Integrating Ethics into the Engineered Construction Curriculum

Equality, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, security, civic duty, justice, honor, and the rule of law are some of the widely held values in society. These are the values engineers must adopt to comply with regulations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of awareness in construction education regarding how to integrate social awareness and ethical behavior into professional practice. Several challenges facing construction engineering educators are how to develop strategies that will raise the awareness of students regarding ethical issues related to construction and how to provide a framework to make ethical decisions. Social values should serve as the basis for university-level ethics instruction. The objectives of this paper are to discuss the various disciplines that are available for use in developing course material and classroom presentations, and to describe a framework for making ethical decisions. Problem solving in ethics is a skill that is very much needed by students, but is quite difficult to teach. The approach described herein uses real world construction ethics cases and invited guest lectures from the construction industry plus multiple required and elective courses explore ethical theories, concepts of critical thinking, and major ethical issues related to the construction industry.     

Integrated Management Curriculum for Civil Engineers and Architects

While it is commonly thought worldwide that the education and training of architects and civil engineers require different patterns of learning, the writers of this paper opine that the teaching and learning of management subjects for both groups should be combined. Architecture and civil engineering faculties have many aspects in common, but, even when residing in the same faculty, the two disciplines rarely integrate successfully. This paper examines integration issues at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where, over a period of 4 years, partial integration of architects and civil engineers in management subjects has been tested. The paper discusses the problems of devising a curriculum designed to satisfy both architecture and civil engineering undergraduate degree courses. Within the paper, discussion focuses on the outline for an integrated curriculum, the problems of timing, and logistics, and will report on some student experiences. Comment is also included on administrative issues, class size, relative merits of saving resources versus consequential inconvenience, the problems of making assumptions about relative prior knowledge, and expectations of students. Discussion of the various system changes that need to be put in place before such a liaison can be totally successful is presented. The paper provides valuable insight into the workings of two university faculties at the University of Auckland, which will allow parallels with other universities worldwide to be made.     

Implementing an Inclusive Curriculum for Women in Engineering Education

Engineering faculty are urged to be “inclusive” when teaching classes of diverse students. Research has shown that an inclusive approach not only assists the progress of socially and culturally underrepresented students, but it will also broaden the perspectives of all students, and thus improve the overall quality of an engineering program. The writers of this paper have collaborated over a number of years at the University of South Australia to make engineering education more inclusive. This process commenced with an institutionwide project to develop inclusive curricula by improving the understanding and practice of faculty, and developing guidelines to assist them in restructuring their courses to become more inclusive. In the engineering departments, the process was further developed through staff workshops to assist faculty with the redevelopment of course curricula using the university guidelines, as well as the collection and dissemination of material and examples appropriate for engineering programs. This paper describes some of these methods in more detail, as well as the obstacles the writers have encountered and the devices they have used to overcome objections and impediments. Specific examples from civil engineering are included.     

Fluid Mechanics: An Essential Part of an Environmental Engineering Curriculum

In this paper we discuss teaching fluid mechanics to civil and environmental engineering majors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Fluid mechanics is a key course in environmental engineering that ties together the physical aspects with chemical and biological aspects. We survey the historical development of the role of fluid mechanics in environmental engineering, discuss current needs and curriculum, and point out areas for potential improvements.     

Project Management Application for Engineering Program Accreditation Preparation

This paper presents guidelines for applying project management tools and techniques to the process of preparing for a program accreditation site visit. The premise of the paper is that the proven tools and techniques of project management are effective in managing all the steps required in accreditation preparation as well as postvisit followups. The basic lesson offered by the paper’s approach is that accreditation preparation should not be turned into a last-minute crash project. Rather, proactive preparation steps should be instituted early to facilitate communication, cooperation, and coordination of the entire process. The guidelines provided in the paper are useful not only for program review, but also for continuous process and curriculum improvement. The paper cites two graduate program examples of Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. preparation at the Air Force Institute of Technology.     

Survey of the National Civil Engineering Curriculum

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive survey of over 40% of the nation’s undergraduate civil engineering programs. This analysis is based on uniform data collected for accreditation and is principally concerned with three major groups of courses: (1) math and science, (2) general education, and (3) engineering topics. The analysis reveals what is currently being taught in our nation’s civil engineering undergraduate programs, what is not being taught, and the implications for future professional practice. The paper discusses how the average national curriculum has changed historically, how well the curriculum satisfies Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology criteria, and what the current distribution of courses and topics says about the priorities of civil engineering education. Overall, the curriculum was found to be highly specialized in terms of technical subjects but lacking in focus regarding the liberal arts, professional skills, and systems thinking.     

