Learning from Experience: A Faculty-Led Collaborative Inquiry Exploring Embedded Communication Skills Across Engineering Curricula

This evidence-based practice paper describes a collaborative inquiry process to explore a critical question for engineering faculty: what are practical strategies for leveraging evidence-based practices to embed communication skills across core engineering curricula? Within engineering education, there is a growing consensus that communication skills are essential for engineering graduates. For example, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) distinctly highlights communication skills as a required student learning outcome for accreditation of engineering programs in ABET Criterion 3.3.: an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences. Numerous studies exploring engineers’ school-to-work transition suggest that communication is one of the most important skill sets for engineering practice according to both recent graduates (Passow, 2012) and industry (Male et. al, 2010). As the Engineer of 2020 Report concisely noted, “good engineering will require good communication” (National Academy of Engineering, 2004, p. 56).

Despite the engineering education community’s shared vision for ensuring engineering graduates can communicate effectively, few practical examples exist to illuminate how faculty can leverage evidence-based practices to integrate communication skills into their existing technical curricula. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to share seven practical case-based examples of strategies implemented in a spectrum of engineering disciplines and learning environments to support faculty in integrating communication skills into existing engineering curriculum.

We first describe our collaborative inquiry process to create a “systematic structure for learning from experience” (Yorks & Kasl, 2002, p. 3). Our learning from experience is rooted in the reflections of faculty representing seven engineering departments who teach communication skills across a diverse range of engineering curricular contexts (e.g., course size, course level, technical subject, etc.) Next, we provide seven case studies of evidence-based strategies-in-action across this range of learning contexts, including both undergraduate and graduate education. For example, one case study discusses the integration of a community-focused debate project in a mining engineering undergraduate course to build students’ communications skills in rhetorical situation analysis while another study in a construction engineering management department attends to aspects of diversity and inclusion by promoting a writing process that begins with visual design. These case studies provide rich context for the learning environment and the implementation of the evidence-based practice, with the ultimate goal of supporting faculty in drawing connections to their own teaching strategies. Finally, we conclude by situating the case studies in the broader engineering education literature and sharing reflections for lessons learned on integration of communication instruction across existing engineering curricula.