This taxonomy was derived from a paper:
Dugan, R. and Polanski,
V. (2005). Writing for Computer
Science: A Taxonomy of Writing Tasks and General Advice. Submitted December
2005 to Journal of Computing in Small Colleges.
The small-college-computer-science instructor generally teaches a variety of courses. Each course has the potential to address the writing problem in a different manner. As a result, the instructor is responsible for assigning a large variety of writing tasks. We believe that instructors would benefit from guidance for assigning these writing tasks. No single solution from the prior research can provide this guidance because each solution applies to a small number of writing tasks or courses. Therefore, we decided it is time to take a step back and organize the research and praxis into a comprehensive taxonomy of writing tasks.
Our taxonomy is divided according to three main goals: writing for learning, writing for academic communication, and writing for industrial communication. Writing tasks within each goal are grouped into goal-oriented categories of similar tasks. Each task includes a description and list of citations. Citations in bold type provide clear, concise, and detailed models for the writing task. Instructors can use these models for assigning the task to students. The taxonomy is related to Orr’s work, but focuses on student writing tasks, rather than academic-researcher writing tasks [Orr1999].
For example, the goal of reflective learning in a course can be achieved through the use of a Writing for Learning Task such as the weekly journal/diary. By locating this task in the taxonomy, the instructor can review prior work and construct a student writing assignment from a model referenced with a bold-faced citation.
Table 1: WRITING FOR LEARNING
|
|
Category
|
Genre
|
Critical |
peer evaluation [Ladd2003,
Bickerstaff1992, Fell1996, Nelson2000] peer structured document
walkthrough [Bickerstaff1992, DOE2002] portfolio [Ladd2003,
Barrett2001] partial revision of
student paper [Kaczmarczyk2003, Haswell1983] critique of
journal/magazine article [Kaczmarczyk2003, Kaczmarczyk2004, Bickerstaff1992,
Börstler1998, Bengston2005, Engle2004, Benjes-Small2003]. critique of programming language [Kaczmarczyk2003,Sebesta2005, Dugan2005a] |
Persuasive |
class debate
[Polack-Wahl2000, Egan1996] essay - discuss sides of
issue and argue for one side [Anewalt2002,Egan1996] ethics paper [Polack-Wahl2000, Kirzner2002] |
Reflective |
programming project
reports [Anewalt2002, Fell1996VanDegrift2004] response to reading
assignment [Kaczmarczyk2004, Anewalt2002, Jacobson1989] summary of reading assignment [Anewalt2002, Jacobson1989] response to important
course topic [Fekete2000, Fell1998, Jacobson1989] response connecting two
different lectures [Anewalt2002, Jacobson1989] weekly journal/diary
[Fell1998, Fekete2000] weblog [Wikipedia2005] one-minute essay [Orr2005] replacement of traditional
problem set with writing assignment [VanDegrift2004, Anewalt2002,
Bickerstaff1992, Fell1996] |
Table 2: WRITING FOR ACADEMIC
COMMUNICATION
|
|
Category
|
Genre
|
Scholarly |
research
proposal [Taylor1993, Zobel1996] research
paper [Taylor1993, Cunningham1995, Kaczmarczyk2004, Börstler1998, Zobel1996] magazine
article for internal publication [Hafen1994, Côté1992] |
|
Oral |
class
presentation [Börstler1998, , Polack-Wahl2000] |
|
Technical |
explanation
of code/data structure/algorithm [Cunningham1995, Anewalr2002, Hartman1989,
Kaczmarczyk2003, Fell1996] laboratory
reports[Waller1994, Fell1996, Parker1995] |
|
TABLE 3: WRITING
FOR INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATION |
|
Category
|
Genre
|
|
Team |
meeting
[Orr1999, Alred2003] - agenda for meeting[Alred2003] - minutes for meeting [Bickerstaff1992,
Mengle2000, Alred2003] presentation
[see Writing for Academic Communication/Oral] email
[Alred2003] posting to newsgroups/bulletin boards/listserves [Orr1999, Hamilton1997, WJHCS2005]
memo
[Snyder1992, Alred2003] |
|
Customer |
survey/questionnaire
[Fray2002, Salant1994]
white
paper [Orr1999] presentation [see Communication/Academia/Oral]
website
[Alred2003] user
manual/help [see Writing for Industrial Communication/Project Management] proposal/requirements
[see Writing for Industrial Communication/Project Management] bug
report [see Writing for Industrial Communication/Project Management] executive
summary [Writing for Industrial Communication/Project Management] |
|
Project Management |
weekly
status report [Fekete2000, Alred2003] bug
report [Pfleeger2001] core
documents: -
proposal [RWL2003, Almstrum2005] -
project plan [RWL2003, Almstrum2005] -
requirements [Kay1998, Snyder1992, Bickerstaff1992, Brown1998,
RWL2003, Almstrum2005, Dugan2005b] -
design [RWL2003, Almstrum2005, Dugan2005b] -
test plan [Bickerstaff1992, RWL2003, Almstrum2005a] -
user manual/online help [Kaczmarczyk2003,
Brown1989, Kaczmarczyk2004, Bickerstaff1992, Bremmer1999]
executive
summary [Alred2003] project post-mortem report [self-reported] |
|
Career Management |
resume
[Snyder1992, Alred2003] letter
[Snyder1992, Alred2003] - acceptance letter [Alred2003] - resignation letter [Alred2003] - interview followup letter [Alred2003] job
description [Alred2003] employee
appraisal [Orr1999] team
mission statement [Orr1999] |
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