Faculty Advisers as Learners and Teachers of Disciplinary Writing

• In Event: 33.079 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 33.079-19 - Writing Instruction and Curriculum Assessment

Abstract

Increasingly, writing for publication during graduate tenure is an expectation cutting across disciplinary and international borders. However, the pedagogy of disciplinary writing remains understudied. This effort applies a cognitive apprenticeship framework to interview data collected from 43 doctoral advisors in engineering, mathematics, and science who regularly write for publication with their doctoral students. Advisors described who taught them to write for their discipline, what they learned, and how this experience influences their pedagogical practices as teachers of disciplinary writing. Results indicated that only a minority of advisors reported learning how to write for their discipline from their own doctoral advisor. Most relied heavily or exclusively on a range of alternative experiences, resources, and people to serve as disciplinary writing teachers.

Authors

• Michelle A. Maher, University of Missouri - Kansas City

• Brett H. Say, George Mason University

• David F. Feldon, Utah State University