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By Peter WorleyWORLEYPETER@aasd.k12.wi.usSCHOOL districts acrossthe nation have pursuedwriting across thecurriculum since theearly 1980s. But writingis something that many technologyeducators are just starting to implementin our classes. Some instructorshave shown a lot of apprehensionabout including writing in theircurriculum and daily assignments.also gotten some good advice onhow to incorporate writing into ourclasses. In this article, I share whatI’ve learned with others in the field.Table 1—Writing Across the Curriculum Survey:Communication Arts1. How do you feel about writing across the curriculum?2. Why do you feel writing is important in technology educationprograms?3. How do you think writing could be implemented in these classes?4. What should a teacher who does not teach writing expect fromtheir students?5. How should they, a non-communication arts teacher, grade theirwriting projects?sor to writing to learn (WTL) andwriting in the disciplines (WID). Thethree movements have continued togrow stronger throughout our educationalsystem. Romberger also states:“Writing across the curriculum acknowledgesthe differences in writingconventions across the disciplines,and believes students can best learnto write in their areas by practicingthose discipline-specific writingconventions.”The Surveys and ResultsI composed two surveys: one forthe Communication Arts departmentand one for the Technology Educationdepartment. I then surveyedthree teachers from each department.Please refer to Tables 1and 2.From my own perspective, as atechnology education instructor Iused to avoid writing projects, feelingthat writing was something forthe English department to teach. Inow realize that my students needto learn how to communicate withmany different people in a variety ofAfter taking a writing course lastsummer, I’ve grown very aware ofhow important writing is in all subjectareas, including technology education.I’ve conducted some researchand surveys that I think can help toconvince more technology teachersthat writing across the curriculumis important to help all our studentssucceed now and in the future. I’vePeter Worley is an automotiveinstructor, Appleton (WI) East HighSchool.Table 2—Writing Across the Curriculum Survey:Technology Education1. Do you feel writing is important in your technology educationclasses?2. If so why?3. Do you include writing projects in all your classes?4. What technology education classes do you teach?5. What type of writing projects do you do in your class?Background on WritingAcross the Curriculum“Writing across the curriculum isa pedagogical movement that beganin the 1980s,” Julia Romberger writes.This movement was the predeces-ways—verbal, written, and throughdemonstration.One of my biggest fears was notknowing how I could grade writingwww.techdirections.com COMMUNICATION 17