Preliminary Investigation of Undergraduate Students’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in Writing Lab Reports in Entry-level Engineering Laboratory Courses at Three Universities

Abstract

Vancouver. He has 15 years of experience in engineering materials and manufacturing. His research area includes materials processing, structural integrity improvement, and hybrid composite manufacturing. He has been very active in pedagogical research and undergraduate research projects, and his research interests include manufacturing laboratory pedagogy and writing pedagogy.

Effectiveness of Transfer Focused Writing Pedagogy on Undergraduates’ Lab Report Writing in Entry-Level Engineering Laboratory Courses at Three Universities

“…This study refined or adapted the instrument from Refs [1,11,12] to characterize the purpose, content, and assessment of the lab reports assigned to students in the lower-division engineering labs. Table 3 is the lab report writing rubric drawn from the WPA (Writing Program Administrators) outcomes and ABET outcomes #3 and #6 [11].…”

“…They also emphasize the audience expectations and genre conventions of the discipline when the writing skills are applied to specific disciplines [1]. Most engineering lab reports follow the IMRDC or introduction-methods-results-discussion-conclusion format [12], and the lab report writing rubric is designed to connect with IMRDC.…”

“…Table 3. Lab report writing outcomes [12]: Lab report writing outcomes rubric (I = introduction; M = methods; R = results; D = discussion; C = conclusion).…”

Work in Progress: Supporting Engineering Laboratory Report Writing with Modules Targeted for Instructors

“…The authors have previously published a learning outcomes rubric based on APA writing outcomes [16] and ABET EAC outcomes [17] that ties outcomes to the relevant sections of a typical engineering laboratory report (Table 1) [citation to be included in final draft]. The authors developed modules targeting laboratory instructors to support each of these outcomes with a scaffolded approach, based on research into student writing preparation [18] and student performance on early and later lab reports in an early laboratory class in a variety of programs and curricula [19]. The modules are meant to be very concise, simple, and easy-to-use aids for helping engineering students improve their engineering laboratory report writing skills, specifically preparing and presenting the results of engineering experiments.…”

“…Lab report writing outcomes rubric (I = introduction; M = methods; R = results; D = discussion; C = conclusion).Based on the report writing outcomes and investigations of student report writing performance at the three participating institutions[19][20][21], the authors prepared scaffolded learning modules organized around (1) fundamental concepts needed to submit a successful first report, (2) intermediate concepts intended to support more rigorous consideration of data sources, methods of analysis, and conclusions, and (3) advanced concepts in error and logical appeals. A preface was developed to orient users and support instructors with guidance around assessment design and the use of effective rubrics.…”