Teaching Engineering Surveying in a Civil Engineering Program: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment

As engineering surveying is highly concerned with its intensive involvement in the construction of roads and bridges, drainage systems, buildings, railways, and tunnels in civil engineering, the subject of engineering surveying is being offered by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics to all undergraduate students who are taking the Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree Program in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Under the new outcome-based curriculum and work-integrated education requirements, the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment for the subject are described here by answering the questions of “what are the goals and objectives of the curriculum,” “what should students learn,” and “how should it be learned, taught, and assessed.”     

Globalization Challenges, Legacies, and Civil Engineering Curriculum Reform

Across nations and industries, numerous changes are taking place due to globalization. Naturally, the effects are channelled back to the academic world and prominently felt at the level of higher learning in view of its constant contact with the industries. Universities and institutions have to reassess the adequacy of their existing curricula in fulfilling the needs arising from globalization. With reference to issues encountered in southeast Asia, this paper examines the necessity to rethink the curriculum of a baccalaureate degree in civil engineering and presents some recommendations for revamping the curricular structure. The context discussed is most relevant to small, developing countries, but generally concerns those countries with a legacy of educational systems similar to this region. One rising trend is the move toward a general engineering education at the undergraduate level; a professional degree is emphasized only at the master’s level. More management-related subjects may be included in the undergraduate curriculum to equip engineers with skills to cope with globalization challenges.     

Student Learning in a Multidisciplinary Sustainable Engineering Course

An existing multidisciplinary course on sustainable engineering in developing societies was expanded to include sustainability issues and challenges faced in the developed world. The new course consisted of independent modules on general background, sustainability concepts and tools, sustainable water and waste systems, sustainable energy systems, sustainable agricultural and food systems, and sustainable building systems. The course included a semester-long project experience conducted in interdisciplinary teams. Projects were sourced from local businesses and institutions or from organizations involved in international development. Course evaluation included an end-of-semester self-assessment by students and an analysis of project reports. Thirteen out of 18 students surveyed (72%) agreed that their ability to consider techno-economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability was improved as a result of the course. An improved student understanding of aspects of sustainability and its measures was also evident in student project reports.     

Information Technology in Civil Engineering Curriculum

The fast-moving world of information technology confronts the civil engineer with constant change. This creates challenges for educators and students because rapid change requires curricula to be flexible and educators to gain competency and access to new equipment and software. Whereas a decade ago, civil engineering educators debated how to teach “programming,” the picture is now much more complex. The paper reports on how information technologies are changing the practice of civil engineering and offers a new framework for integrating next-generation information technology into the civil engineering curriculum at the department level.     

Practical Summer Training in Civil and Construction Engineering for Cultivation of Professional Ability

The cultivation of professional ability for undergraduate civil and construction engineering students is very important to help them meet the challenges that await them in the fast changing world. This paper presents a thorough study of practical training in the field of civil and construction engineering. Based upon an extensive literature review of the practical training curriculum worldwide, questionnaires were provided to contractors, educators and students in Taiwan to assess problems in traditional summer practical training courses for civil and construction engineering in Taiwan. At the outset of the study, it was thought that the lack of available jobs for students might be related solely to the economy but the findings indicated that the reasons were more complex ranging from concerns about liability for students working in construction sites to traditional cultural concerns about whether apprentices should be paid. The Delphi method was used to study the problems that were identified, relating to planning, execution, evaluation, and development of the existing practical training programs. A refined and improved summer practical training curriculum is proposed for civil and construction engineering education in Taiwan based upon the findings. Although the survey related to practical training programs for engineering students was conducted in Taiwan, the results might vary in other countries. The procedures used, and results obtained may be valuable resources and have a potential use for other countries. What is certain is that practical training can play an important role in readying engineering students for the work place in any location and making the practical training as effective and as safe as possible should be a universal goal.     

Architectural Engineering Curriculum at Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly, the University of Missouri-Rolla) began a Bachelor of Science degree program in architectural engineering in the fall of 2002. The 4-year academic program’s curriculum at Missouri S&T requires the students to complete 128 semester credit hours during a period of eight semesters, with options for technical electives in one of four focus areas: structural engineering, construction engineering and project management, environmental systems for buildings, and construction materials. This paper presents the architectural engineering curriculum at Missouri S&T. It discusses the objectives of the curriculum, the constraints upon its structure, along with challenges that faced the establishment of an architectural engineering program.     

Education in Construction Engineering and Management Built on Tradition: Blueprint for Tomorrow

Construction continues to be a significant part of the global economy and shapes the built environment and quality of life for people around the world. In the United States, construction is a multibillion dollar annual enterprise, employing nearly 10 million people. However, it appears that the fragmented nature of the industry continues to hamper productivity and hoped-for gains in efficiency. Issues involve an array of regulatory and legal constructs that: (1) redistribute risk; (2) present only low barriers to entry (making company startup somewhat easy); and (3) fail to provide the quality and quantity of labor necessary. These factors continue to produce overall inefficiencies throughout the construction industry, and ill prepare the industry for the formidable challenges of globalization, sustainability, population growth, and wise use of resources. The purpose of this paper is to review the past and present of construction engineering within the context of civil engineering, and to prescribe practical change to revitalize construction engineering education to meet future demands.     

