Integrating Engineering and Technical Communications in Sophomore Electrical Engineering Projects
Technical communications skills can be successfully taught to students in engineering courses without the expenditure of large amounts of class time if realistic design projects and reports are required of them. These design projects stimulate the acquisition of problem-solving skills by students. The use of handouts providing models of sample technical reports gives students reinforcement for the development of their technical communications skills.
Using team reporting projects to teach concepts of audience and written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills
A series of team reporting projects is used to teach concepts of audience and communication skills in technical and professional communication courses at the Univ. of Texas at Arlington. Supplemental to conventional reporting assignments, the projects range from short exercises done in a single class period to extended out-of-class projects involving both a literature review and primary research. In each, students work in small, interdisciplinary groups to solve a problem, prepare a team-written report, and deliver an oral presentation. Short exercises are graded by the instructor; the more extensive reporting projects are graded by peers and by the instructor using evaluation checklists.
First Things Last: Composition for Seniors, Not Freshmen
Freshman composition is a large, expensive, undisciplined operation. The course is taught to students who have little to say by people who are more interested in analyzing literature. It should be replaced by a course designed for seniors. The author draws on his experience at the University of Michigan and describes at what stage composition is taught to engineering students.