Reluctant Reflectors: Developing
relevant communication skills in first
year engineering students through
reports and reflective learning
portfolios.
Veronica Goerke
Communication Skills
Coordinator
from the Faculty of Media, Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
Western Australia
The Curtin University Engineering
Foundation Year program
‘The program reflects a holistic view of foundational
studies in Engineering as a body of learning, all
parts of that body contributing to the whole.
At its heart lies Engineering Foundations – the
development of design skills, creative thinking
processes, the principles of Engineering (the
integration and application of scientific knowledge
and societal awareness) and the ability to
communicate.’
Conceptual Map of EFY Program for 2006
Engineering Science:
Enabling Skills:
Fundamentals, modelling and skills
Logic, analysis and rigour
Materials 100 (25CP)
Mechanics 100 (25CP)
Electrical Systems 100 (25CP)
Total: 75CP
Mathematics 110/120 (25CP)
Mathematics 130/140 (25CP)
Programming 100 (12.5CP)
Total: 62.5CP
Engineering Foundations:
Total: 50CP
Design and Processes
100
(25CP)
Principles and
Communications
100
(25CP)
Science:
Physics or Chemistry
12.5CP
Enrichment: Elective 12.5CP
For entrants with both TEE Physics and Chemistry
12.5CP
ENGINEERING FOUNDATIONS:
PRINCIPLES AND COMMUNICATIONS 100
The EFPC 100 Syllabus
•
•
•
•
•
Structure of the engineering
industry
How engineering works
Working as an engineer
Engineers’ responsibilities and
duties
The engineer and the environment
• Working in a team
• Reporting
• Communicating as an
engineer
• Academic writing and
ethical scholarship
Communication seminar
syllabus
• principles of effective
communication
• ethical scholarship; research
and referencing
• reflective writing
• report writing
• oral communication
• team work skills and
intercultural communication
• concise written expression
and editing skills
EFPC100 Assessments
ASSIGNMENT
In class exercises
Report Assignment
Reflective Learning Portfolio
Group Project 1
Group Project 2
Site 2 summary
TOTAL
Possible
Mark
10
20
20
20
25
5
100%
Engineering Foundations: Principles and
Communications 100
• 2 hour interactive seminar every week
• Part of a first year transition unit
• Assessments assist and affirm first year
Curtin engineering students
• We try to accommodate the changing
communication needs of Curtin first year
engineering students.
Students’ previous experience
• Most (+90%) of the students have not
used the report writing genre.
• Have you ever done reflective writing?
83% No
17% Yes
• Have you created a portfolio before?
85% No
15% Yes
Our first year student engineers –
Many are reluctant learners because:
• Language skills – lack confidence
• TEE* English (2004) - 1/3 failed;
- 1/3 between 50-60%
- 1/3 above 60%
• Learning styles – convergent rather than
divergent (see David Kolb 1984)
*TEE = Tertiary Entrance Examination
‘Engineers usually have a convergent learning
style. Engineering education, with its heavy
emphasis on problem solving and engineering
science, relies principally on convergent and
assimilative learning styles.’
From:
Innovation in Engineering Education at the University of South Australia
Andrew Nafalski, Kevin J. McDermott, Global J. of Engng. Educ., Vol.5, No.1 © 2001 UICEE Published in
Australia
THE REPORT
• The report topics are in context – the site
visit is the case study
• Scaffolding – a research assignment and
report outline scaffold up to the report
assignment
• Redrafting and resubmitting
Report resubmission
• Students have a choice to respond to
feedback and edit their report before
resubmitting for a better mark.
• We can teach to the individual weaknesses
that become evident in each group
• It’s a dialogic process
• It mimics workplace report writing practice
The report assignment question
•
Write a short analytical report about a
problem or controversial issue that is
connected to the first site you will visit this
semester.
•
Report Objective - analysis of relevant
issue/s  practical recommendations for
an appropriate audience
Examples of report subjects in 2006
(dependent on the site a student visited)
• Wooden bridges versus concrete bridges
• Impact on the natural environment of
reconstruction work on Mt Henry Bridge
• Australia Post - workplace conditions
Resubmission instructions
You will be given the opportunity to rework this written
assignment based on feedback from your lecturer and
your peers. Please note:
– If you resubmit your assignment, you must also hand
in your marked first attempt and the cover sheet on
which your teacher wrote comments for this
assignment. Your tutor cannot mark the resubmission
without comparing it with your initial assignment.
– You must do more than correct the grammatical errors
your tutor has marked on your first attempt. If you
limit yourself to doing this, you will gain no extra
marks for the resubmission.
– You will be permitted to resubmit only if your first
submission showed evidence of a high level of effort.
Student sample recommendations
These recommendations are made to the Hon Dr
Brendan Nelson MP …
• Offer government incentives to engineering
companies to establish cadetship programs.
• Establish a government funded five-year television
and radio commercial campaign.
• Revise Youth Allowance penalties for working beyond
the current fortnightly wage limit.
• Reduce HECS applied to an engineering degree by
classing it in the ‘national priority’ band.
