This case study explores the role of language, particularly texts, in the engineering design process. The results support a new “mediated” model of engineering design as an inventional activity in which designers use talk, written language and other symbolic representations as tools to mediate design work: to think about and think through their design process. Although graphic representations have long been recognized as important tools for design thinking, written language has not been considered central to design. Instead, traditional models of design include written texts as merely means for communicating technical content. This study, however, describes how both oral and written language served crucial functions in facilitating design invention in the design activity of a four-student team, in an innovative mechanical engineering design course at a U.S. technological university. To trace the function of symbolic representations (written, oral, and visual) in design activity, design ideas were coded for both the stage of design process addressed and type of representation used to mediate design talk (Text-mediated, Sketch-mediated, Both-mediated, Unmediated). Analysis focused on contrasts between talk about the most- and least-successful features of the team's design. {Paragraph Break} Results suggest that: (1) texts are embedded in design activity; (2) although extended talk did coincide with more frequent invention, inventing more proposals did not guarantee design success; (3) successful design was associated with using written and graphic representations together, and less successful design with using either text or sketch separately; and (4) different types of mediation were used at different times and at different stages of the design process. Qualitative analysis confirms six mediating functions previously recognized for written and graphic representations in design (Conveying ideas, Recording proposals, Pacing activity, Affording invention, Contextualizing design, Sharing visions) and identifies two new functions (Arguing for proposals and Structuring invention). {Paragraph Break} These results suggest that engineering design educators and researchers should recognize mediation as a potential marker of design success. In addition, educators in both writing and engineering need to consider that combining talk, texts, and graphic representations may help designers produce effective texts and artifacts.

Bowers, Jr., Athella-Anne. (1997). A Descriptive Study of Speaking Across the Curriculum Programs in Four Year Public Higher Education Institutions in the United States (Public Education). | View Details

This study was designed to provide a description of Speaking Across the Curriculum programs (SAC) in four year public higher education institutions in the United States. Each institution was sent a cover letter describing the investigation and a survey inviting them to participate by responding. A total of 583 institutions were sent the Phase I survey instrument; 562 (96.4 percent) responded. A total of 52 institutions responded that they currently have a SAC Program and were sent a Phase II survey that requested information in the following areas: Background and Historical; Assessment; Administration; and Funding. The findings indicated the following trends: (1) The majority were implemented during the 1990s; none were reported in place before 1984. (2) Overall program goals were "student" oriented. (3) Junior and Senior levels offered a greater number of speech-intensive courses than Freshman and Sophomore. (4) Workshops, seminars or discussion groups supplied instructional development to help faculty deliver speaking-intensive courses. (5) Most institutions responded that they currently had an individual considered the SAC Director/Coordinator. (6) The most prevalent Director/Coordinator duty was developing SAC assessment/evaluation methods. The second and third duty was determining internal and external departmental involvement. (7) The training process involved the Director/Coordinator and communication faculty, outside sources, the Director of the Writing Center, or Graduate Assistant. (8) Over 50 percent responded there was no requirement for specialized faculty outside Communication Departments. (9) Student and faculty evaluations were the most prevalent mode of assessment. (10) Over 50 percent indicated the final authority was the SAC Program Director. (11) Program funding method answers were varied, with budgeting as the only commonalty. This investigation also indicated that SAC programs: (1) Increased in number during the 1990s; (2) Are more prevalent in institutions with less than 10,000 student enrollment; and (3) Are more prevalent in institutions with Carnegie Classifications of Master's I.

Gill, Sharon R.. (1996). Structuring the Web of Meaning: Writing- and Speaking-To-Learn in a Reading Methods Class. | View Details

Writing-to-learn and speaking-to-learn activities were used to aid learning in an undergraduate reading methods class. The study asked: (1) What were the students' perceptions of the value of the writing and speaking activities in which they participated? (2) What thinking and learning processes were elicited by the writing and speaking activities? Qualitative research methods were used, drawing upon three sources of information: measures of students' perceptions, including a survey and group discussions; students' written work and transcripts of their performances on speaking activities; and the teacher-researcher's observation journal. Students perceived writing- and speaking-to-learn activities as beneficial to their learning; however much of their work showed a lack of engagement with the material. Engagement was defined as the amount of mental processing, involving understanding new concepts, making new connections and associations with what is already known, and using one's own language to construct and organize these new understandings. Many students were found to have a view of education as the transmission of information, which may have been a cause of the lack of engagement noted by the study. The study suggested that the concept of engagement may be of use in evaluating learning activities, and that writing- and speaking-to-learn activities may help students come to understand learning as a constructive process.

Sawyer-Anderson, Athlyn. (1989). Integrated Skills Curriculum for Second Level Remedial Writing. | View Details

The assumption that writing improvement can be more successfully realized through a pedagogical Approach of integrating all communicative skills was comparatively evaluated. The focus of this study was to identify any significant difference between achievement of students in a remedial writing class, receiving instruction through the use of Integrated Skills Reinforcement (ISR) strategies, and a group taught by conventional teaching methods. Previous research had not demonstrated that such a factor had been isolated. Proponents of ISR methods and of 'writing Across the curriculum' addressed the need to foster writing as an ongoing activity in all disciplines. This study postulated that because underprepared college students are usually deficient in all communicative skills, writing ability should be enhanced if the skills of speech, listening, reading and reasoning are taught simultaneously. The study was conducted with two second level remedial writing classes. Students in these classes were assigned on the basis of minimum requirement scores received when they took the City University (CUNY) placement test in writing. Historical data gathered from the academic files of these students revealed that they all shared a common environmental experience: being from inner-city deprived neighborhoods. While students of the experimental class received instruction through the use of ISR strategies, the comparison class received traditional instruction in writing. Based on the CUNY grading scale, students registered in both classes received a score of 3 on their placement test. The average score for both classes was, therefore, 3. After one semester of instruction, the average score for the experimental class, taught by ISR strategies, moved to 4.02. The traditionally taught class showed an average of 3.45. Although students of the experimental class were highly motivated and made enormous efforts to surmount their writing deficiencies, the improvement realized was not as great as one would hope for. Personal interviews with students and their responses to a questionnaire at the end of the semester revealed that students welcomed the integrated strategies used during the course. However, they admitted that progress was constantly in conflict with colloquial language patterns. With such limitations, possible modification of the study was proposed.

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