Word Processing in an Introductory Engineering Course

Abstract

Written communication is an important, however often neglected, component of an engineering curriculum. The civil engineering department at North Dakota State University has included word processing in its CE 101 course in order to teach students to write reiteratively and to gain an appreciation for the convenience associated with word processing. Several conclusions were drawn from this first attempt at including word processing in an introductory engineering course. Student comments were generally favorable and they appreciated the exposure to microcomputers. The shareware program that was distributed to each student worked well, but the necessity for each student to purchase the full documentation became evident. Finally, the classical lecture style of presentation was not adequate and will be replaced by smaller computer lab sessions and hands‐on experience.