The 11 th International Scientific Conference eLearning and Software for Education Bucharest, April 23-24, 2015 10.12753/2066-026X-15-003 DEVELOPING ARGUMENTATIVE DOCUMENTS IN ENGINEERING: A CASE STUDY THROUGH THE CURRICULUM Maria CALLE, Jose SOTO, Luis TORRES, Lucy GARCIA, Adela de CASTRO, Ricardo GONZALEZ Universidad Del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia mcalle@uninorte.edu.co, jsoto@uninorte.edu.co, ltorres@uninorte.edu.co, lucyr@uninorte.edu.co, decastro@uninorte.edu.co, ternerar@uninorte.edu.co John CANDELO Department of Electrical Energy and Automation Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia johncandle@gmail.com Abstract: Communication skills are very important for engineers, especially when they need to justify professional choices by developing arguments in written documents. Engineering students at Universidad del Norte learn how to write argumentative documents in the second semester. However, when students reach their senior year, their communication skills do not show their previous training. The paper presents preliminary results of a diagnosis of this skill in engineering students of different programs, different semesters and two different universities. The methodology for the diagnosis consisted in asking students to first read documents on a particular subject, and then, in the classroom, to write an argumentative essay about the same topic. All students used computers and submitted their essays digitally. The professors evaluated the essays by using a predefined rubric. Results show the students have a low level in academic writing and argument developing. Few students properly cited their sources and no essay fulfilled the minimum requirements for an argumentative document. Noticeably, even though all students employed word processor software, they did not use grammar or style check features. As a consequence, the research team believes that students may not be familiar with these tools. Additionally, students do not allow time for the text to settle before verifying the document, or they do not correct it before submission. Regarding formal aspects of the argument document, fifty percent of the students do not include a thesis in the introduction. Nonetheless, in most cases the research team identified some statements that could form or be understood as a pseudo-thesis. Essays in general lack evidences and facts to support the arguments. Moreover, most essays did not provide a conclusion where they clearly set the reader in a context and they did not resume the thesis. Keywords: Communication Skills; Multiple Disciplines; Argument Writing. I. INTRODUCTION Writing communication skills are essential for professionals, particularly in a global world requiring more competitiveness. As a consequence, education in the XXI century has the challenge of making student communication more effective, according to interests of new global markets . Engineering professionals should effectively communicate their knowledge . Engineering Education poses different challenges and developing communication skills (both written and oral) allow for better professional performance. Argumentative communication is part of the activities engineers face in their work, especially when they need to justify professional decisions by developing documents including criteria to support their position. Previous studies identified initial difficulties in communication skills . These difficulties are more important when the document requires argumentative demonstrations. Improving on argumentation may help the students to develop critical positions in different situations. Universidad del