Embedding communication skills in the study of the discipline

Abstract

The development of communication skills in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) majors is increasingly identified as a priority area, with both academic and industry groups calling for a greater focus on the development of these skills within the higher education curriculum. Although widely recognised as important, there is a lack of guidance within the ICT area as to how communication skills should be taught, and the most effective means of developing these skills. This chapter reports on approaches to teaching communication skills development within the ICT discipline. The main contribution of this chapter is the categorisation of communication skills course activities reflecting the context of modern communication skills required by IT professionals that can be easily mapped to a discipline curriculum. These activities represent examples of both informal activities designed to engage students regularly with developing their communication skills, and formal activities designed to assist assessment, including self- and peer-assessment. The authors present their experiences in the design and delivery of an intensive communications skills course designed for international articulation students. An initial analysis of the progress of these students demonstrates increased clarity in the students’ understanding of study and communication requirements, and improved performance in language-rich assessments.