Effective Technical Communication Laboratory

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The aim of this project is to deal effectively with the most common complaint about engineering graduates; their lack of communication skills. Traditional public speaking and technical writing courses, although extremely valuable, are not solving the problem. The written, oral and graphic communication skills of engineering students at Clemson University are being improved through the Effective Technical Communications (ETC) program which has the following objectives: 1. Integrate technical communication exercises throughout the engineering curriculum 2. Provide students with a condensed manual for written, oral and graphic communications. 3. Provide modern equipment and techniques to aid preparation and feedback. 4. Use communication exercises to enhance learning of the technical material being presented. Planning began in 1982, and a team of Engineering and English faculty completed the Effective Technical Communications Manual 1986. An alumnus provided a $1.0 million endowment of a joint English/Engineering chair in technical communications, the first such chair in the nation. A pilot project involving 160 students began in Fall 1986, and expanded to 300 students in Spring 1987. Selected technical courses include written, oral and graphical exercises which are dual graded by engineering and english faculty. In Fall 1987, the program was expanded to several courses throughout the College of Engineering, and more that 600 students are involved. In order to fully integrate the ETC program into the curriculum and serve the 3300 students in the College of Engineering, a special facility for preparing written, oral and graphical communication materials will be necessary. The facility will contain computers, laser printers, video equipment, and graphic display/printers to enable students and faculty to utilize the latest techniques in a technical communications. The ETC concept has been presented at several national meetings and has generated inquires from more that 40 institutions. It is a unique approach to a major problem.