INDIVIDUAL PROJECT 1 FINAL DRAFT MEMORANDUM
TO: Technical Writing Committee
FROM: Emma Borders
DATE: June 24, 2008
SUBJECT: Technical Writing Class for Ceramics and Materials Engineers
The purpose of this report is to show the need for a technical writing class geared toward students who wish to go into the profession of Ceramics and Materials Engineers. The report will describe in detail the uses of technical writing in this field, and explain that having a technical writing class just for Ceramic and Materials Engineering majors would be advantageous for those taking the class, and others in the field.
The information provided in this report will come from my own experience, the experiences of my peers, interviews with professionals in Ceramic and Materials Engineering, and other literature. The class should go into depth on those subjects that are most likely to be used after graduation in this field, such as writing experimental reports and producing journals for scientific journals. Using technical writing for work-related correspondence is also important in the field of Ceramic and Materials Engineering, and should be addressed in a career-specific technical writing class.
From my research, I define technical writing as a form of written communication that is concise and subject-specific, and which may or may not contain subject-specific jargon. The information contained in technical writing is tailored to the audience, ranging from extremely technical language and data amongst professionals to more basic concepts aimed at the layperson. It often includes visual forms of communication such as photos, tables, charts, graphs, or maps. Its purpose is to convey, thoroughly but briefly, exact information and/or instructions.
This definition applies to Ceramic and Materials Engineers, along with other professions, but since each discipline has its own specific styles and uses for technical writing it is important to have a class that will teach the most important aspects of technical writing to Ceramic and Materials Engineers.
There are a variety of reasons that a major-specific technical writing class would be an excellent investment for Clemson University:
► It would make graduating Ceramic and Materials Engineers more prepared to enter the
work world.
► It would make graduating Ceramic and Materials Engineering students more desirable
to potential employers.
► It would allow Ceramic and Materials Engineering majors to focus on specific types
of writing that will be used in their field, and allow other majors to do the same.
► It would make graduates of the Clemson Ceramics and Materials Engineering program
more desirable to employers, and improve the reputation of Clemson University.
►It would improve the quality of the Ceramic and Materials Engineering program at
Clemson University, and improve its chances of getting into the top 20 colleges in
the United States.
All of the points listed above show that having a technical writing class solely for Ceramics and Materials Engineering would help the students, improve the reputation and effectiveness of Clemson University, and provide companies with more knowledgeable and effective employees.
Benefits for Students
The existence of such a class would be very beneficial for the students who take it, both for the improved skills that they would learn, and the fact that they will be more attractive to potential employers after taking the class. From interviews with professionals, and my own experience, I have found that the aspects of technical writing that are important to Ceramic and Materials Engineers include:
► Writing technical reports on experimental procedures and results
► Writing journal articles on scientific subjects
► Corresponding with coworkers and colleagues through e-mails and memos
► Writing about experiments to people without much background knowledge
(writing in layman’s terms).
Within each of these categories, there are many specific uses for technical writing. Reports can be written on specific experiments that have been conducted by the writer, or on literature that other engineers or scientists have written. Reporting experiment results is a very important use of technical writing for Ceramic and Materials Engineers, and seems to be the prevalent use of technical writing within the field. This type of writing usually contains a lot of subject-specific jargon, and technical terms that will only be understood by those with a similar level of education to the writer. That is because the reports written by Ceramic and Materials Engineers are usually intended for an audience of peers.
Having a class that addresses the points listed above would also provide a number of benefits for the Ceramics and Materials Engineering students, such as:
► The students would be more prepared for employment after graduation
► The students would be more attractive to potential employers
► Having a class that details how to write laboratory reports would help students
improve their grades in other classes
► Students would not have to waste time in a general technical writing focusing on
subjects that will not be used in their profession
Employers would realize the benefit of a technical writing class that is focused on the needs of a Ceramic and Materials Engineers, and would probably prefer to hire someone who has taken such a class rather than someone who has not. The students who take this class would probably be more prepared for the rigors of the professional world immediately after graduation than those who took a general technical writing class.
