Developing Writing Competence

in IT-engineering Students
Aletta Nylén
Dept. of Informtaion Technology
Uppsala University
 Outline of this talk

•  Background
•  Competences
•  Our approach
•  Results, so far
•  Questions
 Background for this work
•  Students today can’t write!

•  Survey in 2012
–  Experiences of writing in the education
•  No feedback, no progression
–  Relevant?
•  Probably, but for what?
–  How well do you write?
•  Correct, but poor knowledge about
writing in their subject and academic
writing
 What is required in the education?
•  Uppsala University’s learning outcomes for engineers:
–  “demonstrate ability in both national and international
contexts, to, orally and in writing, in dialogue with
different groups, clearly present and discuss their
conclusions and the knowledge and arguments that
form the basis for these.”
•  ABET’s engineering technology learning outcomes:
–  “an ability to apply written, oral, and graphical
communication in both technical and non- technical
environments; and an ability to identify and use
appropriate technical literature”
 What is competence?
•  The dictionary:
–  ”Competence is a term for an individual's ability to
perform a task by applying knowledge and skills”
•  OECD:
–  “A competency is more than just knowledge and skills.
It involves the ability to meet complex demands, by
drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial resources
(including skills and attitudes) in a particular context.”
 A0tude  

Knowledge   Skill  

Competence  

Note  that  competence  is  context-­‐dependent!  

 Our approach to developing writing
competence

Frequent  wri+ng   Instruc+ons  and  

training  (WAC)   feedback  

Wri+ng  within  the   Progressing  learning  

subject  (WID)   outcomes  
 The first three years of the IT-
engineering program, overview

Year   Course  
Introduc>on  to  informa>on  technology  
1  
Program  design  and  data  structures  
Impera>ve  and  object-­‐oriented  programming  
2  
Opera>ng  systems  and  mul>core  programming  
Database  design  I  
3  
Independent  project  in  informa>on  engineering  
 Year 1 and 2
Year   Course  
Introduc+on  to  informa+on  technology  
•  Lectures,  reading  and  analyzing  texts,  wri>ng  prac>ce  
•  Focus  on  text  structure,  language,  referencing  
1  
Program  design  and  data  structures  
•  Short  lecture,  wri>ng  report,  peer  feedback  using  form  
•  Focus  on  describing  the  students’  own  work,  giving  feedback  
Impera+ve  and  object-­‐oriented  programming  
•  Wri>ng  report  
•  Focus  on  describing  the  students’  own  work  
2   Opera+ng  systems  and  mul+core  programming  
•  Lecture,  wri>ng  project  proposal  +  report,  Swedish  +  English,  peer  
feedback  with  chosen  focus  
•  Focus  on  illustra>ons,  languages,  more  advanced  feedback  
 Year 3

Year   Course  
Database  design  I  
•  Wri>ng  lab  report,  peer  feedback  using  form  
•  Focus  on  wri>ng  about  theore>cal  founda>on  
3  
Independent  project  in  informa+on  engineering  
•  Wri>ng  project  report  
•  Fulfill  requirements  of  a  Bachelor  Thesis  
 That covers knowledge and skill…

Frequent  wri+ng   Instruc+ons  and  

training  (WAC)   feedback  

Wri+ng  within  the   Progressing  learning  

subject  (WID)   outcomes  
 … but what about attitude?
•  Changing teachers’ attitudes
–  Talking about writing in different contexts
–  Initiatives to support teachers (e.g., workshop)
–  Swedish accreditation
•  Changing students’ attitudes
–  Let them see writing in professional and subject
contexts
–  Let them see that writing occurs and is graded in
courses
–  Let them see that teachers care about how they write
 Results – so far and very briefly
•  Students that have been in this program since the
beginning of their studies
–  know more about how to write in their subject
–  work more on their writing assignments
 Questions?

•  Can the framework of this program be used…

–  for other competences?
–  at ABU?