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An In-Depth Exploration of Undergraduate Computer Science Students' Perspectives on Learning Technical Writing in Community

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Title: An In-Depth Exploration of Undergraduate Computer Science Students' Perspectives on Learning Technical Writing in Community
Language: English
Authors: Meghan Allen (ORCID 0000-0002-0989-8924)
Source: ACM Transactions on Computing Education. 2026 26(2).
Availability: Association for Computing Machinery. 1601 Broadway 10th Floor, New York, NY 10119. Tel: 800-342-6626; Tel: 212-626-0500; Fax: 212-944-1318; e-mail: acmhelp@acm.org; Web site: http://toce.acm.org/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 29
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Computer Science Education, Student Attitudes, Technical Writing, Student Experience, Reflection, Barriers, Foreign Countries, Communities of Practice
Geographic Terms: Canada
DOI: 10.1145/3785357
ISSN: 1946-6226
Abstract: While communication skills, including technical writing skills, are important for professional computer scientists' career success, they may not be explicitly addressed within undergraduate computer science education, and there is a dearth of scholarship exploring students' experiences of learning these skills. To address this gap, this study will explore undergraduate computer science students' perspectives on what technical writing skills they are learning, how they are learning them, and how they experience this learning. The findings could inform better curricular and pedagogical approaches for teaching these skills, thereby equipping students with competencies necessary for their future careers. This article addresses the following research questions (RQs): (1) RQ 1: How do students describe their experiences learning and doing technical writing with others, and what are their reflections on these experiences?; and (2) RQ 2: In what ways do students hold perspectives that may be barriers to their learning of technical writing? To answer these RQs, I conducted an interpretive qualitative study, grounded in Lave and Wenger's Situated Learning Theory and Social Theory of Learning. Ten third- and fourth-year undergraduate computer science students participated. Data were collected via reflective journal writing and beginning-of-term and end-of-term interviews to gather a deep view into the student experience. I followed Braun and Clarke's method of reflexive thematic analysis to generate themes from the data corpus. The study found that computer science students' communities of practice influence their learning of technical writing and that students hold nuanced attitudes about technical writing in computer science. The findings from this study provide evidence that participants learn technical writing via legitimate peripheral participation in their communities of practice. Further study is warranted to better understand how computer science students learn collaborative, communicative skills in community.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1504213
Database: ERIC
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  Data: While communication skills, including technical writing skills, are important for professional computer scientists' career success, they may not be explicitly addressed within undergraduate computer science education, and there is a dearth of scholarship exploring students' experiences of learning these skills. To address this gap, this study will explore undergraduate computer science students' perspectives on what technical writing skills they are learning, how they are learning them, and how they experience this learning. The findings could inform better curricular and pedagogical approaches for teaching these skills, thereby equipping students with competencies necessary for their future careers. This article addresses the following research questions (RQs): (1) RQ 1: How do students describe their experiences learning and doing technical writing with others, and what are their reflections on these experiences?; and (2) RQ 2: In what ways do students hold perspectives that may be barriers to their learning of technical writing? To answer these RQs, I conducted an interpretive qualitative study, grounded in Lave and Wenger's Situated Learning Theory and Social Theory of Learning. Ten third- and fourth-year undergraduate computer science students participated. Data were collected via reflective journal writing and beginning-of-term and end-of-term interviews to gather a deep view into the student experience. I followed Braun and Clarke's method of reflexive thematic analysis to generate themes from the data corpus. The study found that computer science students' communities of practice influence their learning of technical writing and that students hold nuanced attitudes about technical writing in computer science. The findings from this study provide evidence that participants learn technical writing via legitimate peripheral participation in their communities of practice. Further study is warranted to better understand how computer science students learn collaborative, communicative skills in community.
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      – SubjectFull: Student Attitudes
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