Our investigations of the differences between practitioner and student writing cover organization, grammar choices such as sentence structure and active vs. passive voice, and errors in grammar and mechanics. In phase 2 of the project, we are studying the extent to which student writing improves after the use of our new teaching materials. Use the following links to see some sample results from both phases of the project. A complete list of publications is below.

Publications containing results from the Civil Engineering Writing Project

For more information contact Susan Conrad (conrads@pdx.edu).

Journal articles and book chapters

Conrad, S. (in press 2020). Integrating corpus linguistics into writing studies: An example from engineering. In C. Donahue, K. Blewett & C. Monroe (Eds.), The expanding universe of writing studies: Higher education writing research. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

Otto, P. (in press 2020). Choosing specialized vocabulary to teach with data-driven learning: An example from civil engineering.  English for Specific Purposes.

Guillerit, M. (2020). An exploratory analysis of noun phrases in civil engineering writing, ASp [Journal of the Groupe d'Étude et de Recherche en Anglais de Specialité], 77, 25-47. doi.org/10.4000/asp.6272

Conrad, S. (2019). Register in English for academic purposes and English for specific purposes.  Register Studies, 1(1), 171-201.  https://doi.org/10.1075/rs.18008.con  [See section 4 "What does a typical register study look like in EAP/ESP?"]

Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre and style (2nd ed.).  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  [See chapter 6 "Academic and professional written registers."]

Conrad, S.  (2018).  The use of passives and impersonal style in civil engineering writing. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 32(1), 38-76.  doi: 10.1177/1050651917729864. Nominated for the 2018 "Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical or Scientific Communication" award of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, National Council of Teachers of English

Conrad, S. (2018). Beyond grammar description: Applying corpus analysis to disciplinary education.  In E. Fuss, M. Konopka, B. Grawinski & U. Wassner (Eds.), Grammar and corpora 2016 (pp. 389-412). Heidelberg, Germany: Heidelberg University Press.

Conrad, S.  (2017).  A comparison of practitioner and student writing in civil engineering.  Journal of Engineering Education, 106, 191-217. doi: 10.1002/jee.20161. Winner of the 2018 William Elgin Wickenden Award of the American Society for Engineering Education for "the highest standards of scholarly research in engineering education."

Conrad, S. (2015).  Register variation.  In D. Biber & R. Reppen (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of English corpus linguistics (pp. 309-329).  Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Conrad, S.  (2014).  Expanding multi-dimensional analysis with qualitative research techniques.  In T. Berber Sardinha & M. Veirano (Eds.), Multi-dimensional analysis, 25 years on (pp. 273-295)  Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Proceedings (refereed)

Conrad, S., Lamb, K., & Pfeiffer, T. (2018). Where grammar, content, and professional practice meet: The case of the passive voice. Proceedings of the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.  https://peer.asee.org/31240. Winner of the 2019 Stephen J. Ressler Best Paper Award from the Civil Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education

Conrad, S., Pfeiffer, T., & Lamb, K. (2018). Improving student writing with research-based instruction: Results from the civil engineering writing project. Proceedings of the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. https://peer.asee.org/29995

Corneal, L., Morrow, D., Volz, T., Saterbak, A., Conrad, S., Pfeiffer, T., Lamb, K., & Kitch, W. (2018).  Embedding technical writing with experiential learning components into engineering curricula.  Proceedings of the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Conference.  https://peer.asee.org/30856

Conrad, S., Smith, T., Lamb, K., Pfeiffer, T. & Kitch, W.  (2016).  Faculty-practitioner collaborations for improving civil engineering students' writing skills.  Proceedings of the 2016 American Society for Engineering Education Conference, 26.552.1-11.  doi: 10.18260/p.26892

Conrad, S.  (2015).  Dispelling student myths about writing in civil engineering. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Conference, 26.552.1-11.  doi:10.18260/p.23890

Conrad, S., Kitch, W., Pfeiffer, T., Smith, T. & Tocco, J.  (2015).  Students writing for professional practice: A model for collaboration among faculty, practitioners and writing specialists. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Conference, 26.1432.1-19.  doi:10.18260/p.24769

Conrad, S., Pfeiffer, T., & Szymoniak, T.  (2012).  Preparing students for writing in civil engineering practice.  Proceedings of the 2012 American Society for Engineering Education Conference. https://peer.asee.org/preparing-students-for-writing-in-civil-engineering-practice

Conrad, S., & Pfeiffer, T.  (2011).  A preliminary analysis of student and workplace writing in civil engineering.  Proceedings of the 2011 American Society for Engineering Education Conference.  https://peer.asee.org/preliminary-analysis-of-student-and-workplace-writing-in-civil-engineering

Conrad, S., Dusicka, P., & Pfeiffer, T. (2010).  Work in progress: Understanding student and workplace writing in engineering.  Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Zone IV Conference.  http://web.me.unr.edu/asee2010/Proceedings.pdf 

Conrad, S., Dusicka, P., Pfeiffer, T., & Evans, R. (2009). Work in progress – A new approach for understanding student and workplace writing in engineering.  Proceedings of the 39th Annual ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference.  http://fie-conference.org/fie2009/

M.A. Thesis and Project

Laspina, V.  (2017).  Corpus–informed materials for effective passive voice use in the technical writing of L2 civil engineering students.  (Unpublished master's project). Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.

Otto, P.  (2017).  An analytical system for determining disciplinary vocabulary for data-driven learning: An example from civil engineering. (Unpublished master's thesis).  Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.

Other publications mentioning the project

Dowling, D., Carew, A., & Hadgraft, A.  (2013).  Engineering your future: An Australasian guide (2nd ed.).  Milton, Australia: Wiley.  [Writing spotlight, pp. 545-546]