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Interventions to help students self-learn to improve their writing to communicate: Technical reports for Professional Communication 113.

Presenter

I am a lecturer and workshop presenter in professional communication and academic literacy. My forte is content development and assessment development in both English and Afrikaans. My professional standing is complimented by specialised knowledge regarding document design, discourse analysis and second language acquisition. I have been teaching Professional Communication to first year engineering students for the past eleven years. And because of my understanding of youth subculture we were able to do constant course enhancement, using the support of a writing lab.

My qualifications started with a Diploma in Medical Technology (CPUT 1986) and a Higher Diploma in Laboratory Management (CPUT 1990). In 2004 I completed a BA degree (UWC) and BA Honours in 2005. Graduated with a MA Social Linguistics in 2009.

Abstract

Professional Communication 113 is a compulsory module for all first year Engineering students. This is a large class of approximately 750 students divided into four groups with only two lecturers presenting the module to a diverse group of students. This module is based on the genre theory and focuses on writing to communicate instead of writing to learn. The difference between the two will be explained during the presentation. It is presented as project subject, therefore, no exam with the technical report produced as the module’s major assessment. The content of the module is set out according to the writing process.  

Hence this presentation emphasises the interventions used to assist students in writing the comprehensive technical report. The conventions of writing, for example coherency, structure and style are presented to the students during the writing process. These are referred to as the first round of interventions. Thereafter the students submit a first draft of the technical report which is assessed intensely, with many comments. The commentary during the assessments and the follow-up writing consultations form the second round of interventions.  Due to the number of students, writing consultations cannot be dealt with by the lecturers only. Thus, a collaboration between the lecturers and the Writing Centre consultants is essential during the second round of interventions. 

It is evident that the students who heed the commentaries and advice given during consultations, show a marked improvement in the scores for the final draft of the report. It was found that the personalised commentary and one-on-one consultation are beneficial to students and aid the fostering of academic resilience.

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