UNDERGRADUATE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN ENGINEERING: TRACKING ATTRIBUTE 7 IN TWO ACCREDITATION CYCLES

Abstract

This paper reports on two iterations of our study of course syllabi in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba. The first iteration was part of a national study investigating the writing demands placed on students in a variety of disciplines, including those in the Social Sciences and the Humanities as well as Engineering. This first iteration followed an accreditation visit and the Faculty’s introduction of the C.E.A.B. graduate attributes and outcome-based assessment. Although one would expect Engineering to have far fewer written assignments than these other disciplines, such was not always the case. For example, the national study captured results for Political Science that closely matched those for Mechanical Engineering; Political Science students typically wrote, on average, 2.3 written assignments in year 2 of their program, 2.4 written assignments in year 3, and 4.2 written assignments in year 4, while Mechanical Engineering students wrote 4, 3 and 4.2 written assignments in those same years. Such a finding suggested that more writing was happening in the Faculty of Engineering than we might realize – and quiteapart from that done in the mandatory communication class. So, our second iteration of the study followed another accreditation cycle, but this time we focused solely on the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba. In this second iteration, our goal was to refresh the data so that we could clarify how Attribute 7, “communication skills,” is being met in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba.