An Integrated Approach to Developing Technical Communication Skills in Engineering Students

Abstract

Abstract An Integrated Approach to Developing Technical Communication Skills in Engineering StudentsAbstract The Project to Integrate Technical Communication Habits (PITCH) is being implementedacross seven engineering and computer science undergraduate programs. The project developswritten, oral and visual communication skills in students starting in the very first semester andcontinuing through all four years of each program. Student outcomes for the project wereestablished based on an extensive survey of employers, alumni and faculty. Communicationinstruments include technical memoranda, poster presentations, oral presentations, laboratoryreports, proposals, and senior design reports. In addition to text elements, the use of tables andgraphics also are addressed. Advice tables, annotated sample assignments and grading rubrics arebeing developed for each instrument to assist students in their work and facilitate consistency ininstruction and assessment across multiple instructors teaching different course sections. Within each of the seven programs, specific courses that span all four years are targeted forimplementation and assessment of technical communication skills. Roadmaps showing the targetcourses, and the instruments deployed and outcomes to be learned in each course are madeavailable to students in each program. The different communication instruments are distributedacross courses as appropriate, and the skills are developed at deeper and deeper levels as studentsprogress through the years. A critical feature of the project is that technical communication skillsare integrated into the content of regular engineering courses and are taught by regularengineering faculty. In the first year of the project, 16 engineering and computer science facultywere trained by an external consultant through summer workshops to deliver and assess thetechnical communication instruments in their courses. All PITCH assignments submitted bystudents are being archived and will be used in a longitudinal assessment of the effectiveness ofthe project as the first cohort of students who started in fall 2013 near graduation. PITCH is funded by the Davis Educational Foundation and is designed to be self-sustainingafter the three-year period of grant support. This paper describes the approach used, lists the PITCH student outcomes, and providesexamples of the PITCH roadmaps, as well as the resources provided to students and faculty. 1