The UPCP provides embedded engineering communication instruction throughout the ECE undergraduate curriculum, beginning in the first year. Senior Design is the final culmination in the development of engineering communicators. Our instructional approach relies on scaffolding technical writing and presentation experiences, increasing in difficultly and autonomy as our students grow in their communications skillset.
Sophomore Year: Digital Design Laboratory
Engineering communication is integrated into this semester-long series of hands-on laboratory exercises through lab summaries, project proposals, team design reports, and presentations. Students apply the engineering design process to communication by focusing on the needs of their users and then appropriately summarizing, organizing, and presenting the information.
Junior Year: Technical/Professional Communication Requirement
ECE students are required to complete stand alone professional and technical communications course at the junior-level. This course is a prerequisite for Senior Design. Students have two options for satisfying the junior-level communications course requirement; (1) ECE 3005, a traditional in-class learning option, or (2) ECE 3005 CIR, an out-of-classroom option for students participating in approved co-curricular.
| ECE 3005 | ECE 3005 CIR | |
|---|---|---|
| Instruction | Classroom. Highly interactive, workshop-style learning environment. Structured schedule with hard deadlines to ensure that students complete all requirements within one semester. Individual consultations with the instructor outside of class. | Online hybrid. Semi-flexible self-paced learning environment. Some hard deadlines to facilitate student progress and success. Individual consultations with the instructor required. |
| Credit | 1-credit hour, pass/fail course. Register through OSCAR. | 1-credit hour, pass/fail course. Register in OSCAR by permit during Phase I or Phase II registration for the upcoming semester. You must meet with Anna Holcomb to confirm your eligibility and receive the permit to register. |
| Expectations | Attendance and active participation at all weekly meetings are expected. Only 2 absences (or late arrivals) allowed. | Students work independently and must be adept in a self-guided, online environment with minimal supervision. Inactive students who miss deadlines and fail to make progress will receive a grade of “U” on their transcript. |
| Workload | Students produce a comprehensive career portfolio, a proposal/workplan, a 5-to 7-page document, and a 10-minute presentation. Students have the freedom to choose the content, format, and end-user for the document and presentation. Required individual consultations. | Students produce a comprehensive career portfolio, a proposal/workplan, a 5- to 7-page document, and a 10-minute presentation. The content, format, and end-user for the document and presentation are directly tied to the student’s co-curricular. Required individual consultations. |
Students must receive credit for ECE 2031 before they are eligible for ECE 3005 or ECE 3005 CIR. Only students that completed ECE 2031 at the main campus or GT-Lorraine are eligible for the out-of-classroom option. Students can enroll for ECE 3005 (in-classroom option) on OSCAR.
Sign-ups for ECE 3005 CIR (out-of-classroom option) are facilitated by the UPCP faculty member, Anna Holcomb. For more information on enrollment opportunities, eligibility requirements, and the sign-up process, students must view the video below:
ECE 3005 Virtual Info Session
Senior Year: Senior Design
First semester of ECE culminating design sequence. Design tools, financial principles, project management, probabilistic and statistical techniques, team forming. Requires formal reports and group presentations.
AND
Second semester of ECE culminating design sequence. Team project in ECE incorporating engineering standards and realistic constraints. Requires formal reports and group presentations.
UPCP Teaching Assistant Practicums