The Role of Technical Expertise in Engineering and Writing Teachers’ Evaluations of Students’ Writing

• Published in: Written communication Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 37 - 80
• Main Author: Smith, Summer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks SAGE Publications 01.01.2003; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Career and Technical Education; College Faculty; Comparative Analysis; Engineering; Engineering Education; English for Special Purposes; Longitudinal Studies; Oral reading; Reader Text Relationship; Rhetoric; Student Evaluation; Students; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Competencies; Teacher Education; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Technical communication; Technical Writing; Writing; Writing (Composition); Writing Instruction; Writing Teachers; technical writing; reading; teaching of writing; expertise; response to writing; engineering communication
• ISSN: 0741-0883; 1552-8472
• DOI: 10.1177/0741088303253570

This study examines the extent to which a teacher’s level of expertise in the subject of a technical paper affects the teacher’s reading and evaluation of it. Four engineering teachers and four writing teachers were asked to read aloud the same three student papers and to say aloud their thoughts as they read. The engineering teachers read papers on familiar and unfamiliar subjects. This method allowed direct comparison of the responses of (a) engineering teachers with relevant expertise in a paper’s subject, (b) engineering teachers without such expertise, and (c) writing teachers. The comparison indicates that technical expertise helps teachers evaluate validity and engage with the text but has a more ambiguous effect on evaluations of rhetorical appropriateness. The article also examines the teachers’ differing attitudes toward the importance of having technical expertise when evaluating and recommends approaches for teacher-training programs (in engineering and composition) based on the results.