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Session 2213

The Student Consultant: Enhancing Communication Skills in the Undergraduate Laboratory Dennis J. Miller Department of Chemical Engineering Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824

I. Introduction

The ability to effectively communicate is an ever more frequently echoed requirement for the graduating engineering student. Industries and accreditation agencies both send the clear message that the need for communication skills rivals that for technical skills in the engineering workplace. For most undergraduates, developing oral communication skills most often involves making several formal or semi-formal presentations over the course of the undergraduate program, usually as traditional technical presentations with visual aids and a passive audience. The ability to make effective technical presentations is without doubt a key skill for today’s engineer, but there are many circumstances in the workplace where effective communication at a less formal level is no less important. Examples of these situations include working with technicians or operators in a manufacturing setting, explaining technical topics to a non-technical audience, and training of new employees. In all of these settings, interactive one-on-one or small group communications must be effectively established. For some individuals, this form of communication comes much more naturally than the formal presentation, but for others it does not. The student consulting exercise described here is directed at helping students develop effective technical communication skills in interactive, small group environments.

II. Background

The Unit Operations Laboratory course (CHE 316) at Michigan State University is taught in the Spring semester of each year. Each section of the course can accommodate up to thirty students; these students work in assigned groups of three for the entire semester. Each group completes five laboratory experiments, spending two and one-half weeks (five lab periods) on each experiment. Typically, at the beginning of the first of the five lab periods students are informed which experiment they have been assigned to and are given a general objective for the experiment. They spend the first period in the lab formulating an experimental plan, learning about the equipment from talking with the instructor and teaching assistant, and watching a videotape of a prior group’s efforts on the experiment1. They then prepare a “prereport” that describes their plan and gives a thorough description of equipment operation, safety considerations, and methods for analyzing the experimental data. The instructor must approve this prereport before students are actually allowed to conduct their experimental work. Once students complete their experimental work, they have about two weeks to prepare the final report for the laboratory assignment.

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Miller, D. J. (2000, June), The Student Consultant: Enhancing Communication Skills In The Undergraduate Laboratory Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8714