Conference Session

Communication Across the Divisions II: Communication and Transdisciplinary Pedagogies

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey J. Evans, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Amy S. Van Epps, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Michael Thomas Smith; Sorin Adam Matei, Purdue University Polytechnic Institute; Esteban Garcia

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering, Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

A Transdisciplinary Approach for Developing Effective Communication Skills in a First Year STEM SeminarAbstractMany STEM graduates leave school academically prepared in their fields however business leaders havebeen stating that they often lack the more intangible qualities such as teamwork, critical thinking,communication skills, and the ability to manage interpersonal relations. These are often referred to as”soft skills”, yet they are tightly coupled with professional performance. Furthermore, they are allconnected to basic communication skills, commonly referred to as oral and written communication, andtheir close counterparts, listening and reading. Such skills are not only add-ons to a STEM job, they canmake the

Conference Session

Communication Across the Divisions III: Writing as Social–Technical Integration

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vukica M. Jovanovic, Old Dominion University; Megan McKittrick, Old Dominion University; Pilar Pazos, Old Dominion University; Daniel Richards, Old Dominion University; Julia Romberger

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Computing & Information Technology, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

, many STEM students see writing aslargely unrelated to their career goals. Many students assume that their “writing career is nowover”5 once they move into courses in their major. Put another way, student perceptions of anengineer’s “community of practice” often do not include writing despite the common presence ofwriting in workplace “communities of practice.” Genre offers a productive way to approach thisdisconnect. Based on the Department of Labor’s definition of workforce readiness skills6, one of themost important “soft skills” is communication. This speaks to the need to resolve the disconnectbetween the perception of writing by students in upper-level undergraduate STEM courses and theskills required by them once they graduate

Conference Session

Communication as Performance

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine Golder, British Columbia Institute of Technology; Darlene B. Webb, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

engineers and engineering students – had bought intothe stereotype. And if they had, would they assume this perceived lack of social skillswould carry over to their ability to give an oral presentation? Would the audiencemembers suspect the presenters of not having as much technical knowledge or skill astheir peers if they appeared to not fit the stereotype? Would they feel the presenters wereperhaps relying on “soft” skills to hide their lack of technical skills? The authors of this Page 26.571.5paper had heard this stereotype often enough that we felt it was worth investigating.A number of responses from audience members provide

Conference Session

Communication Across the Divisions I: Communication in Engineering Disciplines

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David A. Saftner, University of Minnesota Duluth; Mary U. Christiansen; Adrian T. Hanson, University of Minnesota Duluth; Jill D. Jenson, University of Minnesota Duluth; Sara Ojard; Rebecca L. Teasley, University of Minnesota Duluth; Emily Woster, University of Minnesota Duluth

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

students improvetheir writing while still covering normal course content. Needless to say, students struggle withtrying to meet standards they have yet to be taught or had the opportunity to practice. The writingguide is meant to help alleviate this problem by offering consistent guidance for studentsbeginning at the freshman year and continuing throughout the degree program.Simply providing the students with the writing guide, however, will most likely not be enough todrastically improve their communication skills. Faculty must also demonstrate to students theimportance of developing these skills as they relate to a successful career in engineering.6 Socalled “soft skills” such as communication, teamwork, information seeking and

Conference Session

Communication Across the Divisions III: Writing as Social–Technical Integration

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tatiana Teslenko, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Tagged Divisions

Computing & Information Technology, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

- Page 26.787.3professionalism, 3.1.9 - ethics and equity, and 3.1.12 - life-long learning1. These new objectivesresulted in the inclusion of the discourse on sustainability and social learning and an in-depthdiscussion of integrative skills (a.k.a. “soft” skills).The New First-Year CourseLater we developed a first-year course with a theme of sustainability, APSC 176: EngineeringCommunication. Its objectives are to provide students with research, critical thinking andadvanced communication skills necessary for success in the study and practice of globalengineering.We believe that a first-year communication course is uniquely positioned for integratingeducation on sustainability (ESD) with graduate attributes. APSC 176: EngineeringCommunication

Conference Session

Reflective & Critical Pedagogies

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mania Orand, University of Washington ; Brook Sattler, University of Washington; Jennifer A. Turns, University of Washington; Lauren D. Thomas, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

toparticipating in reflective activities because engineering students are “generally fact focused”[23]and many engineering students consider reflection to be a non-engineering or a soft skill.[6,18,24]In a two-year study of 350 engineering students in Australia, Jolly and Radcliffe report thatstudents were generally resistant to reflection writing and required a lot of follow up andencouragement to get the reflection task done. Jolly and Radcliff added that the studentsparticipated more actively only when the grade percentage of the reflection journal assignmentwas increased. They suggest that students’ attitudes are evidence for the need for engineeringeducators “to model reflective practices and place regular emphasis on its value as a

Conference Session

Studying Engineering Education Research & Institutions

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Corey Owen, University of Saskatchewan; Debora Rolfes, University of Saskatchewan

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

identities based, in part, on shared experienceswithin their discipline, and, as Sullivan and Kedrowicz25 argue, their identity is, in part, basedon the trivialization or rejection of skills regarded as “soft,” such as communication. Thatengineering identity has traditionally rejected the importance of learning effectivecommunication skills is a commonplace.26 Sullivan and Kedrowicz25 contend that thedesignation “soft skills” still ensures the marginalization of communication among students: “Inthe broader context of language and meaning, “hard” and “soft” convey which disciplines havescientific and educational value and gender difference. When communication is repeatedlynoted as “soft,” easy, or something everyone can do … it often loses its