Making the process the content: connecting engineering students to the real real world

Drawing from the principles espoused in recent literature on engineering education, as well as 18 years of experience in the engineering classroom, the author devised a series of exercises that would engage students in the "real world" of engineering communication. Engineers, especially civil engineers, play increasingly important roles in public policy, so the communication exercises centered on a mock public meeting held in the classroom. Students showed a surprising willingness to role-play and then to analyze what happened at the meeting. The meeting provided a forum for discussion of the need for engineers to be sensitive to others\´ concerns and the difficulty of "translating" technical terms for a nontechnical audience. Students also learned about certain real-word contingencies - such as the media\´s need to streamline and organize both events and quotations in a particular way. Design and preparation of this exercise are discussed here, as well as lessons learned and plans for future iterations.