Specifically for engineers

[Fletch]

I agree with everyone of the brevity and grammar. Also agree on the describing a process, object, or graph well enough for someone to reproduce it exercises (also ties in with documentation skills), and the  presentations (but do not require PowerPoint, everyone hates powerpoint).

I would add- getting accustomed to standard proofreading marks, and to the idea drafts are meant to be edited and other peoples edits and comments aren't personal- they are there to improve your work. Good luck- this never sunk in for me until after college, but being able to produce a coherent draft, have someone else review it, and then go fix it, and then more review is such a standard part of real-world work, and in high school so many assignments were treated as more of a "just finish and move on to the next assignment" exercise.

[shakenNOTstirred]

The two writing (and speaking) skills engineers need that are undertaught are brevity and clarity.

This.  God yes, this.


Saying something concisely in the simplest terms possible is the number one most important skill for any kind of technical / engineering writing.  It seems to be very rare at our engineering firm.

Great thread! I've got a BSME, but to be honest, I can't remember much of what I learned in school. :)
I'd echo the point about getting to the point. An interesting project might be to present a problem (i.e. you're supposed to come up with a new pedal bicycle that can go through the snow) and have the students each write a proposal (what are the problems to overcome, how would they do it, etc). Have them turn in their initial proposal, then tell them they have to rewrite it to cut out HALF of the words, but still cover everything.
Also have them each give a presentation. It's not just writing clearly that's important, it's also knowing how to speak.

[Watchmaker]

EscapeVelocity2020 - That would be Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing.

I like the suggestions to incorporate visual presentation of data into the class.  That's something I was never specifically taught and had to pick up along the way.

[galaxie]

You're making a good point that potential future engineers need to learn about literature and humanities stuff too.  I loved writing and almost switched majors to Comparative Lit.   If you want to prepare them for university level language arts, then all this engineering stuff isn't necessarily the right way to go.  They're going to need to know how to write essays, and how to understand the historical context of literature.

[skunkfunk]

No doubt you are an engineer, what does the acronym MEP stand for?  I can't help but be curious :)

EscapeVelocity2020 - That would be Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing.

Yes. I'm electrical, myself.

I would add to the general discussion that as college freshmen in engineering, their writing skills will not be under much scrutiny. That comes later.

[NumberCruncher]

I would add to the general discussion that as college freshmen in engineering, their writing skills will not be under much scrutiny. That comes later.

I think this might be changing - people are starting to realize that communication skills are important for every major.

[beltim]

You're making a good point that potential future engineers need to learn about literature and humanities stuff too.  I loved writing and almost switched majors to Comparative Lit.   If you want to prepare them for university level language arts, then all this engineering stuff isn't necessarily the right way to go.  They're going to need to know how to write essays, and how to understand the historical context of literature.

Galaxie makes a similar point to what's wanted to: don't overly focus on the engineering.  I know many people who went to a very prestigious magnet school for science and technology and far, far less than half of the students actually wound up doing something in science and technology.  Make sure that the students who don't go into engineering are prepared for whatever they wind up studying.

[odput]

Chemical Engineer here

It is important not to confuse creative writing with creativity.  Creative writing is a skill an engineer will rarely use, creative problem solving will be used almost every day. 

+1 on presentation skills...I hate when people read me their slides.

+1 for brevity and clarity being essential for presenting data.  When drawing conclusions, avoid the word "think" like the plague!  It opens doors to words being minced.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

EscapeVelocity2020 - That would be Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing.

Thanks, I'll have to add that to the never-ending list...  My first job out of school was working for an E&C company (PACE) on a DAFC PRL, running EO's (engineering & construction company called Partners Aligned, Committed to Excellence, dry added fabric conditioner pilot research line, running Engineering Orders (test runs)).  Could've written many Dilbert strips back when speaking in acronym seemed weird, now it is perfectly normal.

[galliver]

I think what others have said about non-technical material being important for these students also is very important. However, I remember HS English as 80% response/critique/analysis of literature, and 18% poetry, narrative, other creative writing, and maybe 2% expository of which 0% was technical in nature. I think if these students are showing an interest in technical careers (as you said, this is a special program) they should see technical writing now. Maybe they won't be engineers. Maybe they'll be scientists, or technical writers, or lawyers...but I doubt many of them will switch to Literature as a career. So I would look at it as something more like 30-50% technical material (as per all the suggestions above: articles, reports, instructions, presentations, etc) and around 60% of the other stuff. Maybe more evenly split than the 'traditional' curriculum, i.e. more creative (since creativity is important!) and less critique/analysis, i.e. just enough to teach them to think about things more deeply.

