Communications skills development within the engineering curriculum

The engineering departments at Temple University, in conjunction with an outside consultant, have developed the Writetalk Communication System (WCS) to address some of the most important nontechnical skills required for a successful engineering career. The purpose of the WCS is to increase both student and faculty awareness of the importance of communication and to improve students´ skills in reading, listening, and written and spoken communication. The WCS accomplishes this while students are involved in existing engineering academic programs. It provides the opportunity to practice these skills within the established engineering curricula and does not require that additional courses be established. Classroom and homework assignments have been developed for all class levels of the engineering curriculum by an outside consultant. The WCS is flexible and easily adapted to the existing classroom structure, resulting in a minimum of change by the faculty