Introduction to Ron's research topic ideas

Although I haven't yet finalized my research topic, my ideas mostly revolve around teaching of technical communication, in particular to those who already have technical backgrounds, such as engineers.  Engineers have a reputation for having poor social and communication skills.  Conventional wisdom and anecdotes tell us that engineers do not enjoy their mandatory technical communications courses, and nor do the English professors who have to teach them.  

Through my readings and research, I hope to find the answers to such questions as:

• Is conventional wisdom true? Do engineers really have poor social and communication skills?  Why?
• Why does the typical engineer dislike English, writing, and other “soft skills”?
• Do engineers need technical communication education?  Why?
• What are the current methods used to teach engineers technical communication?
• Are there existing instructional design theories specific to teaching engineers, and anything specifically for writing or technical communication?
• Should engineers be taught technical communication by the engineering or English department?

I hope that as I research these questions, I will be able to settle upon my final research topic.

Ron

ENG 574: Potential Research Topic for Final Project - Sarah Felicelli

Topic
I am interested in researching the effect of syntax and semantics on reader comprehension and recall of scientific text because I want to learn how to effectively communicate complex scientific concepts (specifically related to biology, medicine and health) to people with no background in science, so that people in the general public can make educated decisions about nutrition and their overall health.
Why I am Interested in This Topic
This is a topic that I began researching last semester in Dr. Nord’s Editing Technical Publications course. We read an article by Carol Isakson and Jan Spyridakis (1999) who found that decisions made about syntax and semantics in the writing and editing process have an effect on the ability of the reader to recall or comprehend the information presented to them. For example, they found that readers would more accurately remember information that is included in an independent clause or that is placed in the first or last paragraph of a text (Isakson and Spyridakis 1999, 377). In the case of scientific documents, the ability of non-scientists to comprehend and recall information is essential to their understanding of scientific topics. As a biology instructor, I have always been interested in figuring out ways to make complex topics easier to understand, and as a technical communicator, I am interested in doing that as well. For my final project for ENG 574, I am considering taking the study from one of the articles on text cohesion and reader comprehension of science text and replicate the experiment that the researchers did.
Possible Research Questions for This Topic:
• How do syntax and semantics affect reader comprehension of health brochures?
• How do syntax and semantics affect reader understanding of healthcare information documents?
• How do syntax and semantics affect reader comprehension of science text?