Use of Case Studies in Engineering Education: Assessment of Changes in Cognitive Skills

Industry, educational institutions, government bodies, and academic accreditation entities have all stressed the need to incorporate sound assessment techniques into educational programs. However, many of the items listed in the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology 3(a–k) criteria are not commonly addressed in engineering programs. Literature has shown that case study methodology is an effective way to bridge this gap, particularly with regard to improving higher-cognitive skills. In this paper we discuss the various approaches to assessing cognitive improvements when case study methods are implemented in classrooms, along with a literature review, and the various methods are illustrated with examples. The limitations of these methods are examined and the paper concludes by stressing the need to conduct further research to identify the optimum way to assess the effectiveness of the case study methodology in engineering classrooms.     

Integrating Industry Experts into Engineering Education: Case Study

An advanced grade control course is described as a model for industry involvement in special topics educational offerings. Several unique aspects of these courses were the lack of textbooks on the topic, little previously developed course content, and the lack of faculty expertise in the subject area. In light of these challenges the course was successfully implemented by selecting industry experts and coordinating their efforts into a cohesive learning experience. The writers worked with representatives from McAninch Corporation, Ziegler Caterpillar, and other organizations to develop the courses at Iowa State University. Since the courses were the first known offerings of their kind, qualitative interviews were conducted to identify appropriate educational outcomes and objectives necessary to expedite the process of becoming an advanced grade control specialist. These outcomes and objectives can be applied to a variety of educational delivery systems and were helpful in determining suitable course material, topics, and structure.     

Use of Multimedia and the World Wide Web in Civil Engineering Learning

The case study method, which has been proven to be a very useful learning tool, can be further enhanced with the use of multimedia and the World Wide Web. This paper demonstrates multimedia and Web-based enhancement with the design and construction of a port, a large-scale civil engineering project. The main purpose was to create an educational tool that brings into the classroom a “real-life” design and construction problem, including the construction field, operation of equipment, and details of construction methods. This enables civil engineering students to better understand the details of the planning, design, and construction of a complicated project. Furthermore, through the use of evaluation tests, feedback on the students’ understanding of the case study can be provided to both the students and the educator. This application can be expanded beyond an academic environment for use as a learning tool in a business environment, which may be especially beneficial for new engineers.     

Education for Sustainable Development and Civil Engineering for Children: Interactive Model Case Study

This paper describes the further development of a previously reported interactive model developed to enhance the understanding of the concept of sustainable development (SD) and the role of civil engineers among school children. The earlier model and associated teaching materials for a lesson based around a river valley flooding problem for small groups of 6th grade pupils were modified and trialed with a larger group of 8th grade pupils. Subsequently a further lesson using the same model framework was developed based around groundwater contamination from landfill leachate. This was trialed with small groups of both 6th and 8th grade pupils. A competitive element in landfill liner design was introduced into the lessons. The model and lessons received praise and were shown to achieve their aims of teaching SD in a memorable and practical context and explaining something of civil engineering, though the smaller group lessons were found to be much more successful than the larger group lesson.     

Use of Computerized Dynamic Assessment to Improve Student Achievement: Case Study

Recent studies have reported on the benefits of dynamic assessment (DA) in improving student learning and achievement through diagnostic monitoring of student misunderstandings, providing context-specific feedback, and assessing the improvement thereafter. Following these reports, a computer-based DA system has been developed by us for use in an undergraduate hydraulic engineering course. This case study presents data collected before and after implementation of this DA system that shows improvement in student performance. In this study, student performance is quantified by the percent of questions correctly answered in the fundamentals of engineering (FE) exam relative to the national average. Since implementation of the DA system in 2004, this measure for our students has increased from below national level [mean = 0.942; SD = 0.068] in nine administrations of the FE exam, to above national level (mean = 1.068; SD = 0.028) in the last five administrations. Based on this measure, performance of these students in fluid mechanics has been higher than that in the other subjects where DA was not used (mean = 1.068; SD = 0.028 versus mean = 0.854; SD = 0.029). Performance of our students in fluid mechanics has also been higher than that of their peers in the Carnegie top tier programs (mean = 1.068; SD = 0.028 versus mean = 1.022; SD = 0.020).     

Raising the Bar for Civil Engineering Education: Systems Thinking Approach

The civil engineering profession has been undergoing an identity search. With the advent of information technology and the global market, competition from engineering offices elsewhere and from other local professions is unprecedented. Technical engineering knowledge is no longer a guarantee for career success; rather a combination of numerous professional skills is required. The growing unease of civil engineers about their undefined role in the knowledge economy has led many to question civil engineering education. Although there is a push to enhance the humanistic and business aspects of the curriculum, there is a shove in the opposite direction to strengthen the technical content and keep abreast of technical change. Discussion of this socioeconomic problem within the ASCE forum has often used linear deterministic thinking that is characteristic of technical problems. Social and economic systems are usually more complex and harder to understand than technological systems. If we start making new policies to address the problems of the profession based on fuzzy, incomplete, and imprecise mental models, we may end up with counterintuitive results. This paper proposes a systems thinking approach to the reform of civil engineering education based on System Dynamics modeling, a feedback-based object-oriented modeling paradigm. Such a tool can capture the dynamic nature of complex systems and the nonlinear feedback loops that are often responsible for counterintuitive results of policy making.     

