Writing in the Discipline
Computer Science
1. Why or in what ways is writing important to your discipline/field/profession?
In the computer science discipline, it is important that students acquire the writing and communication skills necessary to:
- Describe what they have accomplished and how to effectively comment/report on it
- Give specific directions to build a software product
- Translate technical topics into layman’s terms
2. Which courses are designated as satisfying the WID requirement by your department? Why these courses?
The Mathematics and Computer Science Department has identified two required courses in computer science in which there is an emphasis on various forms of writing within our discipline:
CSCI 212 - Data Structures - Data Structures is the final course in the introductory sequence and may be viewed as the first upper-level course in the major. For the first time, students go beyond writing a program that works to reflecting on what makes one working solution better than another. They also learn to implement and use data structures, key building blocks that programmers have found useful in many different programs, written in many languages, over the years.
CSCI 401 - Software Engineering - CSCI 401 functions as a programming capstone for the computer science major. Students spend considerable time planning their program: writing requirements documents, describing their designs both in text and in detailed formal diagrams, and spelling out detailed plans for implementing and testing. The documents, plus the programs themselves, are representative of all the major forms of writing in the discipline.
3. What forms or genres of writing will students learn and practice in your department’s WID courses? Why these genres?
In computer science, students must learn and practice technical writing in many forms. Computer scientists write technical proposals or recommendations, research papers, grant proposals, oral presentations, requirements documents, brochures, technical reports and web pages.
4. What kinds of teaching practices will students encounter in your department’s WID courses?
The following is a list of teaching practices found in many computer science classes:
- Peer editing – Students learn a lot from each other. Students share their writing with each other and offer improvements.
- Brain Storming and Small Group Discussions – Students are given a template and work on requirements of each section of a document.
- Required Revisions – Like writing software, writing is an iterative process. Students first work together on drafts. The instructor then gives constructive comments and the students need to revise and upload again. This process happens several times during the semester.
5. When they’ve satisfied your department’s WID requirement, what should students know and be able to do with writing?
Students will be able to write executive summary reports that effectively describe why one implementation is better than another for solving a problem. They will also be able to write requirements documents that adequately explain how a software product will be designed, tested and used. This includes but is not limited to:
- Software specifications and requirements
- Software high level architecture, design method and use cases
- Solution methodology and algorithms
- Source code documentation, and version tracking
- Testing methods including white box and black box testing
- User manuals (including system installation and configuration)
Computer Information Systems
1. Why or in what ways is writing important to your discipline/field/profession?
IT professionals need to have the ability to communicate with many constituencies and in many forms as well as communicate to a variety of stakeholders in order to facilitate decision making and provide information. IT professionals describe technology, create executive summaries, and prepare project reports. In short, writing is an essential skill in IT fields.
2. Which courses are designated as satisfying the WID requirement by your department? Why these courses?
CIS 455 and CIS 462 are designated as Writing in the Discipline courses for the CIS Program. These courses provide students the opportunity to analyze and describe technology, create executive summaries, develop modeling tools, and prepare professional project reports.
3. What forms or genres of writing will students learn and practice in your department’s WID courses? Why these genres?
CIS majors learn the conventions of program and systems documentation and how to communicate facts, ideas and recommendations in systems analysis and design projects. These are necessary to communicate important information to stakeholders.
4. What kinds of teaching practices will students encounter in your department’s WID courses?
CIS WID courses use team projects that allow students to work together and receive feedback on their writing during multiple phases throughout the semester. In addition, CIS 462 students use team meetings with the instructor to review the content of project reports, providing regular feedback to and from the instructor.
5. When they’ve satisfied your department’s WID requirement, what should students know and be able to do with writing?
Once they’ve completed their WID courses, CIS majors should be able to describe technology, create executive summaries, develop modeling tools, and prepare professional project reports.
