A Model For Integrating Professional Writing Students Into A Technical Design Team

Abstract

In technical design classes composed of multidisciplinary teams the difficulties of integrating the liberal arts are well known. These include classroom dynamics, conflicting communication styles, the lack of a common language, and differing problem-solving frameworks. We have piloted a program to integrate teams of undergraduate professional writing students into the Engineering Projects In Community Service (EPICS) curriculum. This program is running on three EPICS teams in conjunction with the Writing For the Computer Industry course in the English department at Purdue University. EPICS is a multidisciplinary vertically integrated design class in which teams of students work on open-ended technical problems in partnerships with local not-forprofit organizations. They design, build, test and deploy projects into the community that meet their partners' specific needs. Our model for integrating professional writing students into EPICS teams allows EPICS students to draw on the expertise of professional writings students in human factors and information design. It gives professional writing students experience working on behalf of technical experts implementing a real-world project. Writers functioned as documentation consultants who helped EPICS teams assess their documentation needs and then produced documentation for end-users. EPICS teams provided subject matter experts and documentation reviewers. Initial products include a troubleshooting guide for an interactive museum exhibit, a user's manual for a county probation database, and an administrator's handbook for EPICS' information management system. Writers gained experience communicating with technical subject matter experts, analyzing systems and investigating the job-specific needs of the products' real-world end users, translating complex technical information into user-friendly documentation aimed at an audience with low-to-intermediate technological proficiency, and working as members of a cross-disciplinary team. EPICS students gained experience communicating with both technical and non-technical audiences, experience defining the scope of their projects, and a greater awareness of the needs and requirements of their customers.