Technical writing attitude measurement and instructional goals

Although computers are important tools to help learners improve their writing skills, the instructor must still establish the instructional goals of a course. This study presents an instrument, the `technical writing attitude measurement´, that measures students´ attitudes towards their technical writing skills and provides data and objectives which help the instructor develop instructional materials and assignments to improve student skills. The `technical writing attitude measurement´, a Likert-type, self-report questionnaire, is based on instructional goals that may be divided into three categories: rhetorical principles, planning strategies, and drafting skills. The instrument was used to measure changes in student attitude toward technical writing skills. These changes were influenced by two main methods of instruction, the case method and the rhetorical approach to teaching technical writing.