Integrating Iterative Technical Communication into a Lab Course

While in college at 美国纽约州立大学布法罗分校 , I was fortunate to have excellent instruction in the area of technical communication. From my recollection, there was an office specifically focused on technical communication, staffed by individuals who had spent their career as technical writers. These individuals aimed to integrate technical communication into a selection of chemical engineering courses, which was wonderful preparation for working in both academia and industry. As I began to teach myself, I aimed to provide a similar educational experience by integrating technical communication into my courses. I had the opportunity to teach a graduate level course in technical communication at Cleveland State University , and now over the last four years have had another opportunity to integrate technical communication and related elements into a course at Case Western Reserve University .?

Starting in spring 2021, I was tasked with taking over ECHE 365: Measurements Lab, which is very similar to a Unit Ops lab found in most chemical engineering departments. Although the spring 2020 offering was severely altered because of Covid-19, the structure prior to that semester was typical, with teams of students conducting 4 - 6 experiments, each in a 3 hour time block, and then writing reports about the results from those experiments. Lab sessions were complemented by occasional recitations covering the technical aspects of experiments, error analysis, and a bit of content on presentations. In spring 2021, I restructured the lab course to emphasize elements of (1) Iteration and Hypothesis Development, (2) Broader Instruction in Technical Communication and Writing, (3) Well Defined Measurables and Rubrics, and (4) Engineering Design and “Real World” Metering. Although my initial changes were focused on improving student outcomes, the updated course has also helped with ABET accreditation and serves as a model course for the new General Education Requirements at our university. I decided to share a high level summary of my approach in case colleagues at other universities find it helpful - reach out if you want to learn more!

Iterative Writing Framework: Perhaps the most significant change was in the overall structure of how many labs were completed by teams and how often. The updated lab course was structured to have teams conduct experiments on fewer apparatus (down to three), but scheduled to have multiple sessions with each apparatus spaced some time apart. For example, teams conducting a heat exchanger lab had two sessions spaced ~weeks apart. Teams spend the time between these sessions interpreting data, drafting a report, and generating hypotheses for their second session. Teams submit their draft report to a Technical Communications TA between their first and second session to get it reviewed, edited, and returned for both communication and technical content. Teams then use this feedback to synthesize a new experimental plan that feeds into their second lab session. Following their second session, teams submit a ‘final’ report, which is again reviewed and edited. This model is meant to replicate the typically iterative process found in the industrial or academic environment. Particular emphasis is on teams reporting a synthesized message, rather than just a chronological report of what they accomplished, in a report.

Technical Communication: In parallel to this new lab schedule, recitations were added to significantly increase content related to technical communications. Topics covered include: The Importance of Technical Communications, Data Analysis and Presentation, Hypothesis Development, Effective Writing, Effective Presentations, Figure Design, Finding Journal Articles, Writing Emails and Memos, among others. In addition, the final oral presentation was remodeled as a "Teach a Lab'' presentation in which teams need to develop a teaching tool associated with a lab. The intention of this part of the lab course is to have students demonstrate critical thinking (in the formation of a teaching tool) about a particular laboratory apparatus covered in the course and utilize technical communication skills to convey this critical thinking.?

Standardize Evaluation Tools: Another important update to the course was to formalize all evaluation tools and ensure they were aligned with educational objectives of the course. All reports and presentations now have specific rubrics that are meant to measure how teams perform against the particular targeted educational outcomes of the course.?Given that all documents and forms are digital, this makes data collection post hoc easy.

Engineering Design and Real World Energy Systems: A more recent development has been the integration of engineering design and metering hardware into a portion of the course. Starting in 2022, two "test" teams integrated engineering design into their lab activities by choosing one apparatus and then designing and fabricating a specific piece of hardware to test a specific hypothesis. Teams have gravitated towards designing and fabricating (either from off the shelf parts or 3D printing) novel piping geometries, for which they then measure the friction coefficients. I really like this activity, but it is somewhat variable whether that activity can be implemented depending on the group size. In addition, Erika Weliczko, Evan Guarr , and I were fortunate to win a Nord Grant to integrate metering tools into the plumping system in a neighboring engineering building. Evan, now along with Nicholas Sinclair, PhD , developed some excellent content on metering that students are exposed to in recitation, then can see in operation in the subsequent weeks on a facility tour. Of course, there is also a technical communication element to this experience. Individual students need to utilize real data from the metering systems to write a memo that recommends whether or not to replace the existing insulation. Given that students tend to get most excited about this part of the course, I’m really looking forward to seeing how these newer features driven by Evan and Nick develop in the years to come.

Although I initiated these changes in spring 2021 with a focus on student outcomes, I’ve been very pleased to see how these updates have helped our department and Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University . We are now starting to use many elements of this lab course in our upcoming ABET accreditation process. Perhaps more importantly, this course served as a model for the entire school for how each department could develop disciplinary communication courses. CWRU recently implemented a new General Education Requirement framework, in which a significant portion of writing instruction is moved into disciplinary communication courses. ECHE 365 served as a model for the other communication courses now starting to populate our curriculum. I wanted to share these approaches because often activities like this fly under the radar, but end up being quite important for the educational operation of a department, school, or university. Reach out if you want to learn more!