Engineering Commons^™

A Paramedic Method Drill Master To Improve Student Writing, David Braun

Electrical Engineering

Engineering instructors have students write reports in order to help learn difficult concepts, data analysis, challenging problem solving, communication skills, and critical thinking. Sadly, many students seem to prefer obfuscating the subject matter and key ideas by using painfully unclear writing. An instructor dismayed by poor prose in submitted assignments has numerous familiar options available. Consider just a few:

1. Ignore the poor writing

2. Mark every error directly

3. Mark every error with a marginal comment

4. Give general feedback about the poor writing over the entire assignment

5. Expect students to rewrite and resubmit work

6. Change careers …