UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
This project addressed the lack of writing skills amongst undergraduate students. A significant number of the Undergraduate cohort at Imperial College are international students, of which a large portion are Chinese. It was observed that the English language tests for international students (IELTS) often failed to account for the actual level of English proficiency amongst these students. A number of the UK students also did not possess enough writing experience, resulting in weak writing skills.
Students were marked and graded on their written English skills based on a report on an ‘Introduction to Materials’ laboratory’. This enabled the students to be divided into categories, so that common faults in writing English could be delineated and addressed.
Initially, the project involved a workshop to raise awareness of the importance of English writing skills, and involved exercises for writing letters for job applications and CV construction. Based on the outcome of the workshop, a one to one language session was offered to the students, the continuation of which was up to the students themselves. Some students needed 3 to 4 sessions, and some needed less, but feedback from those who attended these sessions indicated that a big improvement was perceived in the writing and communication abilities of the students. At this level the support provided by the Department was ad hoc, but the awareness raised by the workshop and the benefits of sustained interaction with the students has led to a more formalised approach to addressing the issue of poor writing skills.
Workshops are now implemented in the first and second years, which explain to the students the importance of good writing skills in English. This importance is emphasised through the marking, with students being made aware of mistakes and errors in their writing in the first year, and penalised for the same in the second year. The Department has also initiated a collaborative venture with the English Language Support Programme (ELSP) at Imperial College, and offers the opportunity for small group English tutorials.
The initiation and progress of this project has been detailed in a paper which was presented at the International Engineering Education Conference in 2004.
