“Developing Curriculum for a Multi-Course Interdepartmental Learning Community to Promote Retention and Learning for Underprepared Engineering Students”
by Rachel A. Milloy, Matthew Moberly, and Rebecca Powell | Xchanges 9.1
Active Learners Gain Confidence
Unit 2: Rhetorical Analysis of an Engineering Argument
The English 111 and SMET 101 learning objectives for Unit 2 include helping students explore new methods of academic inquiry, rhetorical analysis, and argumentation, as well as develop critical thinking skills. The main assignment, the Rhetorical Analysis of an Engineering Argument, teaches students to analyze arguments informally and formally while evaluating the features of a “good” argument and “good” writing. With guidance from the instructor, students analyze sample texts to gain practice in identifying a writer’s argument and describing how a writer uses rhetorical appeals to form a persuasive argument. Students then work independently to rhetorically analyze an engineering argument related to the challenge selected in Unit 1.
The successful completion of this assignment depends on students applying knowledge learned from class discussions and group activities. By completing the rhetorical analysis, students provide evidence that they have internalized important course concepts, such as how to identify rhetorical strategies in written academic and professional text and media, how to utilize rhetorical vocabulary in formal and informal written responses, and how to question the validity of information in online and published engineering sources. Once Unit 2 concludes, students should be capable of completing a task they were likely incapable of doing prior to English 111. Unit 2, we hope, challenges students and builds confidence in their abilities to take on complex tasks. By completing the rhetorical analysis assignment, students begin to recognize the importance of investigating real world problems as both engineers and writers; in other words, students learn to inspect problems from multiple disciplinary perspectives.