Civil Engineering: Anachronism and Black Sheep

The paper presents a thesis that the word “civil” in “civil engineering” is anachronistic and does not represent the works of the so-called civil engineer. The origin and root of the words “engineer” and civil are traced. Engineer is seen to have its roots via the Greek and Latin in the Sanskrit word jan, meaning life, whereas civil is traced to the differentiation that engineers of the 18th and 19th centuries created from their military engineer counterparts. The word engineer was used as far back as the 14th century, though, much of it in nontechnical terms. The evolution of the practice of civil engineering, and the history of the formation of societies are studied to determine how tasks relate to the word civil. Of particular interest is to see what the practitioners and founders of societies aimed to embody in this field of civil engineering. The paper aims to explore the factors and influences in the practice and naming of the civil engineer. It delves into the roots and origins of the names of a number of engineering disciplines, giving explanations and commentary on the implications of those names, and finds that all those names relate to technical functions. The paper concludes that the name of civil engineering does not represent the functional tasks of the civil engineer, in contrast to names of other engineering disciplines, and is, moreover, out of place with modern times. What’s in a name? This paper seeks to find out.     

Civil Engineering Education and Complex Systems

Civil engineering is an interdisciplinary field, and most of the projects designed and built represent very complex systems, both during the construction phase and in the built phase. This research describes how a course in land development that included engineering design elements, lectures that also touched on other related fields, and a field journal assignment at a “green” (sustainable) construction site facilitated students’ understanding of complex systems. Results suggest that this course design facilitates the development of students’ proficiencies in several skill sets, and can increase students’ understanding of the complexity involved in civil engineering projects.     

Crisis of Civil Engineering Education in Information Technology Age: Analysis and Prospects

The brightest students entering postsecondary education are often attracted by routes other than engineering that are perceived more likely to yield careers of higher prestige and greater returns. For civil engineering in particular, this is further compounded by the fact that the field is not traditionally viewed as a high-tech discipline. Thus, student quality, enrollment, and research funding in civil engineering programs have been declining across North America. The conservative construction industry is part of the problem; adjustments of this aging cartel to the new economy are still at the embryonic level. Civil engineering educators are facing the question, How do we change the “hard hat down in the ditch” image of civil engineering in the minds of the new information technology generation? This paper presents an analysis of possible causes of this problem and a vision for potential future solutions.     

Integrating Management Breadth in Civil Engineering Education

At the beginning of the 21st century, there is a wider awareness that the civil engineering industry has become a global industry. The rapid increase in foreign ownership of firms in the United States along with the globalization of economic markets is reminding professionals that they must be aware of global events before they impact local operating conditions. In response to these developments, university programs must begin to broaden their focus to include subjects that address new economy realities. Specifically, the time to begin exposing students to management topics such as entrepreneurship, financial management, and global economics has arrived. If the civil engineering industry is going to evolve into a new economy business, it will require individuals who are as comfortable with the financial and technological components of the business as they are with design or construction fundamentals.     

Impact of Nanotechnology on Future Civil Engineering Practice and Its Reflection in Current Civil Engineering Education

Current civil engineering education should address the need to provide a broad vision, develop the higher-order skills of future civil engineers, enable them to adopt emerging technologies, and formulate innovative solutions to complex problems. This paper introduces relevant nanotechnology developments to convey the new vision and inspire creativity in civil engineering. It also presents a pedagogical framework for integrating nanotechnology education into a civil engineering curriculum and cultivating self-regulated learning and creativity skills for civil engineering students. The pedagogical framework includes the introduction of nanotechnology innovations and other relevant innovative technologies, and explicit instructions on cognitive strategies for facilitating and inspiring self-regulated learning and creativity. It is implemented with problem/project-based learning for a cocurricular project that requires self-regulated learning and creativity. This pedagogical framework provides a model for integrating emerging technology education and higher-order skill development into existing engineering curriculum. The outcomes from the implementation of the pedagogical framework are presented, and their further improvements are discussed.     

Classroom Assessment and Redesign of an Undergraduate Steel Design Course: A Case Study

The objective of this paper is to share experience gained in classroom assessment and subsequent redesign of an undergraduate, practice-oriented steel design course. A term project involving the design of a low-rise structural steel building was used to provide a summative evaluation of student learning. The essence of the project was for students to demonstrate their ability to apply the course material in a realistic activity, similar to structural engineering practice. Critical reflection on student performance, student feedback on course evaluation forms, the author’s observations as course instructor, and the educational literature motivated redesign of the course. Adaptation of an assignment-centered or project-based approach to course planning guided course redesign. Comparison of student performance and course evaluation data suggests that the redesigned course better meets the goal of developing the students’ abilities to apply the subject knowledge and skills to realistic problems or scenarios.     

