Development Of Professional Communication Skills Throughout The Bme Curriculum

Abstract

A sequence of six design courses are required in the undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This sequence of courses provide a platform for students to develop and improve their oral and written communication skills. After taking a freshman engineering design course, each student admitted to biomedical engineering in the sophomore year does a team design project each semester for six sequential semesters. The teams work on progressively more challenging real-world projects submitted by clients from around the university and from industry. While advancing their technical and problem-solving skills through successive projects, the students also learn interpersonal and public communication skills through this experience.

Creating a Communications Curriculum for the Modern Engineer

“…Students often think of these classes as "worthless classes that they just have to get through so they can get to the real engineering classes". By integrating professional communication into the structure of several classes, students begin to realize that professional communication development is something the whole department endorses and emphasizes [5].…”

Learning Assessment in a Design-Throughout-the-Curriculum Program

“…These courses allow the faculty access to all of the students in our department, providing an effective means to make announcements or discuss issues pertaining to the whole student body. Design courses also provide a platform for professional communication throughout the curriculum 5 , and a relevant structure to discuss other professional topics such as intellectual property, professionalism, engineering ethics, and the need for lifelong learning. Some of these topics are taught via short video tutorials 6 including: 1) team dynamics, 2) intellectual property, 3) FDA medical device regulations, 4) human subjects research, 5) impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context, and 6) and engineering ethics.…”