EIF: Mapping the Future of Engineering Communication 2008 Survey

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Mapping the Future of Engineering Communication 2008 Survey
Funded by the Engineering Information Foundation

This survey collects information about how communication assignments (written and oral, formal and informal) are incorporated into engineering courses. The survey consists of 17 main questions, most of which are checkboxes. Estimated completion time is about 8-10 minutes.

The aggregate results of the survey will be shared with engineering faculty members who complete the survey and with engineering communication faculty who support them. In addition, this information may be used as part of a study on the ways in which engineering faculty incorporate communication assignments into their courses. Your individual information will not be reported.

Thank you very much for your participation!

Course Selection
Q1. Please provide the title and a brief description of a course you teach in which communication assignments play a substantial role.


Course Title:
Description:

Course Background
Q2. For the course selected above, please provide the general background information below:

Engineering/Discipline/Department:

Course Level: Lower-Division (1st/2nd Yr) Upper-Division (3rd/4th Yr) Graduate

Student Mix: FR SO JR SR GR
(Est. Total=100%; e.g., 25 FR; 25 SO; 25 JR; 25 SR; 0 GR)

Size (Typical Enrollment in This Course) :

Type(s) of Teaching Staff Involved: (Mark all that apply)
Tenured or tenure-track professor
Adjunct professor or instructor
Graduate instructor or teaching assistant

Typical Number of Teaching Staff Involved:

Grading: (Who grades most of the student work?)
Tenured or tenure-track professor
Adjunct professor or instructor
Graduate instructor or teaching assistant

Lab (Associated with this course?): Yes No

Q3. Which of the following communication tasks do you assign to your students?
(Mark all that apply)
Design proposal/report
Essay responses on homework/tests
Lab report
Office communication (correspondence, e-mail, instant messenger, memos, etc.)
Oral presentation
Poster presentation
Project documentation (progress, requirements, specifications, etc.)
Visual communication (graphs, schematics, tables, etc.)
Written responses to team/group work
Other, please specify:

Q4. Why do you include the above selected communication tasks/assignments in this course?
(Mark all that apply)
To assess student learning of course concepts
To encourage critical thinking
To fulfill accreditation requirements (ABET, AQIP, etc.)
To help students learn course concepts
To prepare students for professional practice
Other, please specify:

Q5. What are the greatest challenges you encounter when incorporating communication tasks/assignments into your course? (Mark all that apply)
Colleague/departmental resistance
Difficulty of designing effective communication tasks/assignments
Faculty workload demands (grading, commenting, etc.)
Making room in a crowded syllabus
Poor student performance on communication tasks/assignments
Student resistance
Student workload demands (planning, revision, writing, etc.)
Other, please specify:

Course Assignment
For the following questions, please choose one communication assignment from the course you selected above. This assignment should be substantial (in terms of duration, effort, and/or scope) and reflect your objectives for incorporating communication assignments in your course.

Q6. Please provide the title and a brief description of this representative communication assignment below.

Assignment:
Description:

Q7. Do you ask students to do peer review as a part of this assignment?

Yes				No

Q8. Besides help provided by you (class lecture, Q&A, etc.,) what other resources do you provide to students to assist them with this assignment? (Mark all that apply)
Article(s) on written, oral or other communication skills
Departmental writing guide
Instructor-created writing guide
Tutors
Communication handbook/textbook
Other, please specify:

Q9. How do you evaluate student performance on this assignment? (Mark all that apply)
Evaluation rubrics
Letter grades
Points or percentages
Other, please specify:

Q10. In addition to the grade for the assignment, what kind(s) of written or verbal feedback do you provide to students on this assignment? (Mark all that apply)
Evaluation rubrics
Portfolio evaluation
Verbal comments
Written comments
Other, please specify:

Collaboration Opportunities
Q11. How often do you collaborate with colleagues outside of your department about communication tasks in your course?
Regularly Occasionally Seldom Never

Influential Factors for Change
Q12. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement:

I have observed changes over the past several years in the practice of incorporating communication assignments in engineering courses.

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Improvement Opportunities and Other
Q13. Which of the following would help you to incorporate communication assignments into your courses? (Mark all that apply)
Best practices for encouraging student participation
Reduced workload
Support for designing effective communication assignments
Support from Communication/English Departments
Support from curriculum/program committees (institutional/departmental)
Other, please specify below:

Q14. Please rank the following phrases with 1 being the most important criterion in defining the phrase "communicate effectively" for you.
Depth and accuracy of content
Grammatical/mechanical correctness
Proper format
Tailoring content to target audiences
Other, please specify:

Q15. Please share any additional comments regarding this survey below.

Q16. Would you be interested in receiving a copy of the survey results?

Yes				No

Q17. Focus groups will be held at the Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Oct. 22-25, 2008 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Are you planning to attend the conference?

Yes				No