Implementing informal writing assignments and a feedback and revision loop to enhance learning in engineering courses

Abstract

Several studies have shown that two methods enhance student learning in courses requiring written assignments. The first, informal writing, is an exercise that encourages students to "think on paper" (or perhaps more often, "think on a screen"). Fundamental to this exercise is learning to record observations, interpret data, and document the solutions to problems. The second method requires that students receive feedback on formal assignments they have submitted. The student is then required to revise the assignment using this feedback and then resubmit for grading. While both of these methods are well proven enhancements to the leaning process, they have historically been shunned by engineering faculty. At our university, a campus-wide program for integrating communication requirements into various curricula has had success in overcoming faculty and student resistance to these and other teaching methods not typically found in the engineering disciplines. The Communication Across the Curriculum (CxC) Program uses workshops, Summer Faculty Institutes, discipline-specific communication studios, and an online searchable database to assist faculty in the development and implementation of innovative assignments to build students' communication skills. Incorporating these two learning techniques for written assignments was found to be most challenging in Capstone and laboratory courses; therefore, examples of successful implementation in each are presented. Workload impact was found to be minimal when the faculty member had obtained tools at a CxC workshop or institute and also took advantage of the Engineering Communication Studio resources. Student acceptance was documented via course-end questionnaires and selected focus groups. Both assessment approaches have yielded consistently positive student responses. Other assessment methods are in development, but early indicators are encouraging. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.