2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Writing lab reports is a key component in engineering education, addressing both experimental engagement (ABET outcome 6) and communication skills (ABET outcome 3). Engineering lab instructors, despite being professional writers, often face challenges in teaching undergraduate students in lab writing. This is mainly due to a lack of specialized training and resources. This paper presents the process and the results of a Sunday Workshop on engineering lab writing pedagogies at the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference, offered by a collaborative research team supported by NSF. Thirty engineering educators across the nation participated in an intensive workshop, with the goal of improving their writing pedagogies in engineering labs. Participants’ academic disciplines included Civil (n = 10), Mechanical/Aerospace (n = 8), Chemical/Bio (n = 5), Electrical/Computer (n=3), Tech writing (n = 2), Engineering (n = 1), and Physics (n = 1). Workshop participants were given access to the learning transfer-focused instructional guides available at engineeringlabwriting.org to design and develop lab report assignments and assessments, enhancing students’ lab writing. They worked through the guides in small groups to design and develop sample labs, discuss the issues related to lab writing and how to deliver the instructor’s lab writing expectations and learn to provide feedback to students clearly and concisely. Pre-survey results show that the participants showed varying levels of familiarity with rhetorical elements of writing and writing pedagogy. Many participants had developed rubrics for their writing assignments and frequently revised instructional materials related to lab writing. There was a general agreement on the value of workshops for professional development. In the post-survey, participants reported the guides were extremely helpful in improving their understanding of rhetorical elements of writing and writing pedagogy strategies. Most participants felt confident in developing rubrics and providing productive feedback on students' lab reports with the use of the guides. The workshop helped establish a sense of community among participants, enhancing their interest in lab writing and teaching. Respondents suggested several areas for workshop improvement, including extended workshop time, various activities, and diverse examples and samples to provide a broader context. During the open discussion, participants raised issues with scaffolding, faculty time, TA support, and generative AI, mostly ChatGPT.