Cja 150 Civil Engineering Research Paper
Nolan Denslow
WRA 150
A. Madrigal
November 17, 2014
Disciplinary Literacies Project The major that I have researched for this project is Civil Engineering. Civil engineering is the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings. Civil Engineering has specific writing features that connects the form of the writing to its content to help better understand. The inquiry that I am investigating is; how does the use of figures, direct language, and abstracts as writing features in civil engineering help the reader better understand the content?
One of the first scholarly articles that I stumbled across while researching was called High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections. While briefly reading …show more content…
this article, one feature that I noticed first is that there are a lot of figures and tables. A lot of the scholarly articles that are in civil engineering have this feature. Especially if the article is in depth about what it is trying to explain. A figure could include being an easy to look at picture of what they are talking about. An example of this is when the author is talking about a connecting steel joint called a t-stub. “The T-stub idealization of the tension zone of a connection consists is substituting this zone for T-stub sections of appropriate effective length (Girão Coelho).” This is just one sentence of many trying to explain. Instead of just trying to explain what a t-stub looks like the author also shows a diagram of it. Mainly because anybody outside of the civil engineering field probably doesn’t know what that is. However it can give another engineer that is reading an actual picture of what they might be trying to do. One of the main reasons that figures are in the article is because it makes it easier on the reader. Civil engineering is broadly a mix of math and physics. Both of which involve a lot of numbers. When an author is trying to explain using certain numbers it can be a challenge to try and understand exactly what is being said. Especially when a certain number or series of numbers is repeated often. When you have a lot of data like you do in engineering, comparing the data using sentences can also be a bit confusing. Using a table lets the reader visually see the comparisons next to each other. While also letting the author put a lot of information on the page without writing too much and confusing the reader. Some things are just better off by being looked at rather than being told to. Another example is in the same article High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections, where they are doing an experiment. The results are numbers on top of numbers, and they need to be able to compare all of these to see which was best (Girão Coelho). To do this they just make a basic chart and graph to compare all of the results. This is an efficient way to compare data and to allow the reader to be able to understand what is going on with a lot less confusion. I would insert a picture of the graph but copying it from the article is unavailable.
In the same article about high strength steel, a different writing feature is shown. This writing feature is how they are saying their sentences. The author is talking in a direct way to the reader. For example, he says “End plate bolted connections that are widely used in steel frames as moment-resistant connections between steel members usually fall in the semi-rigid/partial strength category. (Girão Coelho)” The author is directly communicating with the reader, instead of being indirect and starting the sentence with something like “It is common that...” or something related to that. The author is talking directly to the person/reader, not swerving around them. The benefit of doing this is making it more clear what is being said. In civil engineering, direct language is important say when a boss is giving directions to a worker. They’re going to want to be very clear in what they say so that the person they are giving directions to knows exactly the task at hand. This is also true for writing, the direct language feels almost as if the author is giving you directions for what the reader needs to do. Even if the reader is just someone interested in the article or researching it, it is still clear to them. As well as if the reader is someone that the directions can apply to, it can to them just as easy.
In the beginning the item being researched was a scholarly article, now I am going to be researching into a trade publication. A trade publication is an article that is actually from the field of the discipline. There are similarities and differences in the writing features of scholarly articles and trade publications. In the first analysis I mentioned that there is a lot of direct language instead of indirect language.
After researching trade articles more I came to the conclusion that there is a lot more of direct language and communication in trade publications than in scholarly articles. Some of the articles even have language and quotes from other people instead of just summarizing what they said. In this trade article called Civil engineering research to explore manhole rehabilitation, the author talks about the problem directly and says the plans for the project. But also he has exact words from one of the main guys that is co leading the job. For example the exact words are “Manholes have received very little attention in wastewater engineering," Najafi said. "Inflow is a common problem that can result in sewer overflows and overburdening wastewater systems." But then the author comes back and says “The grant will allow the team to conduct compression tests, tensile tests and shear strength tests to create a tool for developing a system that people can use to rehabilitate manholes (News Reporter-Staff News Editor).” It is if they are using the “They say, I say” form that we learned to write in. The “they say, I say” here is when the author quotes something, and then writes his input as well. The advantage of this is getting different aspects on the topic being discussed, and more information in the article. This is important because civil engineering can be complicated and you need to have specific directions. One little mistake can mess up an entire operation, which can lead to re doing an entire operation which costs time and money. More importantly if the misdirection goes unseen it could cause a structure to fail causing many more problems and potential injury. Direct language is important an important feature in civil engineering for those reasons.
