Learning to Be Professional: Technical Classroom Discourse, Practice, and Professional Identity Construction
http://jbt.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/1/5
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  peer-reviewed

Dannels, Deanna P.
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
1999

Abstract:

Instruction in the technical and scientific disciplines gives students the technical skills necessary to succeed in industry. However, these disciplines also focus on socializing students into professional identities. This study examines one exemplar discipline, mechanical engineering, to see how classroom discourse and practice constructs professional identities for students (as future engineers) and their customers. Results suggest that although students' conceptions of the customer provided glimpses of professional identity, design processes in these classrooms were ultimately driven and shaped by academic communicative practices, audiences, and goals. Given this, instructional interventions are provided to integrate professionalization processes within classrooms where situated learning is apparent.