The Problems in Computer Literacy Education:

Are We Preparing Students for a Computer Intensive Future?

Middler Year Writing Project

Background

The Middler Year Writing Requirement (MYWR) is a requirement for graduation for all students of Northeastern University. The requirement is filled by a number of courses, most notable of which are Technical Writing, Business Writing, and Writing for the Professions. The purpose is to ensure that students who graduate from the University have a high level of research and writing abilities. Students are expected to fulfill this requirement in their third (middler) year.

I took Writing for the Professions with Prof. Karen Paley in the fall of my senior year. Normally a student in my discipline would take Technical Writing. I deliberately avoided Technical Writing because I felt it placed limitations on subject matter that were too strict. Writing for the Professions allowed me to cover a topic that was not technical or mechanical in nature, and also allowed me to reach beyond the traditional topics of the my field.

The reasons behind the choice of topic are laid out in the portfolio material. I had originally chosen a technical topic, and found out through early research that I would either find nothing to support my thesis or find that it was a moot question. I decided to tackle a more social issue instead, that of computer literacy training.

The end product of the ten-week course is a 20 page position paper. Certain requirements are placed on the type of material you can use or should use. One personal interviews is expected, a maximum of two are allowed. The reference material must include at least 5 academic sources (normally academic journals). Relying on Internet material is frowned upon, etc. En route to developing the thesis and final paper, numerous small assignments are given. These become the first part of the portfolio (source critiques, proposal, etc.). The paper is written in three drafts - in our case, we wrote six to eight new pages for each draft. A good amount of peer review among classmates is integrated into the class time.

This paper was well received, although many students felt it was difficult to read. In its final form, portfolio in all, it received an A grade, and it was recommended that I submit my final paper into the MYWR competition.

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