Research, Report Writing And Representation: The Most Viable 3 Rs For Critical Thinking And Effective Communication Skills In Smet Education.

The use of research for the development of critical thinking and effective communication skills is a current trend in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) education. This trend is epitomized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program; currently there are approximately 300 REU sites nationwide. The role of research in critical thinking and communication skills development is optimized when used in combination with report writing and report presentation (representation). The 3Rs (Research, Report Writing, and Representation) incorporate the essential elements of critical thinking and effective communication such as literature search for development of ideas (ideation) and knowledge base, experimentation for verification of developed ideas and data generation, analyses and interpretation of generated data using course concepts and fundamentals, report writing for documentation of research results and development of writing skills, and report presentation for development of oral communication skills and dissemination of research findings.