Tech Comm's Dr. Ryan Boettger Awarded 3-Year STEM Education Grant from NSF | Technical Communication
August 2, 2017

Tech Comm's Dr. Ryan Boettger Awarded 3-Year STEM Education Grant from NSF

Dr. Boettger's research responds to the need to improve the quality of writing instruction for undergraduates pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Boettger believes that understanding writing disciplinary differences has become increasingly relevant as instruction moves from literature-based writing courses in English departments to include technical writing and content-based courses taught by scholars in different disciplines.

Currently, STEM undergraduates have little access to customized, discipline-specific writing instruction. A proposed solution is to engage students in a form of data-driven learning (or DDL) that teaches them how to write in their discipline rather than apply generalist writing principles that contradict how professionals actually communicate.

Boettger will co-lead this project with his colleague Dr. Stefanie Wulff (University of Florida). Their research team also includes Drs. David Hoeinghaus and Aaron Roberts (from UNT's Department of Biological Sciences) as well as consultant Dr. Laurence Anthony (Waseda University, Japan). This team of researchers will develop a series of DDL instructional units for STEM undergraduates in both multi-major writing-intensive courses as well as STEM-focused content courses in physiology and ecology.

Learn more about the work at http://www.technicalwritingproject.com/.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is vital because we support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future