Design process for a communication skills program for science and engineering research students

Engineering students need to develop skills in communication, and over the past several decades undergraduate programs have been augmented in line with this expectation (Russell, 2013). However, the need for postgraduate engineering students to develop skills to better communicate their research has not been addressed to the same extent, despite the fact that the demands placed on postgraduate researchers to write and present well in order to 'establish a professional identity' (Poe et al. 2010) are even more pressing than on those entering the field as 'working engineers'. The internationalisation of engineering education presents a further rationale for the creation of suitable postgraduate programs, given that many students now expect to enhance their English language proficiency over the course of their doctoral candidacy. In responding to these concerns, Swinburne University of Technology's Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences (FEIS) has established a pilot program to address the question: 'How can FEIS higher degree by research (HDR) students be better supported in terms of the development of their research communication skills?' The approach to the program design involved conducting needs analysis, consulting with stakeholders within the faculty, considering issues and guidelines within the literature and drawing on the experience of the academic language and learning adviser in relation to previous writing and discipline-specific academic language and literacy programs. The program that is currently under way includes the following components: seminars that model skills and strategies for engineering and industrial sciences research writing and presentation and that address the various stages of the HDR life cycle; consultation sessions incorporating focused analysis of students' writing and follow-up sessions to develop language and literacy skill; a range of online learning resources hosted on a dedicated website. Mid-program evaluation indicates that a combination of targeted genre-based seminars and follow-up individual consultation sessions offers a promising avenue of improvement for HDR students seeking to enhance their research communication skills; however it is anticipated that further evaluation over the course of the program will add to current knowledge about the ways and the extent to which engineering students may expect to improve their communication skills over the course of their HDR studies.