In another trade article called CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable games, direct language is also a writing feature. This article is about what to do with the Olympic stadiums in London from the Olympic Games in 2004. The use of direct language as well as direct quotes is shown here. “In a recent report from the Commission for Sustainable London 2012, chair Shaun McCarthy said that he was 'concerned that the ambition to use the games to inspire more sustainable behavior will not be fully realized '. He claimed sweeping statements that the Olympic Park is set to become a 'blueprint for sustainable living ' have not yet been backed up by comprehensive plans (Zolfagharifard)” Again it is an example of the “they say, I say” technique combined with direct language and direct quotes. Then the author has his input as well. Using the combination of direct language with the “they say/ I say” technique gives the reader a more clear understanding of the content in an article. The “they say/I say” gives the same effect as the direct language, because both of the way the “they say” and the “I say” are in the form of direct language.
It seemed that it did not matter whether it was a trade publication or a scholarly article, one thing that seemed to always be there was the abstract. Abstracts are at the beginning of the articles and they usually give a summary of what the article is about, and point out some of the key ideas. I think that having an abstract when writing in civil engineering because engineering can get pretty specific. By having an abstract there, someone can read it to ensure that is what they are looking for. Also, maybe if someone is just looking for something interesting to read, maybe not specific, an abstract helps give a good preview of what the article is about. For example, in the trade article CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable games, the first sentence in the abstract is “The once magnificent Olympic Park in Athens has become a ghost town (Zolfagharifard).” This first sentence here gives an idea of what the article is about and creates a sense of curiosity for the reader. Imagine if the abstract was not there, where would you go to have a preview of the article? If it was a 45 page article you would be in trouble. Instead of having to read the entire thing and then find out it is not what they are looking for, having an abstract there is just a convenient preview and introduction about what someone is looking to read. For researching a scholarly website, I figured that the first place to go to was to my disciplines academic website. On the welcome page the thing I noticed first was that the welcome page acts as an abstract to the whole website. It is an introduction and a preview of what the website is about. Including general information about civil engineering and the program here at Michigan State. The abstract on this website can help direct the reader to a certain page or make sure they are on the correct website that they are looking for. Without an abstract, looking through the website to see if the reader is on the right website would take more time. Direct language is also shown on this scholarly page. The following sentence is from the abstract of the website. “There 's a lot to tell you about our department and the people in it, but at the same time we 've tried to make these pages as quick and easy to use as possible for a broad range of potential users (MSU Civil Engineering Department).” The writing feature direct language is present here, the sentence is straight to the point and communicating directly to the reader without a middle man. This makes reading on this website more clear to the reader and does not waste time. Not only is the form of this sentence direct, when reading this sentence and I could not help but notice that the content is also talking about being direct. It says “we 've tried to make these pages as quick and easy to use as possible. (MSU Civil Engineering Department)” That there clearly states that they are trying to be direct and straight to the point as possible. This being a website there really is not a need to have figures like graphs and tables, however there are a couple of pictures. For example, civil engineering has to do with the design, creation, and building of bridges. On the website the back ground is a picture of the mackinaw bridge. This picture just gives a brief understanding of some of the work that civil engineers can do in a “figure” form. As talked about above, scholarly websites have some of the same writing features in civil engineering as other articles. As part of my research I did an interview with a member of my discipline. The person I chose to interview is Rigoberto Burgueño. He is the Associate Professor of Structural Engineering Director and Civil Infrastructure Laboratory here at Michigan State. One of the first things that he pointed out was the fact that a lot of writing features are consistent in the writing of all engineering disciplines (Burgueño). He also pointed out that “preciseness and careful documentation are the most important features of the writing.” These features are kind of pointed out earlier in the draft when clarity is needed in civil engineering for directional purposes. When I asked him about what writing features he specifically does in writing, this was his response; “All of my writing is for technical and research publications and thus graphics representing experiments or theories are common. Also plots and graphs that depict data (from computer analyses or experiments) are always used to showcase research results, communicate findings and explain certain phenomena. In a typical technical writing about half of the space (in equivalent words) will be figures. (Burgueño)” Which these are some of the same features that I saw when investigating civil engineering articles. I then asked him about how the presence of these features help readers understand the content? Burgueño started off by saying that the table, charts, and graphs are the facts of the writing. “They provide the evidence for the explanation or theories being presented (Burgueño)” Relating back to the “they say, I say” feature the “I say” needs to be backed by evidence. Well that is what is going on here, the writing is the “I say” and then it is backed up by the figures which are the “they say”. Also on this Burgueño said “Careful preparation of such figures, graphs and plots is thus essential - and not easy to do well. A well prepared figure or graph can explain a technical issue with much more power, persuasiveness and clarity than words can.” This was pointed out earlier in the draft but now it is backed by a professional in the field, and is an important feature in civil engineering.
