2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Modalities and Learners: An NLP Analysis of Technical and Scientific Communication Instruction Across U.S. Engineering Curricula

Engineering programs must balance curricular compression with rising demands for students to demonstrate professional communication competence, and ABET-supported learning outcome. This study examines how and for whom Technical and Scientific Communication (TSC) is taught across top U.S. engineering programs. Building on prior published typologies that include external, internal, and hybrid TSC instruction models, we extend the analysis to account for distinct learner trajectories within engineering: (1) entrepreneurial and innovation-oriented students, (2) management and leadership-track engineering students, and (3) broad STEM generalists. Prior research shows that engineering students value technical writing instruction that is tied to real-world problem solving and professional engineering conventions, with students appreciating instruction that distinguished technical writing from early-college composition courses. Using natural language processing (NLP) in Python, we analyzed course syllabi from various engineering programs to identify latent themes that signal experiential learning in TSC courses across five thematic domains: project-based learning; teamwork and collaboration; innovation and corporate focus; embedded communication; and stakeholder and community interface. Findings show that while hybrid and embedded modalities correlate with richer, project-based writing practice, most curricula do not differentiate instruction by student career orientation and interest. Entrepreneurial students encounter few authentic communicative contexts; management-oriented students seldom receive explicit rhetorical training; and generalists often experience communication as decontextualized writing with little conventional difference from traditional narrative composition. To address these gaps, we propose a best-practices cross-matrix linking student trajectories and interests, instructional modalities, and genre-based communication outcomes, with advantages and disadvantages for each. This framework enables programs to design adaptive, audience-specific TSC instruction that aligns communication-anchored learning opportunities with professional identity formation across engineering pathways.

Authors

Dr. Alyson Grace Eggleston http://orcid.org/0009-0007-1163-7444 The Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Alyson Eggleston is an Associate Research Professor in the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and Director of Evaluation for the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Her research and teaching background focuses on program assessment, STEM technical communication, industry-informed curricula, and educational outcomes veteran and active-duty students.
Dr. Mehrube Mehrubeoglu http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-5927-8408 Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi [biography]

Dr. Mehrubeoglu received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned an M.S. degree in Bioengineering and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. She is a professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi currently serving as the Program Coordinator for BS in Electrical Engineering, and MS in Engineering programs. Her research interests are multidisciplinary in nature and entail applications of imaging modalities (hyperspectral, thermal, color) for image segmentation and object classification using classical image processing and machine learning/deep learning models. She is also interested in engaged student learning using engineering pedagogies, advanced technologies such as IoT and the cloud, with consideration of sustainable design and professional skills.
Dr. Robert J. Rabb P.E. The Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Robert Rabb is the associate dean for education in the College of Engineering at Penn State. He previously served as a professor and the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair at The Citadel. He previously taught mechanical engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United Military Academy and his M.S. and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research and teaching interests are in mechatronics, regenerative power, and multidisciplinary engineering.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026