Nurturing reflective and independent learners through a technical communication course

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study of engineering students´ perceptions of reflection and independent learning before and after taking a mandatory technical communication course titled Professional and Technical Oral Communication for Engineers in their first semester of study at a university in Hong Kong. Three kinds of research instruments were used to generate data for analyses: pre- and post-questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, and students´ reflection and self-access records. The study´s findings show encouraging results in three ways: (1) the course participants were generally receptive to the ideas of reflection and independent learning in the context of technical communication; (2) those who had had prior experience in reflection and independent learning continued to appreciate the value they brought to learning; and (3) the course participants´ pre-conception that reflection and independent learning were only `one-man shows´ was changed and they began to value the involvement of their `significant social others´ in these learning pursuits.