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

本项目旨在通过在化学工程课程标准的实验课程中实施基于证据的技术交流教学，为国家利益服务。这将通过将基于行业的角色扮演场景纳入课程来实现。专门为技术写作培训的学生导师也将在课程中使用。这些干预对学生沟通技巧的影响将被评估。将与工业实践工程师的期望进行比较。通过使用与工作场所相关的角色扮演场景，期望学生能够更加投入到课程中，认识到沟通对他们未来职业的价值，并提高他们的沟通技巧。本科生学到的技能将会转移到他们未来的职业生涯中，如工业工程师或研究生院的研究人员。通过该机构的写作中心与沟通专家合作，将提供更有效的沟通技巧教学和评估。该项目将通过改善STEM教育，为化学工程本科生提供技术沟通技能，使其在STEM劳动力中具有竞争力，从而造福社会。专业技能，如沟通，在工程实践中被高度重视，但有效地融入化工课程是一个挑战。通过本项目，通过在课程中实施技术交流教学的循证实践，提高单元操作实验课程的教学质量。将探讨三个研究问题：(i)教师和实习化学工程师对“良好”技术沟通的期望有何不同？（ii）利用与工业相关的角色扮演场景和嵌入式训练有素的导师，如何提高学生的技术沟通技巧？（三）学生写作自我效能感与技术沟通能力之间的相关性是什么？作为研究的一部分，将开发和验证标准，以评估技术沟通技巧，行业合作伙伴将评估学生的技术写作和标准，以反映行业的需求。将实施与工业、研究和学术生涯相关的角色扮演场景，写作中心的导师将为学生提供技术写作支持。为了明确干预前后写作自我效能感与技术沟通能力之间的关系，我们将对学生进行调查，并分析其相关性。该项目的结果有可能应用于许多学科和本科课程水平的实验课程。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.