Improving engineering communication through the long-distance classroom

The nature of the engineering workplace is changing rapidly. Due to technology and the globalization of the marketplace, engineers must often work with diverse colleagues on team projects from a distance. Yet, given the logistics of today's traditional classroom, many instructors establish local student teams to solve engineering problems. While these local teams certainly improve student team-building skills, they do not "force" engineers to communicate in writing at the highest level, since face-to-face communication enables one to provide oral explanations to local team members. This paper discusses a successful collaborative classroom effort begun in 1994 between faculty at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, AZ and Temple University (Temple) in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The result has been a dynamic, long-distance classroom that has helped diverse engineering and technology students work in teams to solve engineering problems and improve written communication using electronic technology. Through this unique classroom effort, students learn about the value of clear, precise and frequent technical and interpersonal communication.