Why writing?
Writing forces students to think about their decision process. If the students don't have to write down what they're doing, they don’t "unload" their reasoning process. The decision process is the most important part of designing. Students need to be able to answer "Why? Who does it affect?" regarding their designs. The reports for AE 421 are about 100 pages long. The students have done lots of creative work in their projects and the report forces them to explain their decisions. Again, every choice that they have made affects a lot of people. For instance, if they make a change on the wing, this will affect those concerned with propulsion, etc.
The text documents that they remember and understand material that they have discussed with the instructor. During the creation, the students have to come to the instructor and orally justify the changes that they are making.
Writing makes students document their decisions. I give them purposefully conflicting information during the design stage. I represent different disciplines, and the students have to take that conflicting information, make a decision, and then justify why it's important that they make this choice instead of a different one. In their written reports, it becomes obvious if they have thoroughly considered the different aspects or not. By doing so, it's also easier for the teacher to find and correct any errors that they have made. This, I believe, is important for young engineers.
Communication is huge in industry. Engineers have to be able to communicate about all aspects of their projects with their fellow workers. I came to KU right out of the AE industry. Therefore, I run my classes with an industry framework in my head: I tend to emphasis the practical as much as the theoretical. Thus, the students have to be prepared to write reports that can be shared with many groups.
Writing allows for reflection. If students don't write it down, they don't think. In the sister class, AE 508 which is taken simultaneously with AE 421, the students study the analysis of the design. In this class, they have to answer why they did the design—why did they choose this or recommend that change. So, again, their written report makes them unload the ideas that they are carrying around in their heads about the design changes.
Students are analyzing work other than their own early on. The projects in AE 421 are group projects. Each student is in charge of a particular segment of the report. They write separately and then read and peer edit each other's work. This makes them stop and think about the overall design of the project. More than one part is important, and reading what others are doing makes them see the interconnectedness of the various subdivisions in the work. The students have become used to this idea, and usually come up with a format at the beginning of the project. By doing so, they not only save time, but they are figuring out how to make their particular section analogous to the rest from the start.
A written document, with comments from the professor, provides a useful means of increasing the learning benefits from the previous semester's work. Having a sequence of courses allows writing continuity from semester to semester. The students receive their graded reports at the beginning of the next course. At that time, they look at each other's work. They perceive the strengths and weaknesses of the other designs, and from that decide how they will adapt their ongoing projects. Not only does the review serve as a review of what they have learned after the semester break, but also it continues the analysis process begun earlier when they have to decide what ideas will be used and which discarded. By looking at the same design over three classes, the students consider the different vantage points of instruction (design, analysis, and manufacturing) as well as continuously work on their writing skills.
