The use of genre analysis to develop laboratory report writing workshop materials for Chinese postgraduate engineering students

This action research project centres on the development and evaluation of a laboratory report writing workshop for Chinese postgraduate engineering students in a transnational education setting. The material is informed by the application of Parkinson’s (2017) genre analysis of student laboratory reports. A needs analysis is followed by an exploration of the laboratory report genre before Parkinson’s move analysis is cross-referenced against faculty expectations and sample student reports. An ensuing workshop consisting of seven core tasks guiding students through the macrostructure and key language structures of the laboratory report genre was designed and delivered to a cohort of approximately 100 students based in China studying robotics and artificial intelligence-related postgraduate courses. The workshop impact is assessed through the collection and analysis of student and staff questionnaires, with particular insight gained from responses showing increased awareness and application of the Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion (IMRD) macrostructure to subsequent report submissions.<p></p>