Integrating oral communication skills in engineering education

Oral communication has been identified as an extremely important skill for engineers in today's world. However, an insufficient focus on this area may leave the graduate lacking the relevant skills and may adversely affect the graduate's career success. Furthermore, a negative image of the modem engineer due to ineffective communication skills will impact negatively on recruitment and retention. Oral communication is seen as a learnable skill. The paper highlights several experiential examples that could be utilised in curricula, including presentations, peer review, role-play, video and modem technological elements. Communication skills assessment is also analysed, as are oral communication skills in current engineering education issues. Greater equality in gender representation in engineering courses may be evidenced with the increase in double degree programmes, while refresher courses for educators will ultimately be beneficial for the students. Tasks involving oral communication skills will also aid in the development of life-long learning skills. The paper concludes by emphasising that oral communication skills need to be incorporated across the degree, especially in the marking structure of subjects, to reinforce the correct skills combination.