Exploring the Relationship Between Communication Skills and Performance in First-Year Engineering

This Complete Research paper attempts to uncover the links between incoming student ACT (math and English language arts (ELA) scores) and performance in first year engineering and composition courses to determine if a remedial path was needed for students with low ELA skills. Statistically significant differences were found between ACT math and ELA scores, with incoming engineering students possessing greater math than ELA abilities. However, even students with ELA scores 7-points lower than the mean ACT composite score performed adequately in first year engineering courses, indicating no need for a communication focused remedial path in first year engineering. Background First year engineering programs focus on retention of students within engineering programs, development of essential skills for engineering, and the selection of engineering majors. Incoming students’ math abilities as measured by ACT/SAT are often used as a threshold of acceptance into engineering programs and are seen by some as a predictor of performance in engineering programs. To aid in the retention and success of all students, many first year programs have special classes for students who many need additional math skill development. Math skills are recognized as essential to the success of future engineers. However, other skills are integral to the engineering career path. Within industry, it is communication skills that often make or break careers. Technically capable engineers will find their careers stagnating without well-developed communication skills, which are an essential part of engineering work. In fact, it has been shown that engineers spend over half their working days (55-60%) communicating both orally and in writing [1]. When engineers were surveyed about the most important competencies for engineers, communication was in the top three responses (after planning & time management and problem solving) [2]. Yet communication remains one of the skills engineering students struggle with the most, often failing “to appreciate that written words, not just calculations, express engineering content” [2]. Engineers often confuse equations and accurate technical content with good communication. The importance of communication as a skill is recognized by ABET, and is included in their program as Criteria 3, Student Outcomes 3, “ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences” [3]. ABET accredited programs are required to assess program outcomes. During this assessment, programs focus on final student capabilities. Communication is often assessed within the context of a final report or senior design project, at the end of a student’s experience. These end-of-experience assessments do not address incoming students’ verbal or written communication abilities. This project was undertaken to examine the relationship between incoming student reading/writing/English skills (as measured by English Language Arts (ELA) ACT scores and performance in first year composition courses) and performance in first-year engineering courses. Our ultimate purpose was to determine whether or not a remedial path in first year engineering programs might be necessary for those who enter engineering programs with low communication abilities. This paper is a continuation of a work-in-progress paper presented at ASEE’s First Year Engineering Experience conference in 2018 [4]. This investigation of the role of communication in first-year engineering was in part motivated by a recent change to the flipped classroom format in the first year engineering program at the study site. The first year engineering flipped class requires communication daily with teammates in an active learning environment. Multimodal communication is embedded into the class assignments through several audio/visual presentations, memos, and a final design project portfolio including engineering graphics, a drawing package, computational modeling, and a written report. Thus, communication skills come into play not only in their own right, but also as a vehicle for learning. ACT ELA scores are a combination of the ACT English, Reading, and Writing scores. The first two ask questions relating to knowledge of Standard English and reading comprehension, and the last requires the writing of an essay. The composition course at the study site follows several national trends: stressing multimodal composition (combining aural, visual, and/or written modes of communication) and including a portfolio incorporating reflection as well as requiring more traditional analytic and research essays. Methods Students who enter this university calculus-ready are enrolled in ENG1101 in the fall semester, followed by ENG1102 in the spring. These two courses make up the common first year engineering experience across all engineering majors. They focus on engineering design and problem solving while developing programming and solid modeling skills. Students who are not ready to take calculus do not take ENG1101. Instead, they take a two-course sequence designed to cover all of the same material as ENG1101 over the whole of their first year. These students will then take ENG1102 in the fall of their second year. The two pathways into ENG1102 are shown in Figure 1. Thus, our data has two primary cohorts: those who completed ENG1102 their first year in college (who came to the university calculus ready) and those who completed ENG1102 their second year (those who needed some remedial math courses). Figure 1. Pathways Through the First Year Engineering Program Data from 829 engineering students who began their studies in the fall of 2016 was collected from a STEM-oriented university in the US Midwest. Information collected included each student’s incoming math and ELA ACT scores, as well as final grades in first year composition (UN1015) and in the second class of a two-class introduction to engineering thinking and design series common to all engineering ENG1102: Engineering Modeling & Design ENG1100: Engineering Analysis ENG1101: Engineering Analysis & Problem Solving ENG1001: Engineering Problem Solving majors (ENG1102). Unfortunately, not all incoming students submit ELA ACT scores to the university. Only 433 students with both math and ELA ACT scores were examined in this study. Mean math and ELA ACT scores were compared using a paired two-tailed t-test to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the students’ incoming math and verbal performance. For students who earned a numerical grade (not receiving transfer credit, placement credit, or withdrawing from the course), mean final course grades (on a 4 point scale) were compared using a paired two-tailed t-test to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the students’ performance in UN1015 and ENG1102. For both of these comparisons, a significance level ɑ of 0.01 was chosen prior to data comparison to test the null hypothesis of no difference in the means. This analysis was performed for the total of 433 students, including 363 students who completed ENG1102 in their first year and 70 students who completed ENG1102 in their second year. Results Results from this work are presented in three sections. The first is the overall performance results for the 433 students who began their engineering studies at the university in the fall of 2016. The second section presents the results from the 363 students who entered the university calculus ready and completed ENG1102 in their first year. The third section presents the results from the 70 students who required some math remediation and completed ENG1102 in the fall of 2017, in their second year at the university. Overall Results Overall, students’ ACT math scores were statistically significantly higher than their ACT ELA scores, regardless of whether they entered the university calculus ready or not. For the 433 students who began their engineering studies at the university in the fall of 2016, the mean ACT math score was 28, with a range of 16 to 36 and a standard deviation of 3.3. The mean ELA score was 25 with a range of 8 to 35 and a standard deviation of 3.8. A paired, two-tailed t-test showed a p value of 1.06 x 10, which is far less than the selected alpha. The difference in the means is statistically significant. The mean grade in ENG1102 by cluster of ACT ELA scores is shown in Figure 2. In general, grades in ENG1102 decreased with a decrease in ELA ACT scores, although even the lowest scores were adequate to continue on within engineering programs. ACT ELA score range average grade in ENG 1102 # in cohort 36-33 3.83 3