"I Really Don't Know What He Meant by That": How Well Do Engineering Students Understand Teachers' Comments on Their Writing?

Technical Communication Quarterly

Volumn 20, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 139-166

  Taylor, Summer Smith ^a  

^a CLEMSON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79953148230     PISSN: 10572252     EISSN: 15427625     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10572252.2011.548762     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Anson, C. (1989). Response styles and ways of knowing. In C. Anson (Ed.), Writing and response: Theory, practice, research (pp. 332-336). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
2. Brinkman, G. W., & van der Geest, T. M. (2003). Assessment of communication competencies in engineering design projects. Technical Communication Quarterly, 12, 67-81.
3. Chapin, R., & Terdal, M. (1990). Responding to our response: Student strategies for responding to teacher written comments. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 328 098).
4. Cohen, A. D. (1991). Student processing of feedback on their compositions. In A. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning (pp. 55-69). New York: Prentice Hall.
5. Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A. (1993). Teachers' rhetorical comments on student papers. College Composition and Communication, 44, 200-224.
6. Dannels, D. P., & Martin, K. N. (2008). Critiquing critiques: A genre analysis of feedback across novice to expert design studios. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 22, 135-159. doi: 10.1177=1050651907311923.
7. Elbow, P. (1973). The teacherless writing class. In Writing without teachers (1st ed.; pp. 76-116). New York: Oxford University Press.
8. Ferris, D. R. (1995). Student reactions to teacher response in multiple-draft composition classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 33-53.
9. Ferris, D. R. (1997). The influence of teacher commentary on student revision. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 315-339.
10. Ferris, D., & Roberts, B. (2001). Error feedback in L2 writing classes: How explicit does it need to be? Journal of Second Language Writing, 10(3), 161-184. doi: 10.1016/S1060-3743(01)00039-X.
11. Gee, T. C. (1972). Students' responses to teacher comments. Research in the Teaching of English, 6, 212-221.
12. Hyland, F., & Hyland, K. (2001). Sugaring the pill: Praise and criticism in written feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 10(3), 165-212. doi: 0.1016=S1060-3743(01)00038-8.
13. Maylath, B. (1998). Do we do what we say? Contradictions in composition teaching and grading. In F. Zak & C. C. Weaver (Eds.), The theory and practice of grading writing: Problems and possibilities (pp. 31-36). Albany: State University of New York Press.
14. Miller, P., Bausser, J., & Fentiman, A. (1998). Responding to technical writing in an introductory engineering class: The role of genre and discipline. Technical Communication Quarterly, 7, 443-461.
15. Olson, M. W., & Raffeld, P. (1987). The effects of written comments on the quality of student compositions and the learning of content. Reading Psychology, 8(4), 273-293. doi: 10.1080/0270271870080404.
16. O'Neill, P., & Fife, J. M. (1999). Listening to students: Contextualizing response to student writing. Composition Studies, 27, 39-51.
17. Patchan, M. M., Charney, D., & Schunn, C. D. (2009). A validation study of students' end comments: Comparing comments by students, a writing instructor, and a content nstructor. Journal of Writing Research, 1(2), 124-152.
18. Patton, M. D. (2003). Research or faculty development? A study of WI faculty commenting. Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administration, 27(1-2), 75-91.
19. Smith, S. (1997). The genre of the end comment: Conventions in teacher responses to student writing. College Composition and Communication, 48(2), 249-268.
20. Smith, S. (2003a). The role of technical expertise in engineering and writing teachers' evaluations of students' writing. Written Communication, 20, 37-80.
21. Smith, S. (2003b). What is "good" technical communication? A comparison of the standards of writing and engineering instructors. Technical Communication Quarterly, 12, 7-24.
22. Sommers, N. (1982). Responding to student writing. College Composition and Communication, 33, 148-156.
23. Sperling, M., & Freedman, S. W. (1987). A good girl writes like a good girl: Written responses to student writing. Written Communication, 9, 343-369.
24. Straub, R. (1997). Students' reactions to teacher comments: An exploratory study. Research in the Teaching of English, 31, 91-119.
25. Straub, R. (2000). The practice of response: Strategies for commenting on student writing. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
26. Straub, R., & Lunsford, R. F. (1995). Twelve readers reading: Responding to college student writing. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
27. Taylor, S. S. (2007). Comments on lab reports by mechanical engineering teaching assistants: Typical practices and effects of using a grading rubric. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 21, 402-424. doi: 10.1177/1050651907304024.
28. Taylor, S. S., & Patton, M. D. (2006). Ten engineers reading: Disjunctions between preference and practice in civil engineering faculty responses. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 36, 253-271.
29. Ziv, N. (1984). The effect of teacher comments on the writing of four college freshmen. In R. Beach & L. S. Bridwell (Eds.), New directions in composition research. New York: Guilford.