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Engaging Students in Civil Infrastructure Management

Adjo Amekudzi, Sue McNeil, Kristen L. Sanford Bernhardt

Georgia Institute of Technology / University of Illinois at Chicago / Lafayette College

Introduction

Most civil engineering courses focus on design of new facilities rather than on management of existing facilities. However, existing facilities need the attention of civil engineers who are trained with lifecycle concepts and techniques for managing infrastructure, as evidenced in part by the D+ grade awarded to U.S. infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2003 Report Card on America’s Infrastructure1. Interest in infrastructure management research and education has been growing among faculty, although the number of courses offered on the topic remains relatively low. Each of the authors teaches an infrastructure management course – one is an upper-level undergraduate elective, one is a graduate-level course, and one course is open to both upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. The authors have worked together to develop and share course materials, as well as to integrate our research into the courses.

This paper builds on two papers previously presented at ASEE Conferences, the 2000 paper “Teaching Students to Manage Civil Infrastructure Systems”2 and the 2004 paper “Enhancing Infrastructure Management Education through Collaboration.”3 The focus of this paper, however, is on the learning activities we use in our courses. Specifically, we discuss the types of homework and project activities undertaken by our students, the feedback we have received, and our assessment of their value to student learning and in increasing student interest in infrastructure management. It is evident from student responses that those activities that connect theory to practice increase students’ interest in the topic and contribute to their understanding of the concepts.

Background

The maintenance and improvement of a community’s economic health and standard of living depends on adequate and functioning civil infrastructure systems. These systems include transportation (highways, rail networks, airports, ports, etc.); water, stormwater, and wastewater collection, distribution, and treatment; waste management; energy distribution; parks; and buildings. Design of these systems is clearly specialized, and professionals build on their undergraduate education in structural, geotechnical, environmental, and hydrologic design to develop the systems.

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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McNeil, S., & Amekudzi, A., & Sanford Bernhardt, K. (2005, June), Engaging Students In Civil Infrastructure Management Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14659