Beryllium Sphere(tm)'s Journal: Best of Slashdot

The subject was "Teaching Engineers to Write".

http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=185119&cid=15279646 had a superb answer.

Present writing as an engineering problem
(Score:5, Insightful)
by MarkusQ (450076) on Saturday May 06, @08:50PM (#15279646)
(Last Journal: Tuesday January 10, @02:50AM)

Present writing as an engineering problem. This is an accurate, if somewhat unconventional, way to look at it. When you write, you have a goal (communicate a certain set of ideas), some constraints (target length, assumed audience, etc.) and some criteria for ranking proposed solutions (shorter is better, linking ideas in multiple ways gives a more robust treatment, etc.)

This fits neatly into the mold of classic engineering problems. Presented this way, they should be able to (with only a little guidance) bring their full skill set to bear on the problem. For example:

        * Top down design Starting with an outline and working out the details is the normal way of tackling an engineering problem.
        * Checking your facts Engineers should be used to checking anything that is even remotely doubtful before committing to it. So should writers.
        * Failure mode analysis For each sentence ask yourself, could it be misread? How? What is the best way to fix it?
        * Dependency analysis Are the ideas presented in an order that assures that each point can be understood on the basis of the readers assumed knowledge and the information provided by preceding points?
        * Optimization Are there any unnecessary parts? Does the structure require the reader to remember to many details at once, before linking them?
        * Structured testing If you read what you have written assuming only the knowledge that the reader can be expected to have, does each part work the way you intended? If you read it aloud, does it sound the way you intended?

One of the biggest problems with teaching people to write is getting them to read what they have written, think about it, and rewrite it until it does what they wanted it to. Here, at least, engineers should have a head start over most students, insofar as they are used to the fact that your first stab at a design is almost never viable.

--MarkusQ
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