[letro]

I have worked as the supervising chemist at electric company for 33 years and supervised high voltage analysis, "Doble" for ten years.  My English 101 & 102 at marine technology/  diver school was technical writing such as procedure on how to fix scuba regulator. The English teacher figured it out quick. Half the students were 18 and half 22 just back from the Vietnam war. Needless to say we were all diver guys ready to learn "practical" skills like technical writing. She loved teaching us.  She was wise to ask what do you guys think I should teach you in English
 I eventually wrote many long lab reports in college AAS Chemical Technology, BA Chemistry and MA thesis in Chemistry, oral defense and seminars. The technical writing and HS English served me well in all the college courses, science, literature, computer programming, humanities and art.
 Scientists and engineers are attention to detail folks English is our language. So teacher, writing and public speaking are very important.  These are learned skills make sure you teach that fact.  When I taught college chemistry as a graduate student I took points off for spelling.  Boy does that will piss off the students.  My first year at the electric company I received an 18 % raise because the vice president liked my two technical reports and set up of new lab.  I said thank you to my boss. The boss said there are engineers here 30 years who have never written a report the VP liked.
 When interviewing engineers at the utility we are looking for B average in engineering and As in English.  Now days the young engineers are speaking and writing on day one and during summer rotations.   Use your skills to teach English and correct writing.   We all trust your education in English.  Spell check & computers will help them with the rest. Teacher I am hoping for at least a solid D on this report. Keep Smiling letro

[Nords]

I may begin teaching a new class populated by high school students whose goal is to go into engineering (any type), manufacturing, aerospace, energy, or similar fields.  This would be an advanced-level course aimed at college-bound students.  I've been teaching a general blend of literature and writing for years, but if I take on this specialized class, I'll need to tailor the reading selections, writing instruction, etc. towards students with this specific mindset.  Again, we're talking about high school -- we're talking about preparing these students for university studies. 

My questions:

- What type of writing is expected of college freshman engineering (or similar) students?  What I'm asking:  If these students basically never write narratives, I shouldn't waste time on creative writing. 
- What writing specifics do they find most difficult?  Grammar?  Organization? 
- Any specific novels, short stories or other literature that attract this target audience and encourage them to read? 

Clarification:  We'll begin with a high school freshman class, but eventually will add all four high school grades. 

I'm just starting this process, so I'm in the "gathering information" stage, but I greatly appreciate any thought y'all might have to set me on my way.  If I do this, I want to do it well.

First let me say "Good luck."  I've been reading my daughter's civil engineering textbooks for the last three years and there's no indication that these alleged professional educators know how to write.  On the positive side, the bar over which you're trying to leap... is not so high.

Second, she had to take a one-semester freshman class on technical writing.  (It could have been validated by an essay but she didn't make the cut.)  However her college has >25% international students and many more American bilingual students, so the tech writing class could be a disguised test of English writing skills.

You might have already run across this author, but Henry Petroski has written many excellent accounts of engineering marvels and disasters. His first book, To Engineer is Human is a classic. Any chapter could be a stand-alone reading assignment. It's an example of first-class writing about a technical topic, using language anyone can understand. And students will learn something about engineering along the way.

Another two thumbs up for Henry Petroski.  His latest book, "To Forgive Design", is an instant classic in how to screw things up.
http://the-military-guide.com/2013/02/04/book-review-to-forgive-design/
The lesson which finally arrives in the last few chapters is that engineers won't know that they've exceeded design parameters (or safety margins) until... they exceed those limits and something breaks.  He says it's a perpetual problem, and the only solution is paying attention to safety factors. 

As Centwise says, instead of assigning the entire book you could hand out just one chapter or even a subsection.  He's broken it down into a number of case studies from which you could choose.  After reading about the Comet jet fuselage failures I'll never look at commercial air travel the same way again.

His discussion of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the best I've ever read.  It wasn't merely a case of waking up one morning to a broken link that subsequently oscillated out of hand.  The bridge was built to flex from the start, and the construction workers actually had nausea symptoms from the motion as they were working on the span.  The oscillations were considered a tourist attraction:  people used to drive for miles to use the bridge, because the road flexed so much that the car in front of you would disappear/reappear as the road heaved.

There are probably thousands of YouTube vidoes that you could use as an example of the bridge's motion, but if you're going to present to high-school students then I'd recommend leading with this old Pioneer commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mccjAnCOk

If you're going to assign fiction reading, then I'd recommend steampunk. 

[libertarian4321]

I got my undergrad engineering degree from RPI (chemical engineering) in 1985.  At that time, it was possibly to graduate without ever having written anything other than short technical papers.  Needless to say, writing skills among engineers are not good.  I was one of the rare exceptions who took writing electives.

30 years later, I find myself reviewing documents written by other (usually younger) engineers.  My GOD, the writing is awful.  Even the basics are lacking- things like writing in a clear, concise, and LOGICAL manner. They know the technical stuff, but write like children.

Engineers don't have to be clever or creative in their writing, but they do need to be able to write in a manner that effectively communicates.  I'm not looking for Shakespeare, but it would be nice if I could read a sentence and not scratch my head thinking "what the HELL is he trying to say?"