Jason A. Foster

Using problem finding to integrate communication and design for student learning in engineering

This tutorial provides communication instructors with a set of design/communication activities that encourage critical thinking and argument. The design activities aim at the early end of the design process—the problem finding phase—where the ideas are unsure and in need of careful justification and judgment. This selection provides exigence for developing argument and evaluation skills. The design activities include developing a 20-minute design charrette and generating an RFP. The activities are evaluated as learning activities using William Perrys scheme of intellectual development and David Kolbs learning styles inventory to demonstrate how an instructor can enhance student learning by opening the problem finding stage of design.

Planning for excellence: Using public showcases to motivate students in professional communication courses

Motivating engineering students to invest in their communication activities has long been a challenge for technical communication pedagogy. In Praxis II, a first year design and communication course at the University of Toronto, we achieve that goal by deeply integrating communication into engineering design activities, and by having the course culminate in a highly public, high stakes showcase in which student ability to communicate their design across a varied audience is the key to their success. The presence of a highly invested audience that includes public officials and local media at showcase has demanded, we believe, a deeper commitment in our students to communication, as evidenced by the high quality samples on display at the media showcase at IPCC 2010.