Now you have saw some writing features in the discipline civil engineering that connects the form of the writing to its content to help the reader better understand the content.
The features of figures, direct language, and abstracts have been analyzed and shown.
Work Cited
Burgueño, Rigoberto. Email Interview. 18 November 2014.
Girão Coelho, Ana M, & Bijlaard, Frans. (2010). High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections. Advances in Structural Engineering, 413-429. doi: 10.1260/1369-4332.13.3.413
"MSU Civil and Environmental Engineering - About." MSU Civil and Environmental Engineering - About. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.egr.msu.edu/cee/about/index.html>.
News Reporter-Staff News Editor. (2012). Civil Engineering; Civil engineering research to explore manhole rehabilitation. Investment Weekly News via NewsRx.com. doi: unavailable.<http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1081991035?accountid=12598>
Zolfagharifard, Ellie. "CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable Games." The Engineer (2010): 22-4. ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov.
2014.
WRA 150
A. Madrigal
November 17, 2014
Disciplinary Literacies Project The major that I have researched for this project is Civil Engineering. Civil engineering is the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings. Civil Engineering has specific writing features that connects the form of the writing to its content to help better understand. The inquiry that I am investigating is; how does the use of figures, direct language, and abstracts as writing features in civil engineering help the reader better understand the content?
One of the first scholarly articles that I stumbled across while researching was called High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections. While briefly reading …show more content…
this article, one feature that I noticed first is that there are a lot of figures and tables. A lot of the scholarly articles that are in civil engineering have this feature. Especially if the article is in depth about what it is trying to explain. A figure could include being an easy to look at picture of what they are talking about. An example of this is when the author is talking about a connecting steel joint called a t-stub. “The T-stub idealization of the tension zone of a connection consists is substituting this zone for T-stub sections of appropriate effective length (Girão Coelho).” This is just one sentence of many trying to explain. Instead of just trying to explain what a t-stub looks like the author also shows a diagram of it. Mainly because anybody outside of the civil engineering field probably doesn’t know what that is. However it can give another engineer that is reading an actual picture of what they might be trying to do. One of the main reasons that figures are in the article is because it makes it easier on the reader. Civil engineering is broadly a mix of math and physics. Both of which involve a lot of numbers. When an author is trying to explain using certain numbers it can be a challenge to try and understand exactly what is being said. Especially when a certain number or series of numbers is repeated often. When you have a lot of data like you do in engineering, comparing the data using sentences can also be a bit confusing. Using a table lets the reader visually see the comparisons next to each other. While also letting the author put a lot of information on the page without writing too much and confusing the reader. Some things are just better off by being looked at rather than being told to. Another example is in the same article High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections, where they are doing an experiment. The results are numbers on top of numbers, and they need to be able to compare all of these to see which was best (Girão Coelho). To do this they just make a basic chart and graph to compare all of the results. This is an efficient way to compare data and to allow the reader to be able to understand what is going on with a lot less confusion. I would insert a picture of the graph but copying it from the article is unavailable.