Determining the Content of the First Course in Transportation Engineering

Transportation engineering constitutes a required portion of the civil engineering curriculum at over three-fourths of undergraduate civil engineering programs in the United States. The input of practicing transportation engineers is a critical source of information in determining the content of the first course in transportation engineering. A new survey was conducted in which respondents ranked 31 potential course topics by importance. The results are compared to a similar survey conducted 20?years before to determine which topics have increased in importance, which have become less critical to cover, and which continue to remain of high priority. Topics such as traffic safety and traffic flow characteristics are of considerably higher priority today than 20?years ago, while topics such as geometric design of highways and highway capacity studies continue to be of great importance. Preparation for follow-up and graduate coursework, for the Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineer examinations, and issues of local setting are also considerations in determining the content of the first course in transportation engineering.     

Integrated Civil Engineering Curriculum: Five-Year Review

An integrated curriculum, which draws material from different areas to teach students about design and problem-solving, offers civil engineering educators an option for accommodating new topics without increasing the number of courses. Freshman engineering and the senior capstone course are two examples of integrated courses, and the writers present a 5-year perspective on an approach that extends the concept of integration to six additional courses, comprised of an 8-course, integrated civil engineering core curriculum. Drawing on their combined experiences with the courses and assessment in a review by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the writers conclude that the curriculum offers a useful vehicle by which to add material to the 4-year program without increasing the number of credit hours, and offers flexible courses to meet goals of professional groups. The paper describes lessons learned, challenges that remain, and current approaches to improvement.     

Industrially Sponsored Senior Capstone Experience: Program Implementation and Assessment

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) 2000 requires that students participate in a major design experience prior to graduation. A well-planned senior design capstone program will satisfy this criterion while meeting the Criterion 3 (a–k) program outcomes. Seattle University has an industrially sponsored, year-long, senior design program that has been in existence for the past 20 years. In addition to applying the knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to solve a real-life engineering problem, students develop the soft skills such as project management, leadership, team work, written and oral communication, and professional networking which are important for a successful career. This paper describes the program within the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, lists the various tools used to assess the program outcomes, and includes assessment of the program by sponsoring agencies, alumni, and reflection by faculty.     

Incorporation of Sustainability Concepts into a Civil Engineering Curriculum

The need arises to equip engineering students with a wider horizon of concepts in terms of environmental, economic, and social attributes, for decision making of sensitive to sustainability issues. Pedagogic frameworks have to address a multidisciplinary analysis of sustainability. This paper addresses the rationale behind the recent integration of sustainability concepts into an undergraduate civil engineering curriculum in Hong Kong. Incentives and barriers for implementation of the curriculum are addressed. A team-based design project with a problem-based learning approach is highlighted. The initial results of stakeholder evaluations suggested that multidisciplinary skills developed during the learning process might contribute significantly to pertinent knowledge on sustainability.     

Pedagogy of Teaching Value Management in Postgraduate Construction and Property Program

As value management (VM) has been increasingly applied to enhance value in public construction projects, the core subject entitled “Value Management for Construction and Property” is being offered to postgraduate students in the Department of Building and Real Estate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Under the new outcome-based curriculum, the learning outcomes, pedagogy of teaching VM, and activities of the VM workshops for the subject are described in this paper. The results of a questionnaire survey of the students’ feedback on the performance of the workshops for the academic year 2007–2008 are presented and discussed. Students believed that value management workshops are essential in the curriculum. They expressed that it was a valuable experience to participate in the VM workshop which enabled them to have a better understanding of the subject. Some improvement is also recommended for future organization and management of workshops based on the lessons learned in these workshops.     

Pioneering Construction Engineering Education

In the 1930's, a small number of educators and contractors began to advocate that colleges and universities develop programs in construction engineering. Through the Great Depression and World War II, they debated what the nature of construction engineering education ought to be. Following World War II, the climate among educators and contractors was receptive to the ideas which the pioneers in construction engineering education had been advocating for 15 yr. Colleges and universities began to offer construction engineering options in their civil engineering curricula.     

Construction Engineering Today

The factors that are considered in analyzing technical solutions and the tools used to obtain technical solutions have changed for construction engineers over the past 30 years. This paper discusses these changes and their impacts. It then outlines a process that several heavy civil contracting firms use to generate work plans for their field operations, using the details of the process at Granite Construction as an example. The paper concludes by identifying the key factors in the success of a work plan and providing some thoughts on what construction engineering education should emphasize.