A Systems Approach To Integrating Technical Communications Instruction With The Engineering Curriculum

Practicing engineers, industry representatives, and ABET recognize the need for technical communication instruction in the engineering curricula. There are various means for introducing and exposing students to technical communication. In 2000, the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) initiated an integration of the technical communications instruction (ITC) with the core engineering curriculum. Presently, the ITC program and process is being reviewed and documented using a systems approach. This paper provides an overview of problem solving using the systems approach and a discussion of the ITC program and its present status of definition according to system models.