Lydia Wilkinson

Branding, defining and belonging: Creating an identity for the Engineering Communication Program

In 2010, the Engineering Communication Program (ECP) teamed up with Engineering Strategic Communication to find a visual way to resolve ECPs identity issues. Not only was the program a kind of outsider to the world of math, hard science and research which were identified with University of Toronto Engineering, but the instructors themselves had a difficult time differentiating themselves from Teaching Assistants. Students did not have a conventional way to identify instructors who taught interactively in small classes scheduled during tutoring times or who tutored in one-on-one or one-on-team settings. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the university had recently completed a branding exercise and was centrally determining what kinds of symbolic representations or typefaces could be used. We wanted to utilize the university new “brand” as well as our own facultys in order to represent ourselves visibly as part of the engineering world. Our answer, within what was currently permitted by the university, had two components: a type treatment of our name, matching the type treatments used by engineering departments, and an insignia that introduced an acronym for communication instructors - MyCI. In future, we will be conducting a study to determine the associations the insignia evokes for students.

Reversing the tide of industry-academia understanding: Engaging the professional sphere in professional communication assignment design

This paper discusses two assignments introduced at the undergraduate and graduate level to connect students with industry. By requiring students to interview an alumni or industry contact about their experience in the workplace, these assignments aim to: 1) provide students with an opportunity to practice networking and professional communication; 2) expose students to the range of career pathways available post-graduation; and 3) provide the teaching team with a tool to gather and feed-back important information about communication and workplace skills. Interviewee responses provide interesting insights on the alignment of our curriculum to workplace needs, suggesting overall success while revealing some areas for improvement. Student responses to the activity indicated that they valued the opportunity to engage with industry, and that the experience made clear the accessibility of industry contacts and the value of maintaining a professional network throughout their degree.

Extended abstract: Transfers and intersections: An interdisiplinary route to communication skills development

Engineering and Humanities Intersections is an ongoing research project that investigates four sites in which engineering students engage with subjects in the liberal arts: three humanities electives offered through the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto, and a student organized theatre revue, also at that institution. Using data from interviews with student participants in two of the three humanities electives, this presentation will examine the particular activities and experiences that students identify as contributing to improved communication, and review strategies that can be integrated into more traditional communication courses in the engineering curriculum.

Charting a course for effective scientific communication: Balancing accuracy and promotion around the Virgin Galactic crash

Coverage of the inflight explosion of Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo on October 31st, 2014, exposes a gap between Virgins polished public face and the technical realities of its aim to provide accessible space travel. In the days following the crash, Branson used his various media arms to communicate concern, support, and his faith in the importance of his companys space mission. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began their ongoing investigation into the incident, releasing four video briefings in the week following the crash. These two media events — Bransons online handling of the fallout from the incident, and the NTSBs Acting Chairman Chris Harts briefings — provide an interesting case study in the way that scientific material is disseminated by and for expert and non-expert audiences, and how this interacts with expectations around the marketing and promotion of scientific discovery. This paper will analyze the contrasting coverage of Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo crash from the NTSB, Virgins media arms and popular journalism, to consider how we balance scientific accuracy with attempts to capture and promote public interest in the sciences.

Navigating the situated learning experience in an environmental engineering project from the perspectives of both students and instructors

A second year Environmental Chemistry course at the University of Toronto has students learn about the consulting industry through a semester long project. Utilizing situated learning, students play the role of consulting engineers while bidding on an environmental site assessment project. This project is overseen by two coordinators: one professional engineering consultant and one communication instructor from the facultys Engineering Communication Program. Together, the coordinators present different types of guidance and feedback to the students while acting as clients for the project. This paper will describe the organization of the project and consider student responses to gauge how students are learning to navigate professional roles and environments through this experience.

MyCI: Crossing the Border of student and communication instructor relationships

In 2010, the Engineering Communication Program (ECP) teamed up with Engineering Strategic Communication to find a visual way to resolve ECPs identity issues. We wanted to integrate the university and our Facultys recently developed “brand” in order to represent ourselves visibly as part of the engineering world, and so developed a type treatment of our name, and an insignia that introduced an acronym for communication instructors - MyCI. It was intended to resolve the confusion between TAs and Communication Instructors by introducing a mnemonic, an easy to say, easy to remember counterpart to the acronym for Teaching Assistant, while reinforcing the idea that developing a relationship with a Communication Instructor helps the learning process. We are investigating student response to the insignia before beginning work with their CIs, and as they become more familiar with the program. Our study consists of a survey administered at three points in first year, as well as focused interviews. Results will provide information about the degree to which students can identify and differentiate Communication Instructors and instruction from other parts of their academic experience, and the effectiveness of the MyCI insignia in transmitting accurate information about ECP and its instructors.