In the same article about high strength steel, a different writing feature is shown. This writing feature is how they are saying their sentences. The author is talking in a direct way to the reader. For example, he says “End plate bolted connections that are widely used in steel frames as moment-resistant connections between steel members usually fall in the semi-rigid/partial strength category. (Girão Coelho)” The author is directly communicating with the reader, instead of being indirect and starting the sentence with something like “It is common that...” or something related to that. The author is talking directly to the person/reader, not swerving around them. The benefit of doing this is making it more clear what is being said. In civil engineering, direct language is important say when a boss is giving directions to a worker. They’re going to want to be very clear in what they say so that the person they are giving directions to knows exactly the task at hand. This is also true for writing, the direct language feels almost as if the author is giving you directions for what the reader needs to do. Even if the reader is just someone interested in the article or researching it, it is still clear to them. As well as if the reader is someone that the directions can apply to, it can to them just as easy.
In the beginning the item being researched was a scholarly article, now I am going to be researching into a trade publication. A trade publication is an article that is actually from the field of the discipline. There are similarities and differences in the writing features of scholarly articles and trade publications. In the first analysis I mentioned that there is a lot of direct language instead of indirect language.
After researching trade articles more I came to the conclusion that there is a lot more of direct language and communication in trade publications than in scholarly articles. Some of the articles even have language and quotes from other people instead of just summarizing what they said. In this trade article called Civil engineering research to explore manhole rehabilitation, the author talks about the problem directly and says the plans for the project. But also he has exact words from one of the main guys that is co leading the job. For example the exact words are “Manholes have received very little attention in wastewater engineering," Najafi said. "Inflow is a common problem that can result in sewer overflows and overburdening wastewater systems." But then the author comes back and says “The grant will allow the team to conduct compression tests, tensile tests and shear strength tests to create a tool for developing a system that people can use to rehabilitate manholes (News Reporter-Staff News Editor).” It is if they are using the “They say, I say” form that we learned to write in. The “they say, I say” here is when the author quotes something, and then writes his input as well. The advantage of this is getting different aspects on the topic being discussed, and more information in the article. This is important because civil engineering can be complicated and you need to have specific directions. One little mistake can mess up an entire operation, which can lead to re doing an entire operation which costs time and money. More importantly if the misdirection goes unseen it could cause a structure to fail causing many more problems and potential injury. Direct language is important an important feature in civil engineering for those reasons.
In another trade article called CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable games, direct language is also a writing feature. This article is about what to do with the Olympic stadiums in London from the Olympic Games in 2004. The use of direct language as well as direct quotes is shown here. “In a recent report from the Commission for Sustainable London 2012, chair Shaun McCarthy said that he was 'concerned that the ambition to use the games to inspire more sustainable behavior will not be fully realized '. He claimed sweeping statements that the Olympic Park is set to become a 'blueprint for sustainable living ' have not yet been backed up by comprehensive plans (Zolfagharifard)” Again it is an example of the “they say, I say” technique combined with direct language and direct quotes. Then the author has his input as well. Using the combination of direct language with the “they say/ I say” technique gives the reader a more clear understanding of the content in an article. The “they say/I say” gives the same effect as the direct language, because both of the way the “they say” and the “I say” are in the form of direct language.
