This will be my eighth blog so far; I can't believe we're more than half way done with this semester! I'm loaded up with upcoming midterms, so I am not really happy about that. I am glad that we get to do extra blogs for additional credit. Anyways...
The discourse community of practice that I want to research is Electrical Engineers in the Bay Area. The reason why I chose this specific discourse community is because most of my family members are Engineers, and my boyfriend is currently studying to be a Civil Engineer. My uncle and my grandpa are both Electrical Engineers. I was thinking about doing Engineers in the Bay Area in general... but I wanted to be more specific, and two of my family members are Electrical Engineers so I would have more information about it. This community interests me because I have always been around them, so I have knowledge of engineering. I would also like to see what they have to say about that field of Engineering, like, "How do most engineers in training act once they first get the job?" or "What is it like in the office?”
In this community, I already know what it takes to be in this field of work. You have to take a lot of physics, chemistry, and some really high-level math courses. My boyfriend always tells me how late he stays up doing his physics homework or how he is studying for something about fluid dynamics. I know that it is a hard job, but can be
really really rewarding. Engineers in general make a comfortable amount of money. You have to take two tests to become a professional Engineer in California. My grandfather took both his FE and PE, and also got his masters degree in business at the University of San Francisco. I am very excited to interview him, just because he has a lot of experience and knows the in and outs of Engineering.
How are these communicative practices acquired?
(Swales, Johns, Gee, Wardle)
What does it take for members to enculturate
themselves? (Johns, Gee, Wardle, Mirabelli)What literacies to members need to
acquire? (Mirabelli)What is this community's "way of being" (Johns,
Gee, Wardle)What does it cost to take on this community? (Wardle, Johns)What
values are reinforced by this community? (Devitt, Wardle, Johns)How do readers
need to see themselves? How do they need to consider authorities? How do they
need to align themselves? (Wardle)
Oh my gosh we kind of have the same idea! That's cool that there's so many engineers in your family. A bunch of my family work for Caltrans, but they're not all engineers. My dad is a Civil Engineer at Caltrans and he got his degree from SDSU. It's funny how they're require to take all these physics classes and math classes, but when I asked my dad if he actually applies that knowledge, he was like, "No! It was all on the job training!" Well for what he does, which is approve a plan ensuring it meets all the safety require before a bridge or freeway is built. I'm sure some positions require actually know everything I had to learn in physics but maybe not? He said if they wanted him to know how to do a specific thing, they usually sent him to some type of training class for it. I'm glad you're excited about this!
ReplyDelete--Victoria