Collaborative writing in engineering: Perspectives from research and implications for undergraduate education

Abstract

In engineering, like in many other disciplines, collaborative writing (CW) has been identified as a central practice in both the academy and industry. A number of studies have shown that both students and professionals in this field write most discipline-specific genres collaboratively. Despite its centrality, CW in engineering is still an under-researched area with very few empirical studies on how it happens as situated practice. This article reports on a study that used a variety of data sets as its empirical base to examine CW in four schools of the faculty of engineering at a university in the UK. It also reports on the views of CW in the workplace that lecturers involved in industry hold. The article aims at contributing to the understanding of CW in engineering by identifying its role, nature and dynamics. It also examines pedagogical implications resulting from the study with a view to making a contribution to developments in writing in engineering education. The article finishes by making a number of recommendations for future research.

Keywords:

• collaborative writing
• nature and dynamics of collaborative writing
• models of collaborative writing
• engineering education

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participants, without whose time and dedication the study would not have been possible. We also thank our colleagues Richard Lee and Anne Kavanagh at the Centre for English Language Education and David Whitley at the Faculty of Engineering for their help and support throughout the project, and the anonymous reviewers of the Journal whose insightful comments on previous drafts have made this a better paper. We would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the University of Nottingham teaching and learning committee (Grant A114T5/2009).