It seemed that it did not matter whether it was a trade publication or a scholarly article, one thing that seemed to always be there was the abstract. Abstracts are at the beginning of the articles and they usually give a summary of what the article is about, and point out some of the key ideas. I think that having an abstract when writing in civil engineering because engineering can get pretty specific. By having an abstract there, someone can read it to ensure that is what they are looking for. Also, maybe if someone is just looking for something interesting to read, maybe not specific, an abstract helps give a good preview of what the article is about. For example, in the trade article CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable games, the first sentence in the abstract is “The once magnificent Olympic Park in Athens has become a ghost town (Zolfagharifard).” This first sentence here gives an idea of what the article is about and creates a sense of curiosity for the reader. Imagine if the abstract was not there, where would you go to have a preview of the article? If it was a 45 page article you would be in trouble. Instead of having to read the entire thing and then find out it is not what they are looking for, having an abstract there is just a convenient preview and introduction about what someone is looking to read. For researching a scholarly website, I figured that the first place to go to was to my disciplines academic website. On the welcome page the thing I noticed first was that the welcome page acts as an abstract to the whole website. It is an introduction and a preview of what the website is about. Including general information about civil engineering and the program here at Michigan State. The abstract on this website can help direct the reader to a certain page or make sure they are on the correct website that they are looking for. Without an abstract, looking through the website to see if the reader is on the right website would take more time. Direct language is also shown on this scholarly page. The following sentence is from the abstract of the website. “There 's a lot to tell you about our department and the people in it, but at the same time we 've tried to make these pages as quick and easy to use as possible for a broad range of potential users (MSU Civil Engineering Department).” The writing feature direct language is present here, the sentence is straight to the point and communicating directly to the reader without a middle man. This makes reading on this website more clear to the reader and does not waste time. Not only is the form of this sentence direct, when reading this sentence and I could not help but notice that the content is also talking about being direct. It says “we 've tried to make these pages as quick and easy to use as possible. (MSU Civil Engineering Department)” That there clearly states that they are trying to be direct and straight to the point as possible. This being a website there really is not a need to have figures like graphs and tables, however there are a couple of pictures. For example, civil engineering has to do with the design, creation, and building of bridges. On the website the back ground is a picture of the mackinaw bridge. This picture just gives a brief understanding of some of the work that civil engineers can do in a “figure” form. As talked about above, scholarly websites have some of the same writing features in civil engineering as other articles. As part of my research I did an interview with a member of my discipline. The person I chose to interview is Rigoberto Burgueño. He is the Associate Professor of Structural Engineering Director and Civil Infrastructure Laboratory here at Michigan State. One of the first things that he pointed out was the fact that a lot of writing features are consistent in the writing of all engineering disciplines (Burgueño). He also pointed out that “preciseness and careful documentation are the most important features of the writing.” These features are kind of pointed out earlier in the draft when clarity is needed in civil engineering for directional purposes. When I asked him about what writing features he specifically does in writing, this was his response; “All of my writing is for technical and research publications and thus graphics representing experiments or theories are common. Also plots and graphs that depict data (from computer analyses or experiments) are always used to showcase research results, communicate findings and explain certain phenomena. In a typical technical writing about half of the space (in equivalent words) will be figures. (Burgueño)” Which these are some of the same features that I saw when investigating civil engineering articles. I then asked him about how the presence of these features help readers understand the content? Burgueño started off by saying that the table, charts, and graphs are the facts of the writing. “They provide the evidence for the explanation or theories being presented (Burgueño)” Relating back to the “they say, I say” feature the “I say” needs to be backed by evidence. Well that is what is going on here, the writing is the “I say” and then it is backed up by the figures which are the “they say”. Also on this Burgueño said “Careful preparation of such figures, graphs and plots is thus essential - and not easy to do well. A well prepared figure or graph can explain a technical issue with much more power, persuasiveness and clarity than words can.” This was pointed out earlier in the draft but now it is backed by a professional in the field, and is an important feature in civil engineering.
Now you have saw some writing features in the discipline civil engineering that connects the form of the writing to its content to help the reader better understand the content.
The features of figures, direct language, and abstracts have been analyzed and shown.
Work Cited
Burgueño, Rigoberto. Email Interview. 18 November 2014.
Girão Coelho, Ana M, & Bijlaard, Frans. (2010). High Strength Steel in Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures: Design of Connections. Advances in Structural Engineering, 413-429. doi: 10.1260/1369-4332.13.3.413
"MSU Civil and Environmental Engineering - About." MSU Civil and Environmental Engineering - About. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.egr.msu.edu/cee/about/index.html>.
News Reporter-Staff News Editor. (2012). Civil Engineering; Civil engineering research to explore manhole rehabilitation. Investment Weekly News via NewsRx.com. doi: unavailable.<http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1081991035?accountid=12598>
Zolfagharifard, Ellie. "CIVIL ENGINEERING: Sustainable Games." The Engineer (2010): 22-4. ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov.
2014.