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the Centre
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Technical
Communication
Programme
for the Faculty of Engineering The
CELC
currently offers a technical communication
programme at the Faculty of Engineering which comprises two
skill-based courses. Technical Communication 1 and 2, more
popularly known as TC
1 and TC2.
TC
1 is for first year students;
C2 is for second year students. These two courses have a combined enrolment of about 1600 students per year. Both
are essential elective courses in the various departments of
the
Engineering Faculty. A
Birdseye
view The main objective of the programme is to prepare engineering students to
handle the oral and written communication tasks they will need to perform both
in their academic studies and the
workplace. Two features characterize the programme –
its
audience-centred approach to communication and process
approach to writing. The audience-centred approach emphasizes the primacy of the
audience and purpose in any communication situation. Thus, in
the TC
Programme students learn to analyse the audience for
their communication and deploy various oral and written
communication strategies that suit their audience's needs. The goal is
to enable the students to successfully communicate their ideas to different
types of audiences. In the process approach to writing, students are made to go through the different
stages of the writing process -
defining communication objectives,
planning, drafting, evaluating and revising -
with help from their
teacher and peers. This approach helps student writers meet their
readers' needs more effectively. The teaching methods employed in both TC1
and TC2
are
essentially the same. Like other courses in the University, lectures
provide the principles that form the foundation for students' work in
the course, and tutorials reinforce these principles. What is distinctive about the programme is its use of
teacher‑student
conferences and peer review sessions. The conferences provide students
with a more intensive experience of writing as a process
with individualized help from their teachers; the peer review
sessions develop the students' ability to critically review the work of
their peers as well as receive comments from them. Finally,
videotaping the students' oral presentations and reviewing these
tapes provide the students with valuable feedback on their oral
presentation skills. TC1 and TC2
are each taught over a period of 12 weeks per semester. There are no final
examinations for these courses. Instead, students are assessed continuously on
the basis of their performance in the oral and written assignments, and their
participation in classroom activities. TC1:
Laying the Foundation TC1 introduces students to the basic principles of the audience- centred
approach to communication. This approach, which is a highly desirable one to
use in the workplace, is often initially difficult for students to
grasp. But they learn to apply its principles In
TC1,
particular attention is given to developing the oral and written communication
skills of the individual student. Typically,
TC I students work on researching a problem in or around the campus,
collecting data, and presenting findings orally and in writing. Students work
with their teachers following the multiple drafting process to make their
communication more audience- centred. In order to learn principles of
effective presentations students' oral presentations are
videotaped
and then reviewed by their peers and teachers. TC2:
Applying the Skills in Project work TC2 builds on the skills which students learned in TC
1 by requiring students to work on group‑based communication projects.
The focus of TC2
is on collaborative writing techniques and team oral presentation strategies.
Typically students are put into a hypothetical
situation where they assume the role of a proponent of an idea. They choose
this idea and develop it by doing research on it. Finally, they present their
findings and arguments in the form of a formal report such as a proposal, a
feasibility report or a business plan,
and a team oral presentation. The ultimate goal is to convince the
reader/audience to accept this plan and implement its recommendations. TC2 course assignments revolve around a different theme each semester.
Usually these topics have a business or a social orientation. For example,
projects in the past have included
humanizing the campus (making the university more barrier‑free to the
physically disabled), cutting costs on campus, and enhancing learning in the
university. What students say about TC1 and TC2 The
courses which the TC
Programme offers are different from most of the engineering‑based
courses. For one thing, individual oral presentations in TC
I are novel experiences for many of the students. The TC2
project provides students with the opportunities to work in groups and
communicate with their classmates. This experience is valued by many students.
As Roland
Lee, a "graduate" of TC
l and TC2
commented, "Few students have had the
opportunity to develop their oral presentation skills prior to
TC l." Student feedback on the programme is varied. Many realize
that although
TC
1 and TC2
require them to work hard, the skills they learn adequately prepare them for
their work in the University and the workplace.
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