The Assessment of Engineering Student Public Speaking Ability: What, How and Issues

Anthony Edward Ward; Bidyut Jyoti Baruah; Noel Jackson

The Assessment of Engineering Student Public Speaking Ability: What, How and Issues

Anthony Edward Ward, Bidyut Jyoti Baruah, Noel Jackson

Electronic Engineering

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

This paper discusses the assessment of public speaking as a generic skill in engineering students. The assessment is far from a new topic however there are a few fundamental questions surrounding this generic skill that remain unclear and subject to a number of measurement issues. The paper commences on the premise that public speaking is actually a meta competence which sits in the middle of a hierarchy of skill definitions under the general umbrella of communication. Below it are skills such as: the ability to convey a technical subject to a lay audience; the ability to convey a technical subject to a technical audience; and a number of other variants. The paper then considers some of the issues with measuring it as a skill starting with why, as academics, we should measure it and what any statement of ability means. It looks at issues of measurement reliability and validity and some of the common sources of conscious and unconscious measurement bias. The paper will draw on the findings of 3 years experimental research at the University into the use of a marking rubric and how effective this is compared to the more common overall assessment methods. It will also report on the need for assessment of how well the student can defend their presentation and the more controversial question of whether, if a student shows complete incompetence in being able to defend their presentation whether they should pass or fail the overall presentation.

Original language	English
Number of pages	8
Publication status	Published - 21 Nov 2016
Event	International Conference on Engineering Education and Research - Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia Duration: 21 Nov 2016 → 24 Nov 2016 https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/iceer

Conference

Conference	International Conference on Engineering Education and Research
Abbreviated title	iCEER2016
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney
Period	21/11/16 → 24/11/16
Internet address	https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/iceer

Keywords

Engineering Education
Public Speaking
Assessment
Assessment bias
Students

Access to Document

Public Speaking formatted v2Final published version, 186 KBLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "The Assessment of Engineering Student Public Speaking Ability: What, How and Issues",

abstract = "This paper discusses the assessment of public speaking as a generic skill in engineering students. The assessment is far from a new topic however there are a few fundamental questions surrounding this generic skill that remain unclear and subject to a number of measurement issues. The paper commences on the premise that public speaking is actually a meta competence which sits in the middle of a hierarchy of skill definitions under the general umbrella of communication. Below it are skills such as: the ability to convey a technical subject to a lay audience; the ability to convey a technical subject to a technical audience; and a number of other variants. The paper then considers some of the issues with measuring it as a skill starting with why, as academics, we should measure it and what any statement of ability means. It looks at issues of measurement reliability and validity and some of the common sources of conscious and unconscious measurement bias. The paper will draw on the findings of 3 years experimental research at the University into the use of a marking rubric and how effective this is compared to the more common overall assessment methods. It will also report on the need for assessment of how well the student can defend their presentation and the more controversial question of whether, if a student shows complete incompetence in being able to defend their presentation whether they should pass or fail the overall presentation.",

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AB - This paper discusses the assessment of public speaking as a generic skill in engineering students. The assessment is far from a new topic however there are a few fundamental questions surrounding this generic skill that remain unclear and subject to a number of measurement issues. The paper commences on the premise that public speaking is actually a meta competence which sits in the middle of a hierarchy of skill definitions under the general umbrella of communication. Below it are skills such as: the ability to convey a technical subject to a lay audience; the ability to convey a technical subject to a technical audience; and a number of other variants. The paper then considers some of the issues with measuring it as a skill starting with why, as academics, we should measure it and what any statement of ability means. It looks at issues of measurement reliability and validity and some of the common sources of conscious and unconscious measurement bias. The paper will draw on the findings of 3 years experimental research at the University into the use of a marking rubric and how effective this is compared to the more common overall assessment methods. It will also report on the need for assessment of how well the student can defend their presentation and the more controversial question of whether, if a student shows complete incompetence in being able to defend their presentation whether they should pass or fail the overall presentation.

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KW - Assessment bias

KW - Students

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