A Staggered Approach to Developing Report Writing Skills within the Civil Engineering Discipline

An important generic skill of an engineer is the ability to communicate – particularly through writing technical reports. But where do you students learn these skills? Merely giving an assignment which involves writing a technical report is not sufficient. In the first year of a new Mechanics of Solids course, the author was surprised by the level of report writing and data analysis ability of students. This paper outlines the various initiatives taken in a period of five years to help students make the transition from basic report writing skills learned in high school, to some more relevant technical engineering writing skills. Some of the changes involved • Introduction of common assessment criteria across various courses in structures, geomechanics and fluids. • Use of an introductory laboratory session with a small report required. • Use of document templates to assist in the layout and appropriate terminology of the repor