An Engineering Approach to Writing: A Pilot Program for Civil Engineering Graduate Students

The engineering education literature is replete with discussions and recommendations on effective communication pedagogy for engineering undergraduate students. Further, organizations like ABET and ASCE stress the importance of technical communication as part of undergraduate curricula. Comparatively less attention is focused on graduate engineering communication development, which is the focus of this paper. A program was developed and piloted for civil engineering graduate students that will be of particular interest to faculty and graduate students. Faculty will benefit from models for improving the organization of thesis writing and teaching technical writing skills. Graduate students will be better equipped in terms of practical or professional skills that, in turn, will make them valued employees from day one. This paper presents the details of the program, preliminary assessments, suggestions for future research, and plans for future development.