Rethinking the Evaluation of Writing in Engineering Courses

1 Jason Swarts ([email protected]) is a Ph.D candidate in the Language, Literature & Communication Dept. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Troy, NY 12180 2 Lee Odell ([email protected]) is a professor of composition in the Language, Literature & Communication Dept. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Troy, NY 12180 Abstract – The objective of this paper is to bring about a reevaluation of writing assessment practices in engineering classes. The authors begin by drawing rhetoric (the knowledge base of effective technical communication) and engineering together, explaining how engineering work is rhetorical. From this theoretical vantage point, the authors argue for a change in engineering writing assessment practices. Specifically, they argue for an approach that favors formative assessment (focused on writing comments that lead to both better writing and better engineering) over summative assessment (which sees writing ability as separate from engineering design). The authors continue by revealing a scoring guide for the formative assessment of engineering reports, and detailing the process by which such a scoring guide may be created. Each criterion in the scoring guide is explained in terms of the rhetorical and engineering principles that it simultaneously addresses. Index Terms – Evaluation, Scoring Guide, Writing