Carolyn Miller argues for the humanistic value of Technical Writing in her essay, "A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing. She describes the necessary ability for professionals such as scientist and engineers to be able to effectively communicate through their writing. More importantly she speaks of the importance for the writings of these individuals to take on a more rhetorical or persuasive context. Though most scientific writing is meant strictly to be factual and unbiased, all scientist and engineers must obtain good persuasive writing skills if they hope to maintain a good living.
Most projects completed by either scientist, engineers, or the like in some shape or form require the writing of proposals and other presentations. Being an effective writer can make the difference between getting a job, grant, or other source of funding. The ability to persuade people who may have little or no technical background that your project is the best and to convince them that you have the necessary skill to complete the task are great assets.
I also agree with her intro and conclusion remarks that technical writing should be allowed to fill a humanities requirement for the technically minded students. A well rounded education is an asset, but if more time was dedicated to the more relevant areas of writing where the engineer or scientist could master the skills necessary for communal communication the educational experience would be more effective. I believe that this course would be more effective if taken at the freshman or sophomore level at the latest.
I think gaining interest and respect from people who are not familiar with something technical is both difficult and important. I feel like presentations are critical for engineers, and we must be able to communicate on a level that someone without such a technical background can understand.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your opinion of the importance of good presentation skills. I just recently had to present my Capstone Design Project proposal to a group of my peers, and after many hours of design and AutoCAD work, it all came down to a 5 minute brief talk that in the real world could float or sink my design project and cost my "firm" millions of dollars if my presentation was not up to par. Communication and presentation for engineers is just as essential in my mind as basic structural or physics knowledge that makes up the bulk of our curriculum.
ReplyDelete