Problem-Solution Patterns in the Introductions of Chemical Engineering Research Articles: Pedagogical Insights

摘要

As problem-solving is a defining feature of engineering research, problem-solution patterns (PSP) may be used as a tool to create a context for one’s research writing. This study explores if PSP is a natural textual device to narrate research in chemical engineering and further explores if a writing model which incorporates PSP as a narrative strategy into Swales’ Create a Research Space (CaRS), termed PSPCaRS, can describe research article (RA) introductions in chemical engineering. Fifty RAs published in five Ql journals in the field of chemical engineering were randomly selected for this study. The introductions of these RAs were first examined to see if any PSP was used, and further analysed with visual representations based on PSP-CaRS. It was found that PSP was a common narrative style in almost all RAs, and more than half of these RA introductions could be described by the move structure of PSP-CaRS in establishing the research territory, leading to the presentation of research gap(s). The visual representation used for analysis in this study can be particularly useful in helping graduate research students or novice researchers structure introductions involving cyclical evaluations of existing solutions to a problem, where earlier solutions are problematized with new solutions provided to address the limitations or inadequacies described, in several cycles. It can also be used as a tool to plan for the writing of RA introductions in the field of chemical engineering.