The Mechanics of Writing and Communication

Summary Essay

     Everyday we speak, we write, we talk with others about our past, present, and future. Communication is an imperative part to the structure of our daily lives. It keeps us safe, tells others our intentions, and explains our reasons for what we do. However, communication in college courses has been undergoing an extensive change over the last two decades, with more emphasis on specializing communication skills to one’s own major. Mechanical Engineers have increasingly relied on oral and verbal communication skills to explain their designs and projects to customers as products have become more and more complicated to engineer and design. In the article titled, “The Relationship between Language and Design in Mechanical Engineering: Some Preliminary Observations”, Cheryl Geisler discusses how communication skills relevant to engineering are being incorporated in the college curriculum, along with new findings from Edwin H. Rogers, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, and Research Associate Barbara Lewis about literacy practice in engineering design. The article goes on to describe the role of language throughout the engineering design process, the amount of time devoted to writing in mechanical engineering courses, and the communication differences in individual and group settings. These main points not only describe the communication skills necessary for productive work in mechanical engineering, but they also point to how communication in college courses is unrealistic when compared to the communication needed in real-life job applications. With this in mind, college communication curriculum in engineering classes has been undergoing an extensive change to better prepare mechanical engineers for the real world.

     One of the major challenges educators face is how to incorporate pertinent communication skills into the engineering curriculum that is applicable to real life situations. Classically, engineering courses have stressed communication by having students write a midterm and final report or by having students give a presentation one or two times during a semester of class. This kind of communication skill development has been seen as unrealistic in comparison to communication of engineering designs in real life occupations. Instead, communication must be included in every step of the design process, and not just saved for the final touches of an engineering design. For example, when a mechanical engineer is designing an engine for a new car, he or she must first determine customer demands in relation to fuel economy and horsepower, cylinder size, and driving style. Next, the mechanical engineer must find an appropriate assembly line with the proper tools and worker skills to build the engine through collaboration with other types of engineers. Lastly, the mechanical engineer must present the design of the engine to the press, customers, and other companies through written and oral communication, as well as through meetings with his or her own company’s advertising division. This is just one example of many real-life scenarios in which communication is needed throughout the engineering design process. Not only does this ensure that the right product is developed for the right customers, but that the product itself is well-designed and that all specifications are set within their tolerances. In addition, this attention to communication throughout the engineering design process is being applied to class work across the country, due in part to recent findings in the amount of time spent on writing in engineering courses.

     Writing is a crucial communication skill that every engineering student needs to be proficient at to properly explain his or her design intents. Unfortunately, current curriculum doesn’t line up with recent discoveries in the amount of time spent on various activities in mechanical engineering classes. Although engineering students typically only spend time writing at the end of the design process, when the design is “written up”, writing has been found to be the activity that engineering students spend the most time performing, according to a study done by the Society for Technical Communication. In the study, eight students formed two design teams, and they enrolled in the Design of Mechanical Systems course during the spring of 1991. Using process logs and design notebooks, which include the time spent on different activities for the two design teams, researchers determined that literacy-related activities, like writing and research, took up about 35 percent of the students’ time; oral communication took up more than 46 percent of the students’ time, and the usual activities pertaining to engineering design – model building, sketching, and analysis – took up only 17 percent of the students’ time for the class. These findings indicate large discrepancies in the teaching objectives and outcomes of college course work, showing how writing plays a larger-than-expected role in the engineering design process. This discrepancy between the amount of communication curriculum in engineering courses and the actual amount of time students spend on communication-related activities may not be as pronounced as the findings in the article suggested, as differences have also been found in communication between individual and group settings.

     Group settings always pose different social and intellectual dynamics than in an individual setting, and those conducting research on the eight students in the Design of Mechanical Systems course were surprised by how the engineering students communicated when collaborating on class projects. Instead of the students talking about drafting a report and analyzing a report for the class, they found the students communicating without text-driven conversation. The students were discussing plans and ideas for the project as if their class textbook, class notes, and project report didn’t exist. This reflects the thinking methodology that engineers implement in their practice, and how they formulate ideas. Engineers communicate by utilizing ideas and taking their own experiences and information to discuss plans for projects without using material objects as sources for their discussions. Interestingly, this contrasts with how engineers spend their individual time, where they’re occupied with writing and research activities. These differences in communication activities between individual and group settings show how engineers can use the information obtained through research in an individual setting to create a basis for ideas and discussions in group settings. This is a more complex form of language and literary practice, and while this allows engineers to create unique ideas for solutions to difficult problems, it poses a major challenge for educators trying to prepare mechanical engineering students for the real world.

     This ongoing dilemma about teaching engineering students relevant communication skills is what continues to challenge universities and professors across the country. It’s a challenge that Cheryl Geisler has identified by describing the role of language throughout the engineering design process, the amount of time devoted to writing in mechanical engineering courses, and the communication differences in individual and group settings. These facets of the engineering program and the curriculum give just a glimpse into the intricate algorithms that engineers review in order to formulate ideas. This method of complex language and communication is confounding to those outside of engineering, and so it remains a question as to whether or not college courses will ever be able to fully prepare engineering students for communicating effectively with employers and customers after post secondary school. Geisler also leaves the reader pondering with the thought that, despite all the efforts of educators and university faculty, engineers may never discover the importance of writing and working with literature, due to their lack of book and material object utilization when discussing class projects with groups in their ongoing engineering courses.

Geisler, Cheryl. "The relationship between language and design in mechanical

            engineering: some preliminary observations." Technical Communication Feb.

            1993: 173+. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

            <http://mars.lib.iastate.edu:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?f

            rbrVersion=2&tabs=viewOnlineTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=TN_gale_of

            a13885216&indx=6&recIds=TN_gale_ofa13885216&recIdxs=5&elementId=

            5&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=2&dscnt=0&fct

            N=facet_rtype&vl(192264181UI1)=all_items&rfnGrp=1&frbg=&scp.scps=sco

            pe%3A%28ISU%29%2Cprimo_central_multiple_fe&fctV=articles&tab=defau

            lt_tab&dstmp=1390242273038&vl(203425888UI0)=any&srt=rank&mode=

            Basic&dum=true&tb=t&fromLogin=true&vl(1UIStartWith0)=contains&rfnGr

            pCounter=1&vl(freeText0)=mechanical%20engineering%20communication

            &vid=ISU0>