Laboratory Reports
The importance of being able to clearly and correctly describe experiments and results should be addressed by a technical writing class. Although the lab reports that students write for lab classes do provide experience in this subject, they do not necessarily make it clear exactly how reports should be written. The current technical writing classes do not teach the type of writing that is needed for writing experimental reports, so the students receive no direct teaching in writing laboratory reports.
A class that gives specific guidance on the best way to report experimental results would be extremely useful for someone planning to go into the field of Ceramic and Materials Engineering. The skills learned in such a class would be immediately useful, because they could be used during school, and would probably be used for the rest of the students' working lives.
Direct instruction in how to write lab reports, and a critique of lab reports that had been previously written would probably be useful. As it is, technical writing classes just try to give the students a general idea of the qualities that technical writing should possess instead of focusing on a variety of specific uses for technical writing, and tips for each style.
Journal Articles
Since journal articles often need to be written by Ceramic and Materials Engineers, training in how to write journal articles would be useful for people in this major. There are a multitude of scientific journals that Ceramic and Materials Engineers publish in, and these journals have varying audience sizes (from just a few readers to thousands). The subjects of journal articles vary, but the basic skills needed to write them do not, and the skills needed to write journal articles should be taught in a class for Ceramic and Materials Engineers.
This would enable the students who take the class to use these skills after graduation, when they begin conducting their own experiments, and to spread knowledge of their research through scientific journals. By gaining proficiency at this type of technical writing, the students are given a good chance to gain prestige and help out others in the field of Ceramic and Materials Engineering.
Memos/E-mails
Inter-office or intra-office correspondence, such as memos and e-mails are also important in the profession of Ceramic and Materials Engineering. This aspect of technical writing is necessary for many occupations, and the extent of its use by most professionals shows that schooling in this form of communication would be extremely useful. It is taught in conventional technical writing classes, and it would also need to be included in career-specific technical writing classes. Proficiency in professionally corresponding with employers, potential employers, co-workers, clients, etc. would be extremely useful when acquiring a job, and throughout one's career.
In the event that a Ceramic and Materials Engineer needs to describe his or her experiments to someone that is not an engineer, it is important that they have the skills to minimize the amount of technical jargon in the writing and describe things in layman's terms.
This is often difficult to do, as I know from trying to describe my own experiments to those without any experience (or with very little experience) in the subject that I was speaking of. From the research that I have conducted, I conclude that although Ceramics and Materials Engineers do not often have to be able to describe things in layman’s terms they may be called upon to do it during their career. Practice in doing this should be provided in a technical writing class for Ceramics and Materials Engineers.
Conclusion
As a result of my study, I conclude that a technical writing class should be taught that is specifically tailored to the future needs of Ceramic and Materials Engineers. It is needed because the students of this discipline require detailed instruction in certain aspects of technical writing that are not necessarily as useful in other professions. Skills needed for writing experimental reports are especially important to Ceramic and Materials Engineers, and should be explored in detail during a technical writing class.
Report-writing is a specific use of technical writing that is important to the field of Ceramic and Materials Engineering, and needs to be taught to those who need it. Instruction in how to write journal articles should also be provided, since that is another skill that is useful to Ceramic and Materials Engineers. Guidance on how to correspond with co-workers and superiors should be included in the course, but should not be the main focus of the class.
Knowledge regarding how to correctly write experimental reports and journal articles would make a graduating student much more desirable to potential employers, and more likely to be successful. The ability to correspond with others efficiently and professionally would also be a very useful skill to those who want to be Ceramic and Materials Engineers, and this subject should be taught in the class as well. Having a class designed for their benefit would prevent them from wasting time by focusing on skills that are not vital to their career, and would prevent students in other disciplines from having to learn types of writing that will not be needed in their majors. It would also benefit Clemson University by improving the quality of their Ceramic and Materials Engineering program, and making Clemson more likely to reach the top 20.
Sources
Emma and Cathie's definition of Technical Writing
M. Kennedy, Assistant Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering. May 29, 2008
Virgil Irick, Senior Engineer for the Tile Council of North America. May 28, 2008
