A Life-skills Course for Engineers to Acquire Communication Skills and Team Skills

Abstract

Engineers need team skills and communication skills to function effectively at their workplace globally. Accreditation standards also set the above-stated skills as desirable attributes for graduates. The courses designed for engineering students, and their program outcomes, do not often meet the requirements of the workplace adequately. Communication is still a major drawback among present-day engineers, especially when English is their second language. Therefore, this study is an attempt to describe the course design of a 5-week non-credited Life Skills Course to integrate communication skills, team skills and interpersonal skills. I conducted the proposed study at Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering, an affiliated autonomous technical institution under Anna University. This study describes course-designing in Engineering Communication and English for Specific Purposes} (ESP). The study introduces the course, the course participants, the activities the teacher devised to enhance communication skills and team skills, the teacher-researcher’s observations and reflections of the course, and the students}’ feedback of the same. The responses of the learners indicate that introducing the Life Skills Course would increase learner-participation, and the ability to express themselves freely, and develop their team skills and interpersonal skills. The investigation shows that the course on Life Skills enhanced their confidence and improved their communication skills}.