2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

ABET 2019-20 Criterion 3 requires that engineering students at the time of graduation possess the “ability to communicate effectively with a range of audience”. This paper presents a case study of the author’s approach to achieve this outcome in a junior level soil mechanics course. In the laboratory portion of the soil mechanics course, students were presented with a real-life problem faced by a fictitious client. Students performed standard laboratory experiments, analyzed the data, and compared their experimental results against applicable guidelines or codes to arrive at recommendations to the client. Students prepared technical reports with clients as potential audience and learned the fundamentals of technical writing along the way. In addition to meeting the ABET criterion, this approach also prepared the students to enter the work force with the necessary tools. This paper presents the details of the course approach and the assessment results for the past seven years. Student learning was assessed through report grades and student surveys. The student scores improved over the quarter; student surveys showed consistent increase in the ratio of preparation to importance starting from the beginning of the quarter through the end of the quarter up to the time of graduation. Written comments by students at the end of the course, at the time of graduation and after years of professional practice indicate the appreciation for the approach of client-focused laboratory report writing.