Evaluating a Role-Playing Approach to Improve Transferable Professional Communication Skills of Chemical Engineering Students

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based practices in technical communication instruction in laboratory courses that are standard in chemical engineering curriculum. This will be done by incorporating industry-based role-playing scenarios into the courses. Student tutors trained specifically for technical writing will also be used in the courses. The impact these interventions have on the students’ communication skills will be evaluated. Comparisons to the expectations of practicing engineers in industry will be made. By using role-playing scenarios relevant to the workplace, it is anticipated that the students will be more engaged in the course, recognize the value of communication to their future careers, and improve their communication skills. The skills the undergraduates learn will be transferable to their future careers as engineers in industry or researchers in graduate school. Collaboration with communication experts through the institution’s Writing Center will provide more effective teaching and evaluation of communication skills. This project will benefit society by improving STEM education and providing chemical engineering undergraduates technical communication skills to be competitive in the STEM workforce. Professional skills such as communication are highly valued in engineering practice and yet are a challenge to incorporate effectively into the chemical engineering curriculum. With this project, unit operation laboratory courses will be improved by implementing evidence-based practices in technical communication instruction in the curriculum. Three research questions will be explored: (i) how do expectations of “good” technical communication differ between instructors and practicing chemical engineers?; (ii) how do technical communications skills of students improve with use of industrially relevant role-playing scenarios and embedded trained tutors?; and (iii) what is the correlation between student writing self-efficacy and technical communication skills? As part of the research, rubrics will be developed and validated to assess technical communication skills, and industry partners will assess student technical writing and rubrics to reflect the needs of industry. Role-playing scenarios relevant to industrial, research, and academic careers will be implemented, and Writing Center tutors will provide technical writing support to students. In order to make clear the relationship between writing self-efficacy and technical communication skills before and after the intervention, surveys will be given to the students and analyzed for correlations. The results of this project have the potential to be applied in laboratory courses across many disciplines and levels of undergraduate curriculum. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.