The reflective learning portfolio
Learning to reflect by engaging in a ‘hands on’ activity
Example  bridge building activity
(Baird & Pedigo, 2003 based on Hadson & Jay 2001).
Bridge building activity
reflective questions:
1. Provide a brief outline of your role and contribution to
the bridge building exercise.
2. How effective was your team in making a decision
about how to build the bridge?
3. How did your team resolve any conflict or differences
of opinion?
4. Which outcome/s on the Engineering Graduate
Attribute Chart were relevant to this exercise? How
did you demonstrate the outcome/s?
5. If you were to do a similar activity again, what would
you do differently?
The reflective learning portfolio – the
learning process
1. ` Hands on’ activity precursor to reflective writing
2. Lesson contemplating personal learning style
3. Assignment Instructions – guiding questions for
structured reflections
4. Feedback on first reflection = formative
assessment
The aim is that the student will prove that they
can ‘talk’ about what they have learnt  that they
are beginning to engage in discipline discourse.
Guiding questions for reflections in
learning portfolio
1. Make a brief summary (~ 3 sentences) describing
the work samples and the unit.
2. Explain how, though your engagement in this unit,
you were able to demonstrate one of the outcomes
on the list of Engineering Generic Graduate
Attributes. Also comment on the extent to which you
were able to achieve that outcome.
3. Discuss how you could have improved your effort in
this unit. What were your strengths in this unit? Be
specific and use terminology relevant to that unit. If
you had the opportunity to repeat this unit, what
would you do differently?
Students need to use the discourse of that subject
(sample  excerpt from one reflection)
To improve in this unit it would be necessary to allocate more time
to going through the theory in the text book and then try some
practice questions to ensure that I can apply the mathematical
theories such as integration, differentiation and function theory.
Overall, this would enhance my depth of understanding and my
ability to solve problems faster and more accurately. Due to my
unfamiliarity with the Maple package I am not confident in
using it and I do not enjoy it. To improve my confidence and
familiarity with Maple I should try to allocate small amounts of
time to practise some foundational skills on it. Over time this
will make me more familiar with its use, and help me to
understand when I should use it and how to use it for the
maximum benefit. For instance I could use it for calculating
problems that I properly understand the theory for. This
increases the time I have for more difficult problems.
Engineering Generic Graduate Attributes
1.
Ability to apply knowledge of basic science and engineering
fundamentals;
2.
Ability to communicate effectively;
3.
4.
5.
In-depth technical competence in at least one engineering discipline;
Ability to undertake problem identification, formulation, and solution;
Ability to utilise a systems approach to design and operational
performance;
Ability to function effectively as an individual and in multi-disciplinary
and multi-cultural team, with the capacity to be a leader or manager as
well as an effective team member;
Understanding of the social, cultural, global and environmental
responsibilities of the professional engineer, and the need for
sustainable design and development;
Understanding of the principals of sustainable design and
development;
Understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities and
commitment to them; and
Expectation of the needs to undertake lifelong learning, and capacity
to do so.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Excerpt from a student’s reflection on the Engineering
Generic Graduate Attribute:
‘Ability to apply knowledge of basic science and
engineering fundamentals’
I was particularly able to demonstrate this attribute during
the second group project involving the case study of an
industrial waste management plant. I was responsible for
analysing the chemical engineering aspects of our
assigned sewage treatment plant. Using the basic
knowledge on heat conduction and convection that I had
gathered from my heat exchanger design unit that
semester, I was able to describe the fundamentals behind
the treatment plants anaerobic digesters. I was also able
to easily apply basic chemistry knowledge when breaking
down the complex bacterial processes that occur during
secondary wastewater treatment and thermophilic
anaerobic digestion processes.
Strategies for both assignments
• Clear criteria (‘cover sheets’)
• Provide models
• Link assessments to the first year outcomes and the
requirements of the profession
• Continual encouragement to ‘sound’ like an engineer
– helping student to explicitly learn the discourse of
their discipline
• We employ skilled teachers – currently 11 out of 14
are secondary trained teachers
• We visibly work WITH the Engineering faculty
• We conduct moderation meetings for each
assessment
Reflective learning portfolio cover-sheet
Achieved
Rating Scale and Comments
Getting there
Missed out
Evidence of thoughtful reflection on the learning
process
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Guiding questions (on the assignment sheet)
answered in appropriate detail.
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Relevant outcome as listed on the Engineering
Generic Graduate Attributes chart identified and
discussed.
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Smooth synthesis of reflective thoughts and factual
information
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Writing Style:
- fluent prose (connectives?)
- concise expression
- correct punctuation
- sound sentence structure
- varied (descriptive) vocabulary used
Careful attention paid to presentation and
organisation of material
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To conclude - student response:
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Evaluations of our seminars and teachers are
overwhelming positive – higher than university
average ratings
First year engineers survey response in the final
week:
Do you think that in this seminar you have learnt and
improved upon skills that will be useful for your
degree?
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•
•
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Yes 48%
Most of the time
30%
Probably
18%
Not sure
1.5%
Unlikely
1.25%
No 1.25%