Thinking Beyond the Service Course Model: Intentional Integration of Technical Communication Courses in a BME Undergraduate Curriculum

Julie Stella; Steven Higbee; Sharon Miller

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: LEES 6: Writing & Communication
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41598
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41598
Download Count: 155

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Paper Authors

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Julie Stella IUPUI

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Julie Stella is a Visiting Lecturer in the Technology Leadership and Communication de- partment of the IUPUI School of Engineering and Technology. She teaches writing and communication to undergraduate engineering students at IUPUI. She has also taught courses at the graduate level in education technology, usable interface design, and ed- ucation public policy. Her background is fairly diverse, though it centers on writing and teaching.
Ms. Stella spent 11 years working as a software engineer and consultant in MN before moving to the east coast of the US and beginning her graduate-level education. Her MA degree was in Professional Writing and Rhetoric, and her doctoral work was in Special Education at George Washington University in Washington DC. She completed additional graduate work at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore MD, which has been particularly influential to her teaching style and her philosophy as an educa- tor. The program was called The Mind, Brain, and Teaching, and it focused on applying research from the fields of cognitive science, developmental science, neurology, and neuroscience to education practices in grades K-16.
Ms Stella’s research interests include educational measurement, rhetoric/persuasion in technical communication, education technology, instructional design, inclusive design practices, and technology usage/digital inclusion for students with disabilities.

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Steven Higbee Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

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Clinical Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

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Sharon Miller Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

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Dr. Sharon Miller is a Clinical Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Dr. Miller received a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She currently serves the IUPUI BME Department as Associate Chair and Director of the Undergraduate Program helping develop and implement curricular changes to embed engineering design, ethics, and technical communication throughout the BME curriculum. Prior to joining the faculty at IUPUI, Dr. Miller’s P-20 educational efforts included curriculum writing and program development for the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School and Michael J. Birck Center for Innovation. Since joining IUPUI, Dr. Miller has been awarded internal and external grant funding to realize BME curricular changes and to pursue engineering education research of BME student self-efficacy toward design.

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Abstract

Contemporary engineers must be confident communicating technical and non-technical information to diverse audiences. Traditional curricula may rely on highly generalized communication courses, which are not targeted to the disciplinary content or communication needs of specific engineering fields. To better prepare engineering undergraduates, students may benefit from a curriculum that deconstructs boundaries between disciplinary content mastery and effective communication. Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance. Our work developed a strategically timed integrated curriculum wherein two one-credit technical communication courses replaced an existing 2-credit technical communication course requirement—in the new model, students take a one-credit technical communication course in their sophomore year and a one-credit technical communication course in their junior year. By integrating the courses earlier in the program, we highlight how BME sophomores are now able to apply writing skills immediately to classroom assignments and continually grow their communication skills over the course of the program. Additionally, the integrated curriculum limited the genres of writing to those commonly found in the BME field (industry and academia), with an emphasis on writing as both a process and a product. We will share the changes made within both the engineering and technical communication courses. Briefly, students completed culminating overlapping assignments that were drafted and polished in the TCM class then submitted for a technical grade to the BME course instructor. Throughout, our approach focused on building student-student, student-instructor, and instructor-instructor relationships. Classroom communities and student-student relationships were grown and nurtured through technical peer review, collaborative writing, and team membership (e.g., roles, relationships, management, leadership). In the faculty Community of Practice, key strategies included: 1) integrated, ongoing, and consistent assessment of written and oral communication student deliverables, and 2) a shared content-related vocabulary provided continuity and connections among technical skills and communication to augment the student experience. Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance.

