(499b) Learning to Talk the Talk: Development of an Online Crash-Course in Engineering Communication

To be successful working engineers, students must develop a diverse skillset of both technical and non-technical communication skills. While most chemical engineering students receive training in technical communication through formal reports and presentations, many of the more practical and less formal communication skills are not integrated into the curriculum. In prior work, it was determined that internship students felt that their engineering coursework left them unprepared for communication with non-technical workers, as well as through informal communication such as email, phone calls and online meetings. As a result, an online crash course in practical communication skills was developed to better prepare engineering students for successful communication on their industrial internships. Students receiving credit for their internships were required to complete the online communication course. Course content was developed to teach students about professionalism, teamwork, audience analysis, social and emotional intelligence, and choosing between different communication types (email vs. phone vs. in person communication). Pre- and post-surveys were utilized to better understand the effect of workshop completion on student competencies (skill level, confidence and nervousness) related to communication with different audiences and through different styles of communication. An additional post-internship survey will be used to look at the effect of internship communication on these competencies. Preliminary results indicate that students had the highest level of perceived skill and highest confidence in communicating with engineers. Interestingly, student nervousness was highest with more technical audiences (engineers and managers), and lower with non-technical audiences (non-engineers and the general public). Post-workshop and post-internship data will be collected through the summer and into the fall to determine how competencies change with these student experiences.