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Annual Progress Reports: An Effective Way to Improve Graduate Student Communication Skills

A perennial problem in engineering education is the development of communication skills that allow students to present their ideas clearly and effectively. At Iowa State University, a cooperative program has been set up to provide one‐on‐one mentoring in communication skills for graduate students participating in the Power Affiliates Program. Graduate student research is funded on an annual basis by a consortium of utility companies. A system comprising a seminar and individual consultation assists students in preparing their required annual progress reports for their spring symposium. Students in the program for several years show improvement in their writing skills and their understanding of communication processes.