Our work developed a strategically timed integrated curriculum wherein two one-credit technical communication courses replaced an existing 2-credit technical communication course requirement—in the new model, students take a one-credit technical communication course in their sophomore year and a one-credit technical communication course in their junior year. By integrating the courses earlier in the program, we highlight how BME sophomores are now able to apply writing skills immediately to classroom assignments and continually grow their communication skills over the course of the program. Additionally, the integrated curriculum limited the genres of writing to those commonly found in the BME field (industry and academia), with an emphasis on writing as both a process and a product. We will share the changes made within both the engineering and technical communication courses. Briefly, students completed culminating overlapping assignments that were drafted and polished in the TCM class then submitted for a technical grade to the BME course instructor. Throughout, our approach focused on building student-student, student-instructor, and instructor- instructor relationships. Classroom communities and student-student relationships were grown and nurtured through technical peer review, collaborative writing, and team membership (e.g., roles, relationships, management, leadership). In the faculty Community of Practice, key strategies included: 1) integrated, ongoing, and consistent assessment of written and oral communication student deliverables, and 2) a shared content-related vocabulary provided continuity and connections among technical skills and communication to augment the student experience.

Citation
Format

Stella, J., & Higbee, S., & Miller, S. (2022, August), Thinking Beyond the Service Course Model: Intentional Integration of Technical Communication Courses in a BME Undergraduate Curriculum Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41598

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Contemporary engineers must be confident communicating technical and non-technical information to diverse audiences. Traditional curricula may rely on highly generalized communication courses, which are not targeted to the disciplinary content or communication needs of specific engineering fields. To better prepare engineering undergraduates, students may benefit from a curriculum that deconstructs boundaries between disciplinary content mastery and effective communication. 
Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance.
Our work developed a strategically timed integrated curriculum wherein two one-credit technical communication courses replaced an existing 2-credit technical communication course requirement—in the new model, students take a one-credit technical communication course in their sophomore year and a one-credit technical communication course in their junior year. By integrating the courses earlier in the program, we highlight how BME sophomores are now able to apply writing skills immediately to classroom assignments and continually grow their communication skills over the course of the program.
Additionally, the integrated curriculum limited the genres of writing to those commonly found in the BME field (industry and academia), with an emphasis on writing as both a process and a product. We will share the changes made within both the engineering and technical communication courses. Briefly, students completed culminating overlapping assignments that were drafted and polished in the TCM class then submitted for a technical grade to the BME course instructor. 
Throughout, our approach focused on building student-student, student-instructor, and instructor-instructor relationships. Classroom communities and student-student relationships were grown and nurtured through technical peer review, collaborative writing, and team membership (e.g., roles, relationships, management, leadership). In the faculty Community of Practice, key strategies included: 1) integrated, ongoing, and consistent assessment of written and oral communication student deliverables, and 2) a shared content-related vocabulary provided continuity and connections among technical skills and communication to augment the student experience. Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance.

Our work developed a strategically timed integrated curriculum wherein two one-credit technical communication courses replaced an existing 2-credit technical communication course requirement—in the new model, students take a one-credit technical communication course in their sophomore year and a one-credit technical communication course in their junior year. By integrating the courses earlier in the program, we highlight how BME sophomores are now able to apply writing skills immediately to classroom assignments and continually grow their communication skills over the course of the program.
Additionally, the integrated curriculum limited the genres of writing to those commonly found in the BME field (industry and academia), with an emphasis on writing as both a process and a product. We will share the changes made within both the engineering and technical communication courses. Briefly, students completed culminating overlapping assignments that were drafted and polished in the TCM class then submitted for a technical grade to the BME course instructor.
Throughout, our approach focused on building student-student, student-instructor, and instructor- instructor relationships. Classroom communities and student-student relationships were grown and nurtured through technical peer review, collaborative writing, and team membership (e.g., roles, relationships, management, leadership). In the faculty Community of Practice, key strategies included: 1) integrated, ongoing, and consistent assessment of written and oral communication student deliverables, and 2) a shared content-related vocabulary provided continuity and connections among technical skills and communication to augment the student experience.
AU  - Julie Stella
AU  - Steven Higbee
AU  - Sharon Miller
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Thinking Beyond the Service Course Model: Intentional Integration of Technical Communication Courses in a BME Undergraduate Curriculum
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41598
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41598
ER  -