Teaching Technical Writing: Opportunities for International Collaboration

Authors

  • Leslie E. Seawright Texas A&M University at Qatar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v4i2.3438

Keywords:

Intercultural communication, social media, teams, technical writing.

Abstract


Globalization of our modern economies requires a workforce that can move easily between time zones and cultures. Professors cannot ignore the drastic impact globalization has and will place upon engineering students. In order to be prepared for a competitive job market and the actual requirements of many engineering positions, students need to understand the constraints and challenges of working with colleagues that may live and work in different cultures, countries, languages, and contexts. However, engineering education rarely offers students an opportunity to practice the realities of our digital and intercultural working environments. This paper outlines one way to offer engineering students with collaborative, international, and intercultural writing projects. Students from a technical writing course in the United States were paired with engineering students in Qatar to develop a set of instructions using multimedia methods. Students learned a great deal from the real-world experience of writing and creating a project across two continents.

Author Biography

Leslie E. Seawright, Texas A&M University at Qatar

Liberal Arts Program Assistant Professor of English

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Published

2014-03-17

How to Cite

Seawright, L. E. (2014). Teaching Technical Writing: Opportunities for International Collaboration. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 4(2), pp. 28–30. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v4i2.3438

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Section

Papers