Background: The lab report is a commonly assigned genre in engineering lab courses; however, students often have difficulties meeting the expectations of writing in engineering labs. At the same time, it is challenging for engineering faculty to instruct lab report writing because they are often under-supported in writing pedagogies and usually unfamiliar with the extent of students’ prior writing knowledge. Literature review: Literature on technical communication in engineering addresses the importance of a rhetorical approach to writing instruction, as well as an emphasis on genre. Extending this literature, research into writing transfer provides valuable insight for better understanding how undergraduates negotiate the engineering lab report as a new genre within this distinct rhetorical context. Research questions: 1. How effective is a transfer-focused writing pedagogy in supporting students’ understanding of the genre conventions of engineering lab reports? 2. How does the transfer-focused writing pedagogy impact students’ writing quality in five categories (rhetorical knowledge, organization, evidence, critical thinking, and disciplinary conventions)? 3. What are the rhetorical features that engineering students improve or struggle with the most with lab report writing? Research methodology: Four engineering instructors and two English instructors participated in this study to design and develop the lab report writing instructional module, and implemented the module materials into their engineering lab courses. The module, consisting of lab report writing instruction and assessment resources, shares a rhetorical approach and foundational writing terms with first-year composition courses to emphasize a writing-transfer pedagogy. We collected and analyzed undergraduates’ lab report samples to evaluate the impact of the module on students’ writing performance. Two sets of lab reports were collected for analysis: the sample sets before (control), during the 2015–2016 academic year; and after (experimental) implementation of the module, during the 2016–2017 academic year. Results and conclusions: Data collected via pre- and post-implementation writing artifacts show that a rhetorical approach to teaching lab reports helped students better understand the expectations of the lab report as a discipline-specific genre, and it developed students’ understanding of the rhetorical features of engineering writing. The pilot module positively impacted the quality of students’ lab reports, a finding that suggests that using a transfer-focused writing pedagogy can successfully support the transfer and adaptation of writing knowledge into gateway or entry-level engineering laboratory courses.

中文翻译：

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在网关工程实验室课程中使用转移焦点写作教学法提高本科生的实验室报告写作

背景：实验室报告是工程实验室课程中常见的一种类型；然而，学生往往难以满足在工程实验室写作的期望。同时，工程教师指导实验室报告写作具有挑战性，因为他们在写作教学法方面往往缺乏支持，并且通常不熟悉学生先前的写作知识范围。文献综述：关于工程技术交流的文献阐述了修辞方法对写作教学的重要性，以及对体裁的强调。扩展这些文献，对写作转移的研究为更好地理解本科生如何在这种独特的修辞语境中将工程实验室报告作为一种新类型进行谈判提供了宝贵的见解。研究问题：1。以转移为中心的写作教学法在支持学生理解工程实验室报告的体裁惯例方面的效果如何？2. 以迁移为中心的写作教学法在五个方面（修辞知识、组织、证据、批判性思维和学科惯例）如何影响学生的写作质量？3. 工科学生在撰写实验室报告时最能改进或挣扎的修辞特征是什么？研究方法：四位工程讲师和两位英文讲师参与本次研究，设计开发了实验报告写作教学模块，并将模块材料应用到他们的工程实验课程中。该模块由实验室报告写作指导和评估资源组成，与一年级作文课程分享修辞方法和基础写作术语，以强调写作转移教学法。我们收集并分析了本科生的实验报告样本，以评估该模块对学生写作表现的影响。收集了两组实验室报告进行分析：之前（对照）、2015-2016 学年期间的样本集；以及在（实验性）实施该模块之后，在 2016-2017 学年期间。结果和结论：通过实施前和实施后的写作作品收集的数据表明，教授实验室报告的修辞方法帮助学生更好地理解实验室报告作为学科特定类型的期望，并培养了学生对修辞的理解工程写作的特点。