Bridget Dalton
berdwyer
Blaine Smith
danagrisham
jillcastek
TDWolseyThomas DeVere Wolsey
Literacy in the disciplines aims to help students (and their teachers!) learn how knowledge is constructed in distinct way from one discipline to another (and one profession to another). We may encourage students to write like a scientist or speak like a mathematician. But I started wondering, just what do various experts and professionals write? I decided to do a bit of research using my friend Google.
Here is what I discovered:
| Figure 1: What do Professionals and Disciplinary Experts Write? | |||
| Scientists1 | Doctors2 | Historians3 | Mathematicians4 |
| Journal articles, typically studies Research proposals Lab reports Research reports Scientific posters | Regulatory writing (think Food and Drug Administration) Scientific publications Health information for patients Professional education Promotional information Grant Applications | Narrative history (an account of a time) Analytical & interpretive writing Description of documents including provenance | Short answer calculation Proof Short paper Computer code Abstracts for presentations and longer papers Longer papers Posters for presentations |
| Sources: 1 https://sites.middlebury.edu/middsciwriting/by-genre/ 2 https://blog.amwa.org/what-types-of-medical-writing-are-there 3 https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/historian/ and https://www.svsu.edu/whywritingmatters/abs/history 4https://www.southwestern.edu/live/files/4175-guide-for-writing-in-mathematicspdf | |||
This table contains a list of writing that occurs in various disciplines. This list is not comprehensive; for example, there is no category for authors of fiction, and there is only one profession that draws on several disciplines. The details of format will vary by discipline. Our goal as teachers is not necessarily to have students duplicate what experts write, but to be aware of how experts write. Students may write in other formats, composing a TikTok video or Instagram reel that mimics features of expert writing and addresses the problems or ideas they identify, using the sources of evidence they find.
What disciplines should be added? Which professions might be explored in addition to medical professionals?
Reference:
Grant, M. Wolsey, T.D., & Lapp, D. (2024, Winter). Engaged writing in the disciplines: Let’s talk about it. The California Reader, Winter.
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