Motivating Engineering and Technical Students to Learn Technical Writing by Inculcating Lifelong Learning Skills

Abstract

The government, industry and the academia saw the importance of soft skills to engineering and technology education. Lifelong learning skill is an attribute in soft skills; one of the thrusts in the National Higher Education Strategic Plan of Malaysia. This paper discusses how lifelong learning skill is imparted in a technical writing course at a private engineering and technology focused university. Their coursework is designed to hone this skill. It is found that students can be motivated to learn if the relevance of the course is clearly explained to them and if they are shown how it would be helpful to them once they begin to work. This study implies that lifelong learning skills can be taught in technical and non-technical courses as it transcends the curriculum.