Xiaoli Li

Research consistently demonstrates the centrality of writing in engineering careers, with studies indicating that engineers spend up to 70% of their workday on writing tasks. As Winsor (1990) succinctly stated, "writing is what engineers do" (p. 68). However, the emergence of artificial intelligence and large language models has sparked debate about the future of writing instruction in engineering education.

Robert Connor’s 1982 seminal work on the history of technical writing instruction in American colleges and universities informs us that technical writing instruction in the US is closely related to engineering education from its beginning. By 1900, engineering schools recognized the critical need of their students for the knowledge of the writing demands for the engineering profession. So, technically speaking, it was within these engineering schools that the courses we now know as technical writing began. However, technical writing has not been offered as a standalone subject to undergraduate engineering students in China.

Upon arrival on US campuses, senior Chinese engineering students were appalled that they were required to take a technical writing class offered by the English Department as part of their engineering curriculum. This panel presentation invites one Chinese engineering professor with study and working experiences in both China and the US, three Chinese engineering students who studied in China and the US to talk about their initial exposure to technical writing instruction, their application of technical writing guidelines in engineering contexts, and their insights on the connection between technical writing and engineering education. The panelists will report how they engaged with an assignment in a technical writing class in the fall of 2024. The assignment asked the students to “retell” the history of technical writing instruction in American colleges as they have read from Connor’s article to their chosen Chinese audience, for example, parents, professors, and former classmates. These students’ final deliverables demonstrate that with formal instruction, they can quickly apply fundamental technical writing principles, such as audience analysis, document design, and clear organization of complex information, into practice.

The panelists will interact with conference participants to explore how technical writing instruction can better serve engineering students.