Improving the Ability of
Engineering Students to
Communicate Their Technical
Discoveries to Non-Technical
Audiences
Deborah M. Sinnreich-Levi
Susan Staffin Metz
David Silverstein
Everyone agrees…

Communication skills are crucial for
engineering students.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
NAE
ABET
AAAS
NSF
Employers
The public
Faculty advisors
 And sometimes students.
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Stevens’ curriculum

Writing intensive classes in Humanities
◦ Six 2-3 page papers
◦ 1 or more oral reports

Engineering design spine
◦ Runs through entire curriculum
◦ Now includes communications workshops in
semesters 6, 7, 8
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EIF grant period:
Workshops Fall 2009-Spring 2010
•Spring 2009:
•biomedical (4)
•electrical (2)
•computer engineering (2).
•Fall 2009:
•biomedical (2)
•electrical (1)
•computer (2)
•mechanical (1)
•civil (1)
•chemical engineering (1).
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Workshops consider
Audience
 Rhetorical appeal
 Technical writing concerns
 Formal report structures
 Transmitting data using visual aids
 Other presentation considerations

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Audience
Why are you giving this presentation?
 What is your goal?
 Who is your audience?

◦ How technically informed are the audience
members?
◦ Are you speaking to colleagues, superiors or
people from an entirely different area?
◦ How large is your audience?
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Aristotelian Rhetorical Appeals
ETHOS
stems from the
moral character
of the
speaker
RHETORICAL
TRIANGLE
PATHOS
based in
emotional
appeal
LOGOS
derived
from logical
argument7
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Graphs v. Charts
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
East
West
North
20
10
0
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Or this graph?
8
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Students’ pre- and post-intervention self
evaluation showed they were better able to:

Write a document that effectively explains a
complex technical topic.
◦ 30% rose to 42%.

Describe a technical design so that a nontechnical person can describe it to someone
else.
◦ 22% rose to 38 %.

Develop a speech or paper effectively for a
specific audience.
◦ 7% rose to 33%.
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Room for improvement
 Students
who began with especially
poor self-confidence actually
reported less confidence after the
intervention.
◦ “Some or no ability”
1. To develop a speech or paper effectively
for a specific audience (23%28%),
2. Keep an audience engaged in a speech that
they give (30%  35%).
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Strongly
agree
Pre-
Being able to describe my
technical work effectively is
a necessary professional
skill.
Being able to describe my
technical work effectively
affects my career
advancement.
It is the responsibility of
engineers to communicate
technical concepts to people
who do not have technical
backgrounds or education.
Agree
Post- Pre-
Disagree
Post- Pre-
62% 96% 35% --
Post-
--
4%
54% 13% 43% 83% --
4%
58% 32% 2%
4%
50% 1%
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Three areas students want to improve in.
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What abilities students want from
the workshops
Make
engineering
interesting
16%
15
Changes in the workshop series

Original workshops:
◦ Presentation Techniques
◦ Technical Writing Considerations

Revised workshop list:
◦ Introduction to Technical Writing
Considerations
◦ Advanced Technical Writing Strategies
◦ Introduction to Presentation Skills
◦ Advanced Presentation Skills and MS
PowerPoint Features
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Additional workshops
developed Spring 2010
The Writing Process: How to Organize
Your Thoughts
 Writing Abstracts, Introductions, and
Conclusions
 Business English for ESL Students
 Citing and Summarizing Outside Sources
for ESL Students

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Specific additions to the
content of Communication
Workshops

How To Tell A Story With Your
Information
◦ How will the audience apply these ideas, use
this item, or buy this service?

How To Alter Your Message for
Various Audiences
◦ How must the story be different for different
audiences?
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Slide 2
Slide 1
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Slide 3
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Other points added to
presentation workshops…

How various companies rephrase or
reposition similar information for less
and more technically minded cohorts:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Using less or more technical detail
Using different graphics
Choosing different levels
Greater use of familiar images and keywords for
lay-audiences
◦ Higher level of diction as well as appropriate
use of jargon, acronyms, footnotes, embedded
links, and references for technical audiences.
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What did students learn?
Preparing a PowerPoint
Slide Show:
 Use professional
templates.
 Proofread documents.
 Have less clutter on
slides.
 Be direct and clear when
writing and creating
slides.
 Keep audience in mind.
Giving an Oral
Presentation:
 Practice the presentation
with some friends prior to
the presentation.
 Test the PowerPoint on a
projector prior to the
presentation.
 Interact with the audience.
 Slow down when speaking.
 Explain technical terms.
 Focus on different ways to
communicate with different
audiences.
 Avoid note cards.
◦ Know slides well enough to
speak from them.
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What do students suggest?





Give the workshop to freshmen engineering
students.
Focus on how to practice giving a presentation.
Have groups give presentations and get
critiques from different audiences.
Provide more practical advice or tactics on how
to get yourself out trouble during a
presentation (recollect yourself).
Make the workshop a full course on
professional communications for engineers.
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Teams judged on:




Organization and
development
Delivery
Use of slides (5 max)
Content
Judges:
•Writing Director
•Dean of Student Life
•Director of Coop Program
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Not
the
end…
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