A model for integrating first-year composition courses with engineering curriculum

This paper describes the development, pilot offering and initial assessment of a first year composition course, Essentials of College Rhetoric, specifically designed to provide students entering engineering programs at Texas Tech University (USA) with the critical reading and writing skills and rhetorical strategies traditionally taught in first year composition. However, this course differs from traditional composition courses in that it shares curriculum and assignments with the introductory electrical engineering course, Introduction to Engineering and Computer Programming, and not only underscores the role of engineers as writers in the workplace by teaching documentation conventions common to engineering practice, but also requires students to think and write critically about ethical, political, and other issues that shape the role of engineering in our culture.