the uneasy art of persuasion

We spent some today in 407 talking about the role of the "the proposal" in engineering environments. I always try to impress on students the importance of thinking about project proposals as persuasive documents -- documents that must move a reader to a particular action, position, or opinion.

That's what we do in the classroom.

In practice, I know with a high degree of certainty that many of theses engineers will never write a single  proposal. At best, they may serve as a subject-matter-expert or contributor. Yes, I know it's invaluable for them to understand the genre, the contexts, and how it all works together. But I still struggle with their time -- wanting to exploit the limited time we have them here.

The proposals they work on in 407 are specific to their Senior Design projects. That means they have some skin in the game, which is useful. Overall, it's a good exercise in that it helps them refine their thinking about the complexities and possibilities of their projects. In that regard, I should appreciate the activity. I just need to find some way to extend it -- to make it more meaningful beyond performance of an academic activity that they will likely never repeat.