Module #1 & Technical

Communication
OC TOBE R 3 , 2 0 1 8
ECI 4 0 : I N T RODU C TION TO E N V IRONMENTAL E N GI NEER ING
P ROF. COL L E E N BRON N E R
Announcements
Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
◦ October 9: General Meeting: 6 pm – 7 pm in Ghausi Hall 3102B
American Water Works Association (AWWA)
◦ October 4: Dinner and Intern Talks - eat dinner and listen to undergraduate
and graduate students share their summer intern and research experiences (6
pm – 7 pm Ghausi Hall 3102B)
UC Davis Bio-inspired Design-a-thon (October 13 & 14)
◦ https://www.facebook.com/events/179844532662793/
ANNOUNCEMENT
CHANGE in office hour times on Wednesdays
◦ Change for entire quarter
◦ New time: 1-3pm on Wednesdays
Recap of Last Class
What were the major/important take away messages?
Agenda
Summarize/review last class
Lesson objectives
Module #1
Find & meet your team members
Technical communication
Library Resources
Lesson Objectives
1. Identify best strategies for communication with different types of
audiences
2. Evaluate quality of references and using them appropriately in
writing
3. Describe purpose of technical memo
4. Apply fundamentals of technical communication in your writing
5. Access library resources
Module #1 focus on Delta Tunnels
Project
Other names:
◦ Bay-Delta Conservation Plan
◦ California Water Fix
Overview
◦ Two 30-mile long tunnels to transport water
from Sacramento River and deliver it to pumps
near state and federal aqueducts
Stated Purpose
◦ Improve delivery to customers of the State
Water Project and federal government’s Central
Valley Project
Estimated cost: $15.7 billion
Module #1
1. In-class debate on October 10 to discuss whether the project
should move forward
2. Persuasive essay (one for each team member) to the general
public discussing the problem (2-3 pages, double-spaced)
3. Formal technical memo with the following sections: cover page,
problem definition, an overview of technical, social and political
factors affecting the project, recommendations, and references
4. Peer Reviews completed in CATME by October 22
Groups
Canvas
Contact information
Share what you found from articles
◦ Quality of articles (how much, if any, bias?)
Start assigning roles & responsibilities
Technical Communication
Professional Expectations - Writing
Employers unsatisfied with writing skills of their new hires
Conciseness
Directness
Accurate word choice
Standard spelling and grammar
Logical organization
 Professional Expectations - Writing
Conrad (2017) comparing writing of engineering students &
practitioners
◦ Less accurate word choice
◦ More errors in grammar and punctuation
◦ Less linear organization
Practical consequences
◦ Accurate and unambiguous content
◦ Fast, predicable reading
◦ Liability management
◦ Attention to detail
Writing – Underlying Problems
Misconceptions about effective writing
Ignorance of genre expectations
Weak language skills
Failure to appreciate that written words, not just calculations express
engineering content
Complicated sentence structures
Over 50% in student papers, less than 25% in practitioner documents
Practitioner documents
◦ One idea per sentence
◦ Simple structure – one subject and one verb phrase
Practitioner Reasoning
◦ Simple structures more unambiguous
◦ Clients want to be able to read fast or skim
Complex sentences (practitioners) usually expressed relationships that are
important in engineering
◦ Rarely connect more than one independent clause and dependent clause
Practitioner vs. Student Writing
Complex structure (students)
◦ The construction cost increases starting with pre-fabricated carbon steel
storage tanks with construction costs including just the cost of the footing and
installation, then to the bolt-together which would require footing
construction as well as unskilled labor to put the plates together, and finally to
the weld together which would require footing construction and skilled labor
to weld the metal plates together.
Simple Structure – one idea/sentence
◦ The existing bridge is a 9-span timber trestle bridge with a concrete deck. It is
217 feet long and 30 feet wide. The posted speed is 25 mph.
Sentence Structure
Complex sentences expressing important relationships
Good
◦ The slight pressurization of the storm sewer is advantageous because it
improves the conveyance efficiency of the system
◦ The study team conducted a review of existing bridge inspection records
provided by the railroads and passed to the study team by [organization
name].
Bad (expressing inaccurate relationships)
◦ Even though scour processes are affected by the presence of structures and
obstacles in the flow path of a river or any open channel, scour is a natural
process caused by the flow of water over an erodible surface.
Word choice
Sloppy word choice tied to firm
liability
◦ Students mistakenly linked liability with being vague or using “weasel words”
Pay attention to word meaning
◦ Calculate, estimate, and determine (all have different meanings)
Practitioners used more relative, accurate terms (preferred, reduce, mitigate,
improve) while students often used unrealistic absolutes.
Practitioners more precise with naming quantities while students used more vague
descriptors (# of boreholes drilled, # of alternatives evaluated)
Grammar & Syntax
Median error frequencies
◦ Guess how many in every 1000 words?
Types of errors differed, with student errors often having larger consequences
Verb errors conveyed inaccurate meaning
Consequences
◦ Frequent errors damage credibility as careful engineers – look unprofessional in a detail
oriented profession
◦ Increase risk of unintended, inaccurate or ambiguous meaning
Overall conclusions of Conrad (2017)
Conciseness and directness – simple sentence structure and precise
word choices
Concerns for accuracy and unambiguous content – careful word
choices, predictable genre organization, and simple sentence
structures
Grammar and spelling – low error counts
Logical organization – predictable sequencing that reflected steps in
engineering and concerns in business
Quality of references
Library Resources
Civil & Environmental Engineering Library Subject Guide
◦ https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/guide/civil-environmental-engineering-cee/
Library VPN
Interlibrary Loan
Assignment – due Wednesday Oct 10
Work on Module #1
Debate prep
Reflection #1 – Team Experience
Posted or will be posted on Canvas
Module #1 Overview & Instructions
Teams for Module #1 and #2