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Comparison of Undergraduate Student Writing in Engineering Disciplines at Campuses with Varying Demographics

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

LEES 6: Writing & Communication

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41302

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/41302

Download Count

226

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Paper Authors

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Immanuel Edinbarough The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

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Immanuel A. Edinbarough received his B.Sc. (Applied Sciences) degree from PSG College of Technology, University of Madras, India, his B.E.. (M.E.) degree from the Institution of Engineers, India, M.E. (Production Engineering) degree from PSG College of Technology, Bharathiar Univesrity, India and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Bharathiar University, India. He is currently a professor and Director of Engineering Technology at The University of Texas Rio Grande valley (UTRGV). Prior to joining the faculty at the legacy institution, The University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB), he was a visiting professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Also, an Associate Professor of Production Engineering Technology at PSG College of Technology Bharathiar University, India, where he served as the Director of Computer Vision Laboratory and a Captain of the National Cadet Corps – Engineering Division. He has over 30 years of teaching and research experience in manufacturing/mechanical engineering and engineering technology. He currently teaches in the areas of CAD/CAM/CIM, Robotics & Automation, Product and Process Design, Materials and Manufacturing processes, Machine Design, Renewable Energy and Additive Manufacturing. His current research interests include Robotics, CIM, Sustainable Manufacturing, Micro Machining, Additive Machining and Engineering & Technology Education. He has published several papers, in these areas, in various national & international conferences and journals. He has worked in heavy and light manufacturing industries manufacturing pumps, motors, and CNC machine tools in the areas of system design, production planning and control and manufacturing. Edinbarough also served in paramilitary forces and in the Indian Air Force. He is a Life Member of the ISTE, a senior life member of the IE (India), a member of the ASEE & SME, and a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in the state of Texas.

Dr. Edinbarough is a hands-on manufacturing expert, educator and administrator who has worked in several areas of engineering, manufacturing, and technical management including research, design, and production of mechanical, electronic, and electromechanical systems. Dr. Edinbarough has participated in, managed, and coordinated a wide variety of multidisciplinary industrial and government programs in advanced manufacturing systems, automation, robotics, quality improvement, and technology transfer. He has won several teaching awards, including the academic excellence award, NISOD 2008, from the University of Texas at Austin.
Licensed professional engineer (P.E. - Texas), recognized trainer and resource person in the fields of CAD/CAM/CIM, Robotics and Automation, Machine vision, Additive Manufacturing, ISO 9000 and Lean Six Sigma. He is also a certified trainer for FANUC Collaborative Robotics.
Other areas of interest include Microsystems, MEMS, Nano manufacturing, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, machine vision, remote manufacturing and Robotics and automation, Renewable Energy, Environmentally Friendly Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and Engineering Technology Education. He has published several research articles, in these areas, in various national & international conferences and journals. He has also conducted several workshops and seminars on the above topics. In addition to teaching, research and administrative services to the university, he is active as the Principal Investigator of several research grants including the ones from the National Science Foundation (USA), advisor to International Universities, Editor and Author of international journals and publications.
At present, he is a Professor in the Department of Informatics & Systems Engineering and coordinating Engineering Technology programs in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas, USA.

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Jesus Gonzalez The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

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Ruth Pflueger Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College

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Robert Weissbach Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

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Dr. Robert Weissbach is the Chair of the Engineering Technology department at IUPUI.

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Johanna Bodenhamer IUPUI

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Abstract

Writing is generally recognized as fundamental to the formation and communication of scientific and technical knowledge to peer groups and general audiences. Often, persuasive writing is an essential attribute emphasized by industries and businesses for a successful career in STEM fields. Nevertheless, the current scenario is that students in STEM fields, with their increased demand for more specialized skills in fewer credit hours combined with a lack of emphasis on writing from engineering faculty members, make addressing this need difficult. In addition, students in engineering fields often do not value writing skills and underestimate the amount of writing they will do in their careers. Hence, it is essential to understand and quantify the level of writing skills STEM students exhibit in their technical courses so that mitigation efforts can be designed using commonly available resources to enhance this important skillset among the students, including university writing centers.

A research question was posed to study this aspect of technical writing: How do STEM students at institutions conceive of writing and its role in classroom laboratories? This research was conducted at three different universities with students of varied demographics, including one which is designated as a Hispanic-serving institution, via a sequential mixed-methods design. The demography variation among the institutions includes the level of college preparation among students and the mix of ethnicity to see if there are variations among certain groups. Although the sample size is small, the goal was to establish a methodology and a preliminary outcome set that could be used in further research with larger populations. Research data in the form of reports and surveys, were collected from groups of students from four distinct campuses to ascertain the technical writing capability of each group and provide a comparison to better understand the level of intervention required. The quantitative data was collected throughout the academic year through Likert scale surveys as well as rubric-based evaluation of reports.

The research design, methodology, and results of the research findings and the proposed mitigation efforts to improve student writing in STEM fields are presented in the paper.

The above research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation grant: Collaborative: Research: Writing Assignment Tutor Training in STEM (WATTS), an Interdisciplinary Approach for the Enhancement of Student Writing in STEM fields.

Edinbarough, I., & Gonzalez, J., & Pflueger, R., & Weissbach, R., & Bodenhamer, J. (2022, August), Comparison of Undergraduate Student Writing in Engineering Disciplines at Campuses with Varying Demographics Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41302

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015