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An Investigation into Interdisciplinary Team Teaching in Writing and Engineering: A Multi-Year Study

Frances S. Johnson1, David Hutto1, Kevin Dahm2, Anthony J. Marchese2, Carlos Sun2, Eric Constans2, Kathryn Hollar2, and Paris von Lockette2

1. College of Communication, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey 2. College of Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey

Abstract

The Sophomore Engineering Clinic I is the third course in an 8-semester multidisciplinary engineering practice and design sequence taken by all engineering students at Rowan University. This course is taught jointly by a team of faculty from the College of Communications and all four departments within the College of Engineering. The Sophomore Clinic students receive classroom training in technical communication and in the engineering design process, and work on design projects in multidisciplinary teams of 3-4 students. This paper presents the second year results of an on-going experiment involving the integration of technical writing and engineering design in Sophomore Engineering Clinic I. The highlights of this experiment include: 1) Comparing sections which are jointly taught by engineering and writing faculty with sections solely taught by writing faculty, 2) Tracking the effectiveness of increasing active engineering faculty participation in writing instruction over multiple semesters, and 3) Fully integrating engineering design and communication deliverables and grading. Time series data from student surveys and faculty assessments are analyzed to investigate the effectiveness of the integrated teaching efforts. In addition, the nature, quality, and definitions of the interdisciplinary team teaching as seen from the perspective of the professors and the students are assessed. The results of this on-going study show that rectifying student misconceptions on the duality of engineering and writing requires active interdisciplinary team teaching efforts and full integration across all course aspects.

1. History and Background

In 1992, Henry M. Rowan donated $100,000,000 to the then Glassboro State College to establish a unique engineering program in southern New Jersey. What is now Rowan University boasts an innovative College of Engineering comprised of four programs: Chemical, Civil and Environmental, Electrical and Computer, and Mechanical. The College graduated its first class in May 2000 and serves 15 to 35

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Johnson, F., & Hutto, D., & Sun, C., & Hollar, K., & Constans, E., & Marchese, A., & von Lockette, P., & Dahm, K. (2001, June), An Investigation Into Interdisciplinary Team Teaching In Writing And Engineering: A Multi Year Study Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9484