[ATTW-L] [EXT] Re: STEM Targeted Intro TW Courses?

[Paul Sawyer]

Hello all—

WOW!  The response is overwhelming!  Let me comb through all of the
responses, documents, and advice.

I’m floored by your generosity!  Thank you very much!

-Paul

On Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 11:10 AM Faber, Brenton <bdfaber at wpi.edu> wrote:

> Thanks all for the great contributions and good topic. I've been building
> courses specific to our Life Sciences programs and in 2021 created a
> COVID-19  "Writing in the Life Sciences course." Using journal articles
> published over the first year of the pandemic we examined (published date
> in brackets):
>
>    - the report of the first case of COVID-19 in the United States (Jan
>    2020),
>    - early epidemiological accounts (transmission dynamics) from Wuhan,
>    China (Mar/2020),
>    - reports from front line providers (mostly correspondence)
>    characterizing the virus, examining, aerosol and surface stability,
>    reporting clinical characteristics, describing patient care reports, and
>    offering experimental treatments (Apr-July 2020)
>    - RCTs and preliminary treatment reports (May-September 2020)
>    - Case Reports (July - December)
>
> We were able to simultaneously study the process of science (from
> discovery to treatment) and examine the writing used to develop, evaluate,
> and share new knowledge. It was humbling and illuminating to be able to see
> the process unfold across the articles. Using data from the articles,
> students created their own epidemiological reports, Cochrane-type
> literature reviews, fictional RCTs, and case reports.
>
> In my last set of course evaluations the students said their lives were
> already too COVID focused so this year I'm letting them pick their disease.
>
> If others in this space are interested, I'd be happy to send over a
> syllabus (new or old).
>
> Thanks again for the suggestions and great course material.
>
> -brent
>
>
> Brenton Faber, PhD, NRP
> Professor
> Department of Biomedical Engineering
> Department of Humanities and Arts
> Worcester Polytechnic Institute
>
> Paramedic
> Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad
>
> Founding Editor, *Northern New York Medical Review
> <http://www.nnymedicalreview.org> *
>
> Preceptor, Paramedic Field Internships
> University of Vermont Paramedic Program
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Northcut, Kathryn <
> northcut at mst.edu>
> *Sent:* Sunday, September 25, 2022 9:14 AM
> *To:* psawyer at selu.edu <psawyer at selu.edu>; attw-l at attw.org <
> attw-l at attw.org>
> *Subject:* [EXT] Re: [ATTW-L] STEM Targeted Intro TW Courses?
>
>
> Cagle’s materials were great fun to look over – Thanks!
>
>
>
> TLDR: Following is a recommendation for an edited collection, another
> textbook, an article, and an assignment that adds to Cagle’s suggestions.
>
>
>
> Paul, consider the following book despite the gratuitous self-promotion?
> Many of the names you’ll see in the ATTW list (including Cagle and Katz)
> contributed chapters to it. *Scientific Communication: Practices,
> Theories, and Pedagogies*. Yu & Northcut, 2018. It was written to address
> the kind of question you’re asking, with evidence-based arguments across
> every chapter. Identifying real audiences for STEM student writing emerges
> as a theme.
>
>
>
> Another textbook (besides Katz and Penrose) I find very useful is House et
> al’s *The Engineering Communication Manual*. It helps some folks break
> away from MLA style essays that they may otherwise default to when they
> think of “papers.” Cagle mentioned Wolfe’s book – she also had a great
> article in TCQ titled “How Technical Communication Textbooks Fail
> Engineering Students,” much or all of which applies across sciences as
> well, and which we require graduate teaching assistants to read.
>
>
>
> In various courses at Missouri S&T, we added some additional genres
> including hazard/warning signs, instructions, technical descriptions, and
> process analysis. In courses beyond the service course, white papers and
> specialized reports have been assigned.
>
>
>
> I taught a one-off honors prof & business writing course for STEM majors
> in F21 in which the students had to determine the genre for the response,
> so it departed from the genre-focused approach. We examined a case study of
> an explosion (through documents and a guest speaker who’d been a witness at
> the hearing). The explosion was in a St Louis facility and students were
> asked to “go back in time” and create a text that may have helped to
> prevent the disaster (people were killed and wounded). They could use any
> genre, including a script for a telephone call they’d make or a watercooler
> conversation – any text they thought they could effectively prevent the
> explosion. The students claimed to really loathe the assignment, but the
> evaluations of the course were high, and one student said she changed her
> major to tech com because of that course.
>
>
> Kathy
>
>
>
> *From: *ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Paul Sawyer <
> psawyer at selu.edu>
> *Date: *Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 9:07 PM
> *To: *attw-l at attw.org <attw-l at attw.org>
> *Subject: *[ATTW-L] STEM Targeted Intro TW Courses?
>
> *WARNING:* This message has originated from an External Source. This may
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> System. Please use proper judgment and caution when opening attachments,
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>
> Hello everyone--
>
>
>
> My department is thinking of offering some of our Intro to Technical
> Writing courses targeted specifically to our science-based/STEM majors on
> campus.
>
>
>
> I'm having a hard time finding examples of universities that offer such a
> course.  Does anyone know of/teach such a course at your university?  I'm
> wondering  what assignments would be in such a course?
>
>
>
> Thanks!  I appreciate your help.
>
>
>
> --Paul
>
> --
>
> Paul R. Sawyer, Ph.D.
> Professor of English
> Director, Technical and Professional Writing Program
> Southeastern Louisiana University
> SLU 10861--English Department
> Hammond, LA  70402
>
> Voice:  985 549-5759
> Fax: 985 549-5021
>
-- 
Paul R. Sawyer, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Director, Technical and Professional Writing Program
Southeastern Louisiana University
SLU 10861--English Department
Hammond, LA  70402

Voice:  985 549-5759
Fax: 985 549-5021
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