Enhancing Engineering Students' Communication Skills through a Team Based Graphics Course Project
Although communication skills are highly valued by engineering associations and companies, instructors may find it difficult to incorporate them into specific engineering courses. Some attention has been given to research on undergraduate students communication skills. However, additional research and training is needed to help instructors develop curricula the type that can enhance students communication skills in technical subjects like engineering graphics. Such work can help engineering programs offer increased opportunities for students to continually develop desirable professional traits throughout their collegiate experience. This paper will explore the implementation of a team based graphics course project one that focused on enhancing engineering students communication skills and provide recommendations for faculty teaching similar courses. Findings from open ended survey questions indicate that students learned the importance of preparation, time management, organization, clarity, detail, and engagement. By working in a project team, students also learned patience and task delegation. Introduction Communication skills are important for success in various corporate and community roles, especially leadership. Teamwork, creativity, and problem solving abilities are also essential in industrial settings. Since a present day goal of engineering education is to prepare students for their desired career, educators should continually strive to develop the aforementioned competencies through their courses and curriculum. Effective communication is critical in fields that require individuals to collaborate across cultures and disciplines, and produce products for everyday consumer use. Numerous national organizations have highlighted the significance of specific skills and abilities within the engineering profession. In The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) provided a comprehensive list of strategies to improve engineering education and better prepare future engineers (NAE, 2004) The list included (a) good communication and teamwork skills, (b) practical ingenuity to solve problems, and (c) creativity. While identifying several desired learning outcomes for engineering undergraduates, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) also stressed the 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 34 importance of (a) communicating effectively, (b) working on multidisciplinary teams, and (c) designing and solving realistic problems (ABET, 2015) Scholars have also examined the importance of teamwork and collaboration in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields (Long, Williams Strayhorn, 2013; Springer, Stanne Donovan, 1999; Stump, Hilpert, Husman, Chung, Kim, 2011; Terenzini, Cabrera, Colbeck, Parente Bjorklund, 2001) In fact, the Engineering Communication and Performance minor, developed at the University of Tennessee, has embraced the notion that working with other people is a learned skill (Seat, Parsons, Poppen, 2001) Although academics and national organizations (e.g. ABET, NAE) offer recommendations for improving STEM education, instructors may find it difficult to integrate them into particular undergraduate engineering courses. Building upon previous research on undergraduate students communication and teamwork skills, this paper focuses on these abilities in a specific technical subject like engineering graphics. This paper offers additional knowledge concerning ways to help students develop desirable professional traits throughout their undergraduate engineering experience. Course Description An introductory graphical communications course at one small, private Southeastern school is designed to familiarize students with basic principles of drafting and engineering drawing as well as to improve students three dimensional (3 D) visualization skills and ability to use a computeraided design (CAD) program. A variety of topics are covered such as orthographic projection, section and auxiliary views, assemblies, dimensioning, and tolerances. When completing a teambased, semester long design project, students focus on three forms of communication (i.e. visual, written and oral) The following course objectives were created around the aforementioned types of communication skills (Figure 1) Figure 1. Graphical communications learning objectives (communication skills) To meet the requirements of the course project, students are provided the following specifications (Figure 2) 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 35 Figure 2. Graphical communications final project specifications The primary purpose of the course project is to have students model the components of a product explicitly in a detailed assembly. Students must also effectively communicate their designs and thought process during each design phase of the project. Students are free to choose a product of interest to their team. Each part and assembly of the product must have a detailed drawing. Each team uses hand/drafting techniques and a software program called Computer Aided ThreeDimensional Interactive Application (CATIA) to create their drawings. For extra credit, students 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 36 are also encouraged to improve a current product, meet a grand challenge of the 21 century (NAE, 2008) provide a quote to have their product 3 D printed, and/or create a poster for participation in a course wide competition. In the engineering graphics course, eighty percent (80% of the final project score deals with visual (40% written (20% or oral communication (20% Students are to develop a Shark Tank presentation based on the television show whereby they present their design orally to a panel of instructional staff members who are interested in buying their product. Each team also submits a binder to their instructor that contains an executive summary, needs assessment, background research, alternative solutions, and engineering drawings. Lastly, twenty percent (20% of the final project grade comes from peer evaluations. Individual members provide feedback on team dynamics such as (a) how effectively the team worked together, (b) whether there were behaviors of any member that were valuable or detrimental, and (c) what they learned from working in a project team, specifically in terms of communication, that they will carry into their future experiences. Course Feedback Open ended responses from the Fall 2015 semester provide insight into students perceptions of the course project. Students learned several transferrable skills as it relates to visual, written, and oral communication, as evidenced by the following survey excerpts. When focusing on visual communication, students stated: I learned to always make sure that if I was handed my drawing and told to manufacture the part or assembly that I would have all of the dimensions and information otherwise to accomplish the task. Keep the work neat, clear, and marked with proper notations. The drawings need to be descriptive and concise, especially with the dimensioning, in order to convey the information more effectively. In terms of written communication skills, numerous students revealed: Start early and revise often for the best results. It is very important to have a very structured and organized [written] report. Be thorough, but concise with the language used in any [written] report. 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 37 For oral communication, several students highlighted: Preparation is key to a good oral presentation. It is important to make eye contact and to really know your project or topic because the more you know, the more confidence you have which really affects the way you present. Speak up, speak slowly, and take your time to go in depth about important topics. Enthusiasm for the subject is important for a well received presentation. Overall, when seeking to communicate effectively, students noted the importance of preparation, time management, organization, clarity, detail, and engagement. Students in the graphical communications course also spoke of positive experiences while working in a team: I learned to trust my teammates. I learned that communication is everything in a group environment I learned that patience and respect are some of the most crucial elements of a team member. It is imperative for a team member to listen to others ideas and respect their thoughts, opinions, and feedback. I learned that each person has a unique skill set. If you take the time to thoroughly get to know each member of the team, and understand their strengths and weaknesses, it will save time in the long run when delegation of tasks is necessary. Findings from prior research support the above quotes. For example, facilitating teamwork among fundamental engineering courses promotes peer teaching and collaborative learning. These strategies provide students with an authentic learning context and enhance the students sense of ownership (Missingham and Matthews, 2014) Despite these positive reflections not all students feel that team projects are beneficial. When reflecting on their experiences, students said the following: 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 38 Group projects at this early of a stage in our college career do not fair too well. Many students are fairly new to the college experiences and most would do work the day of or the day before it is due. [Through the team project, I learned to] make sure that all of the team members contribute to the project and alert the professor earlier to any problems with one of the group members. These quotes are consistent with previous research results. For engineering students, difficulties in team projects arise from students inexperience working in teams (McGuire, Li Gebali, 2015) Considering the above feedback from students along with the goals of engineering organizations and faculty, conclusions an