AC 2009-442: STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND CONCEPTS ABOUT ENGINEERINGAS AN ENVIRONMENTAL CAREER: A SURVEYJohannes Strobel, Purdue UniversityInez Hua, Purdue UniversityConstance Harris, Purdue UniversityJun Fang, Purdue UniversityLindsey Tracy, Purdue University Page 14.1087.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Students’ Attitudes and Concepts Towards Engineering as an Environmental Career – A SurveyKeywords: Environmental knowledge; engineering; first year; resistance to changeAbstractThe overall purpose of the research is to determine students’ attitudes towards environmental andecological issues in the context of choosing engineering
4 3 7Civil Engineering 4 0 4Mechanical Engineering 4 7 11Industrial Engineering 2 4 6Bioengineering 1 1 2Electrical Engineering 2 3 5Industrial career aspirations 4 11 15Non-industrial career aspirations 9 4 13(teaching, government,consulting, self-employment) A survey had been
14.873.11engineering that otherwise would have gone into other majors and/or career fields.Professional PerformanceThere is virtually no quantitative assessment of the benefits of PBSL experiences to professionaltrajectory. The results of the SLICE program indicated in paired t-tests of pre- and post-surveysof 114 students in 2005-2006 that there was a significant increase in students reporting theimportance of a career that involves helping people (personal communication). Unsolicited,informal student feedback from participants in EWB at the University of Colorado at Boulderalso indicate that some students have changed their planned career path, finding themselvesdissatisfied with traditional engineering consulting jobs.There are some indications that
Academy of Engineering’s(NAE’s) Grand Challenges for Engineering are explicitly related to energy, and were ranked as Page 14.1030.2the most important based on a web-poll. 1,2 In a 2008 national poll of voters, the energy crisisranked third.3 Many students are interested in a career that will allow them to help solve theenergy crisis.A wide variety of engineering majors will be needed to address different parts of energy-relatedissues. Architectural engineers can design greener buildings to significantly reduce the energyconsumption from heating, cooling, and lighting. Electrical engineers design power conversionand energy transmission systems
Performance forSteelcase, Keith Grass, CEO of the David J. Joseph Company, a scrap metalrecycling company, and Rachel Charron, Environmental Engineer at GMPowertrain Flint Engine South. All speakers are asked to stay and speak withGEO students so that students can ask questions and explore career pathsinvolving the environment. In addition, GEO hosted a Kettering University section of Focus theNation, a nation-wide simultaneous event to spread environmental awareness.This event consisted of four talks, focused around energy and the environment,given throughout the day on campus. GEO also hosted an outreach event for200 elementary school students for Focus the Nation. The students were brokeninto groups where they learned about fuel cells and
the specified 16 knowledge domains. In light ofthis, it appears that the BOK is overly constrained. Due to the variety of career paths thatstudents with Bachelor’s degrees in EnvE may pursue, covering all possible topics that onemight need to know in the B.S. degree seems unrealistic. Some students are turned off by themajor due to over constraint that leads to a loss of flexibility in coursework. In addition, themost important topics that should be emphasized may be lost in such a long list of requirements.A better approach could be to develop critical thinking skills in our students and the ability toteach themselves during their professional careers in the context of life long learning.Background
ecology, it is only natural that engineering andscience students seek to learn more about the topic, especially in the context of formalacademic courses. Students at Yale University and Arizona State University, have thebenefits of Professors Thomas Graedel and Braden Allenby, respectively, who builtcourses utilizing their text content and broad awareness of the growing field. Expandingbeyond this important base of initial courses in industrial ecology, students at theUniversity of Florida requested a similar course to prepare them for eventual entry intothe evolving field of sustainability, either as a career in itself or in a capacity that blendedengineering design along with sustainability.Using the Graedel and Allenby text as a logical
interests are primarily related to air pollution and its impacts on human health and the environment. Through her research, she seeks to understand the multi-scale interactions of air pollutants with the natural and built environments and to elucidate the effects of these interactions on public health and on sustainability. Her current research project topics are interactions between transportation infrastructure, air quality, and health equity; and mercury and sustainability in the Tampa Bay and in Guyana. She is a recipient of an NSF Career Award.Daniel Yeh, University of South Florida Dr. Daniel Yeh is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the
class to participate in one of theESW activities at the school or in the community. Such an endeavor could potentially help to Page 14.1155.9encourage more students to pursue a college career in a STEM discipline whilst buildingcommunication, leadership and mentoring capacity of college students.ConclusionThis project also has the potential to expand to other courses across the university with theinclusion of sustainability concepts. These include undergraduate laboratory courses in biology,environmental microbiology, and water resources engineering. The convenience of the ponds forsampling coupled with their importance in floodwater and water
functional groups presentin organic compounds. Not at all Somewhat Page 14.728.7 Capable Very Capable The assessment of teaching and of class content has been performedthrough both summative and formative assessment. The class is assessedevery two weeks using the SII system of assessment. This technique requiresthe students to write down two strengths for the class, an area for improvement,and an insight for the class. Thus far, the strengths of the class as stated by thestudents in the SII exercise have been as follows: “The green spin actuallymakes chemistry slightly more interesting”, “…will be benefit in our careers”, and“Very open feeling and