Standards in Civil Engineering Design Education

In the United States, requirements in the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) engineering criteria provide a strong incentive to integrate engineering codes and standards into civil engineering undergraduate curricula. Under the current criteria, specifically Criterion 4, appropriate engineering standards must be incorporated into the major design experience. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current ABET Engineering Criteria requirements with respect to engineering standards and suggest some ways standards can be included in both the technical and nontechnical portions of undergraduate curricula.     

History of Construction, Engineering, and Management in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State

At Penn State, the credit for broadening the Civil Engineering Department’s longstanding academic focus on analysis and design to include the construction phase must go to Dr. Harmer A. Weeden and his longtime associate Dr. Thomas D. Larson. Jack H. Willenbrock joined the Department as an Instructor in June 1968 and grew the construction program so that today about a fourth to a third of the civil undergraduates obtain employment in the construction industry. The program has awarded about 250 postbaccalaureate degrees.     

Introducing Smart Structures Technology into Civil Engineering Curriculum: Education Development at Lehigh University

Most of today’s civil engineering students are unaware of the potential use of smart structures technology in the design, construction, and maintenance of civil infrastructure systems. This paper presents recent education development in the area of smart structures technology at Lehigh University. The goal of this education development is to prepare the future engineer of society for this cutting-edge technology, for which they may see broad application in their professional practice. An overview of the smart structures technology in civil engineering applications, from a systems perspective, is first given in the paper. Educational activities incorporating smart structures technology into civil engineering curriculum are next presented in this paper.     

Enhancing Civil Engineering Education and ABET Criteria through Practical Experience

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has adopted a revised set of criteria for accrediting engineering programs. Nevertheless, as in the past, civil engineering departments will be required to demonstrate proficiency in specific subject areas which are included in the ABET program criteria. This paper investigates how civil engineering students at Lamar University improved their understanding of various subject areas required by ABET and listed in the Program Criteria for Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Programs and the General Criteria (professional component) by being involved with cooperative, part-time, and summer work experiences. In particular, the findings suggest that both undergraduate and graduate students believe that three areas have been greatly enhanced with engineering work. They include structural engineering, project management/scheduling and estimating, and teamwork. In addition, undergraduates perceive that their understanding of health and safety issues and ethical considerations has also increased. In contrast, graduate students believe that their knowledge of hydraulics, hydrology, and water resources, constructability, and economic factors has been enhanced by civil engineering work experiences.     

Student Assessment of a Problem-Based Learning Experiment in Civil Engineering Education

This paper describes an experiment with problem-based learning (PBL), an instructional methodology used in response to the challenges posed by today’s professional education. Contrary to the conventional model that places an application problem after concepts or topics have been introduced, PBL uses the problem to initiate learning. Besides promoting the construction of knowledge, it may also contribute to the development of some skills and attitudes deemed important for engineers’ professional practice. This research, of a qualitative nature, intended to investigate how students evaluate this methodology and its potential to attain the educational goals set for the course. In order to answer the research question, the methodology was implemented in the civil engineering curriculum of a Brazilian public university. The results herein presented, deriving mainly from classroom observations and an end-of-course questionnaire, show that most of the students evaluate the methodology positively. Even considering the short duration of the course and its small number of credits, it may also have promoted the development of some skills and attitudes besides knowledge acquisition.     

Educating Students via Distance Learning for Civil Engineering Design

Two structural engineering courses were taught using distance-learning technology. One course was a graduate level, steel design course and the other was an undergraduate, elective, timber design course. Two-way live video and audio connections linked classrooms at San Jose State University and San Francisco State University. The interaction between student and teacher is discussed. These courses were the first time the California State University system offered students academic credit at either of two universities for a course taught via distance education from a single location. The challenges of teaching engineering design concepts via distance learning are discussed. Assessment of the teaching method was performed using student surveys and review of student grades. The assessment survey revealed that the students’ overall impression was positive. Grades received by the students at the Remote Site were lower than those at the Home Site, but this discrepancy may not have been a result of the distance-learning environment.     

Assessment of the Computing Component of Civil Engineering Education

This paper presents the results of two surveys conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Task Committee on Computing Education of the Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology to assess the current computing component of the curriculum in civil engineering. Previous surveys completed in 1989 and 1995 have addressed the question of what should be taught to civil engineering students regarding computing. The surveys reported in this paper are a follow-up study to the two earlier surveys. Key findings of the study include: (1) the relative importance of the top four skills (spreadsheets, word processors, computer aided-design, electronic communication) has remained unchanged; (2) programming competence is ranked very low by practitioners; (3) the importance and use of geographic information system and specialized engineering software have increased over the past decade; (4) the importance and use of expert systems have significantly decreased over the past decade; and (5) the importance and use of equation solvers and databases have declined over the past decade.