Research Initiation: Improving Communication Skills in Undergraduate Engineering Teams

About This Grant

As engineering projects become increasingly collaborative in nature, the ability to listen actively, convey ideas clearly, and navigate competing perspectives is no longer optional; it's essential. However, engineering education mainly focuses on advancing technical skills. Students learn to model systems but not how to address design conflicts or misunderstandings. Communication training is often a missing piece in educating engineering students. Effective interpersonal communication is crucial for engineers who engage with various stakeholders and work in teams, where understanding different perspectives, personalities, and communication styles leads to smoother and more productive collaboration. This project will reduce this skills gap by incorporating communication training into team-based, undergraduate engineering courses. The intervention will use Story Circles method tailored to engineering contexts. The goal is to develop globally competitive engineers that have both technical knowledge and the ability to work effectively across disciplines and contexts. This project will introduce communication training to existing courses, ensuring accessibility without increasing student workload or costs for institutions. This work supports the NSF's goal of strengthening our domestic workforce; it promotes evidence-based strategies that prepare American engineers to tackle the complex challenges of the 21st century. This research will use a quasi-experimental, mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative methods) to evaluate the impact of the communication intervention on undergraduate engineering students' teamwork experiences and learning outcomes. Our intervention centers on Story Circles method and includes a series of pilot-tested tools: a structured communication exercise adapted to engineering contexts, a preamble to guide team communication, opportunities to practice communication in team settings, self- and peer-assessments of skills practice, formative faculty feedback, and pre- and post- assessments. The final component is a team project challenge assessed by external graders. We hypothesize that communication skills training enhances team experience and contributes to better project learning outcomes. Specifically, we will assess the impact of our intervention program on engineering students': attitudes toward IComm skills practice; practice of IComm skills in teams; teamwork experience; and learning outcomes in the team project. Approximately 300 students from three engineering disciplines will participate in the study. Data will be collected using validated instruments, including the Team-Q scale, and analyzed to assess changes in communication skills, team effectiveness, and project outcomes. Additionally, the project will generate open-access educational resources including downloadable materials, on-demand training webinars, and implementation guides to support adoption by other institutions. By launching the first large-scale application of Story Circles in engineering education, this project will contribute to the development of interdisciplinary pedagogies that foster communication skills critical to engineering practice. The findings will inform best practices in STEM education, support ABET accreditation goals, and help develop the US engineering workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.