Using Course-Based Research to Evaluate Best Practices for Teaching Writing to First-Year Engineering Students

Using a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) model of education, an English composition instructor designed an honors section of first-year composition to evaluate current best practices in the field of teaching writing to STEM undergraduates. The students, all first-year engineering majors, conducted guided research on best practices in teaching writing at STEM universities, created an in-class activity based on their findings that could be used in their own or other first-year composition classes, tested each other’s activities in small groups, and gave feedback on the activities themselves and the theories behind the best practices. The article presents an overview of the course and its objectives; summarizes the students’ activity designs, results, and conclusions; and concludes with student feedback and lessons learned.