Background: Communication is critical to engineering work, and despite its emphasis within engineering education, it is still noted as a gap in new engineers’ preparedness for work. Literature review: Prior research points to communication gaps among new engineers. Few studies have extensively examined transitions between academic and professional engineering contexts. Work remains for understanding how new engineers transfer communication skills. Research questions: 1. In what ways do new engineers transfer communication practices from school to work? 2. What challenges do new engineers experience in moving from communication as practiced at school to communication as practiced at work? Research methodology: This study presents a thematic analysis of data from weekly reflections and regular semistructured interviews conducted during new engineers’ first year of work. Results and conclusions: Despite relying heavily on academic experiences involving both documenting and presenting technical work, new engineers report experiencing communication-related challenges. While further attention to communication activities can be given within engineering curricula, the complexity and situated nature of communication in the workplace cannot be fully replicated in the classroom. As new engineers move between school and work, they experience challenges adapting to a new environment including communication activities embedded within unique sociocultural contexts. While the classroom cannot fully replicate these professional settings and all of their nuances, students can be made more fully aware of the embedded nature of communication activities. Moreover, engineering educators can simulate aspects of the workplace in capstone courses, and companies can provide guidance to help mentor new engineers through the inevitable context gaps.

中文翻译：

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新工程师的沟通活动从学校转移到工作


背景：沟通对于工程工作至关重要，尽管它在工程教育中得到重视，但它仍然被认为是新工程师在工作准备方面的一个差距。文献综述：之前的研究指出了新工程师之间的沟通差距。很少有研究广泛研究学术和专业工程环境之间的转变。了解新工程师如何传授沟通技能仍然是一项工作。研究问题： 1. 新工程师如何将沟通实践从学校转移到工作中？ 2. 新工程师从学校的沟通转向工作的沟通会遇到哪些挑战？研究方法：本研究对新工程师第一年工作期间进行的每周反思和定期半结构化访谈的数据进行了主题分析。结果和结论：尽管严重依赖涉及记录和展示技术工作的学术经验，但新工程师报告称遇到了与沟通相关的挑战。虽然工程课程中可以进一步关注沟通活动，但工作场所沟通的复杂性和情境性质无法在课堂上完全复制。当新工程师在学校和工作之间流动时，他们会遇到适应新环境的挑战，包括嵌入独特社会文化背景的沟通活动。虽然课堂无法完全复制这些专业环境及其所有细微差别，但可以让学生更充分地意识到沟通活动的内在本质。 此外，工程教育工作者可以在顶点课程中模拟工作场所的各个方面，公司可以提供指导，帮助指导新工程师克服不可避免的背景差距。