Rhetorical features of high-graded and low-graded engineering case study responses

Case study responses are a frequent assignment type in engineering degrees, where they aim to prepare students for professional practice. With the goal of supporting the teaching of engineering case responses, this study compares the use of rhetorical strategies in low-graded and high-graded case study responses. Using a corpus of 20 high-graded and 20 low-graded case responses, the article investigates quantitative and qualitative differences in use of rhetorical strategies. Faculty feedback on assignments was analysed to identify rhetorical features valued by instructors, and good alignment was found between features valued by instructors and the rhetorical strategies identified as important by our analysis. Findings were that low-graded assignments neglected to use key rhetorical strategies and used them less expertly. In contrast, high-graded assignments were skilful in using rhetorical strategies such as establishing the purpose and importance of the case, using course concepts and the findings of their analysis to support recommendations, discussing options, and providing reasons for recommendations to build strong arguments.