mercer, 2006;Yu, 2008;Chun, 2010). Contextualizing the teaching of these skills opens students" eyes to their proper and appropriate uses in authentic communication situations (Amare and Brammer, 2005;Predmore, 2005).…”

Pedagogical Innovations and Engineering Students’ Perceptions of the Relevance of an English for Engineering Course

“…Team Formation Goal setting, task allocation, team management and communication, meetings and documentation, planning minute-taking; documenting teamwork decisions; distributing work tasks; setting timelines) out of their appropriate settings does not guarantee full student involvement in the learning process and may be ultimately futile (Mercer 2006;Yu 2008;Chun 2010). Contextualizing the teaching of these skills within the engineering multidisciplinary project (EMDP) demonstrates their appropriate uses in authentic communication situations (Amare and Brammer 2005;Predmore 2005;Prescott et al 2011 and.…”