Tutorial on Writing 3 for ME 4001 Introduction

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Tutorial on Writing 3 for ME 4001, Introduction to Engineering Lawrence Cleary Shannon Consortium

Tutorial on Writing 3 for ME 4001, Introduction to Engineering Lawrence Cleary Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, UL

Coursework 3 n The student shall prepare a report on an aspect of the

Coursework 3 n The student shall prepare a report on an aspect of the engineering profession that intrigues / impresses / worries them. They will locate a problem that is specific to that aspect of the profession and prepare a report on how the profession has sought to resolve the issue. The student shall pick the subject area, perform research on the subject and present the work in a report.

Last Time: Information Organization n Cohesion largely depends on repetition and logical order. n

Last Time: Information Organization n Cohesion largely depends on repetition and logical order. n What is the sentence about? n How does theme of the sentence contribute to the paragraph, and does it have a logical relationship to the sentences preceding and following? n How is the information organized? Can you chart it?

Features of Engineers’ Writing n What typifies academic writing? n If you were to

Features of Engineers’ Writing n What typifies academic writing? n If you were to characterise the academic writing done by engineers, by comparison to that done by students in the Humanities, what characteristics most distinguish the two types for you?

4 Features of Engineers’ Writing n Informational density—more content words are packed into the

4 Features of Engineers’ Writing n Informational density—more content words are packed into the clause n Abstraction—turning processes into participants in the process n Technicality—the use of technical vocabulary and using verbs of relational process n Authoritativeness—refraining from the use of first person references or references to his or her mental processes

Information Density n The writing of engineers is lexically dense n “. . .

Information Density n The writing of engineers is lexically dense n “. . . the world is a world of things, rather than of happenings; of product, rather than process; of being rather than becoming” (Halliday 1987, pp. 146 -47). n The style is “associated with carefully planned, formal writing” (Kopple 2003, p. 1).

Do you write like an engineer? n We have asked: “How is the writing

Do you write like an engineer? n We have asked: “How is the writing of engineering students similar or different from other kinds of academic writing, for instance, papers written by students in Humanities? ” n We have compared models of writing from professionals in Engineering to those from professionals in the Humanities and noticed differences n We have compared our own writing to the model Engineering texts.