allowedstudents to reflect on experimentation and interpretation of results. Future work will explorecurriculum planning and design at the departmental level to continuously improve technicalwriting for civil engineering undergraduate students from their first-year courses to their seniorcapstone design projects.IntroductionCompetent technical writing is an essential communication skill for civil engineering students toimprove in undergraduate programs. Engineering students with strong technical writing skills arecompetitive in engineering job searches and career promotion [1]. Engineering educators haverecognized the importance of technical writing for decades and various approaches have beenimplemented to redesign the writing curriculum and improve
smallstructural engineering laboratory. The room is equipped with flattop tables and is arranged in atraditional lecture format: chalkboard at the front of the room and tables in rows. The back ofthe room is equipped with a small load frame and tensile testing machine. The instructor usesactive learning techniques during class lectures. Each class meeting includes a short lectureintroduction to the content for the day supported by skeleton notes, then students work exampleproblems, engage in group reflections, or participate in a demonstration. While both institutionsincorporated some demonstrations in their classroom activities, prior to the 2019-2020 academicyear, neither institution was equipped with large-scale testing equipment. The
frustrated with the process, anddissatisfied with the end outcome and reflect about any heuristics used and how these might haveled to less than optimal decisions.Bounded rationality was the second behavioral decision science concept embedded within theHistoric Fourth Ward Park case study module. Bounded rationality means that the potential forrational or optimal decisions is limited by the decision maker’s cognitive capacity, availableinformation, and time [17]. Such limitations may be expected in complex decisions involvingtradeoffs, as are commonly found in sustainability problems. Bounded rationality relates to theHistoric Fourth Ward project through the stakeholder engagement meetings and public input,which were a major part of the process to
’ experiences with the project-based pedagogy and open-source QGISsoftware through the lens of CLT. In the Geomatics course, students’ QGIS project was a majorcomponent of their third regular-semester exam. Using the rigorously-developed NASA TaskLoad Index (TLX), students reflected on perceived workload (an indicator of cognitive load)experienced in their face-to-face engineering courses (through midterms), their emergency onlineengineering courses (midterms through finals), and their third exam. Based on our data, weexplore the following questions: (1) How did cognitive load related to the project compare tostudents’ face-to-face and online classes? (2) How did test/exam performance compare toprevious years? We seek to provide insights for improving
Primary Standard for the Master of Engineering (Civil Systems).The secondary standards are AQF level 7 for the Bachelor of Technology, AQF Level 9 forthe Master of Engineering and the CSU Graduate Learning Outcomes, which need to beachieved at the Bachelor of Technology degree level.In what is not normally part of the CSU course design process, one additional secondarystandard is applied as an aspirational target – outcomes that are strongly desirable at the endof a degree, and which should be supported by the curriculum, but which are not essential forgraduation. This standard is the EA Stage 2 competency standard for Chartered Engineers.The aspirational standards reflect the competitive advantage that CSU engineering course offers to students
theassessment scheme is working effectively. The one-year assessment cycle assesses studentlearning outcomes. This assessment includes faculty evaluation/course reflective statements(indirect), submissions to student portfolios (direct), and senior surveys/senior focus groups(indirect). Use of student portfolios as a means of direct assessment is well documented5. Directassessment of learning outcomes, as evidenced in the student portfolios, is facilitated through theweb-based RosE Porfolio tool. It should be noted that the key aspect of the direct assessment isthe use of a portfolio system. The RosE Portfolio is simply a tool that facilitates that process.RosE PortfolioThe RosE Portfolio at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been in use for 6
STEM9–11.Introductory engineering courses taught with forms of active learning such as project-basedlearning and problem-based learning have led to increased retention of engineering majors12–15,improved student performance13,15, higher quality of peer interactions13, and more positivestudent attitudes about engineering13,16. In addition to the strong case for adopting active learningin introductory engineering classrooms17, there is growing concern about how to effectivelydisseminate innovations in engineering education18. Recommendation for adoption anddissemination include attending to the specific needs of varied university cultures and curricula,supporting educators in becoming reflective teachers, and providing long-term support
think outside ofthe box in their work and they did not need to follow any previous method used to assigninfrastructure grades. The students completed the assignment by submitting two deliverables, apaper explaining the process to determine the grade and postcard sized graphic illustrating theresulting grade. The assessment of the assignment was primarily gauged by a survey formcompleted by the students. Furthermore, the instructor (author) offers reflections of theassignment, student efforts, and future improvements. Additional assessments measured by useof the student work in the Indiana Section efforts for their report card are ongoing. Theassignments are well suited for ABET Criterion 3 Program Outcomes (g) an ability tocommunicate
preparation. Thismeans when students register unselectively into two different classes that are going to be used toobserve the impact of a teaching technique and the method of assessment is to compare thegrades of students from the two settings, it is obvious that the results will not only reflect theimpact of the teaching technique, but will also be a reflection of the students inherentcapabilities. So if students in one of the classes are generally less endowed than students in thesecond class, the results of the experimentation will be skewed and not be a true reflection of theteaching technique being tested. MethodologyIn this study, the investigator is teaching a sophomore engineering survey class
; Leadership – Students collaborate and self-reflect on strengths and weaknesses as leaders and teammates while understanding how sustainability influences decision-making. 4. Deliverables (Written & Oral Reports) – Students write about and present their research, designs, and sustainability analysis (e.g. meaningfully, concisely, scientifically).Although the SIS was originally developed for the SM capstone project requirement, it wasapplied, modified and updated to the Sustainability Components Assessment (SCA) to focus onsustainability research and analysis and communication of sustainability findings. The SCA wasrecently used as a case study within a civil engineering Senior Design capstone course at StevensInstitute of
more useableand useful to instructors. Of equal importance, though, was that through the process ofgenerating the list, it became clear to us that some of the ITM’s best practices were written insuch a way that the three of us working on the document did not even agree on what they meant.This discovery helped us make a final set of revisions to the wording of the ITM’s best practicesthat both better aligned with the Model-Antithesis-Exemplar table and better reflected ouroriginal intentions for an ITM. The ITM we designed as a result of the process described here ispresented in Figure 3. Figure 3. The Institutional Teaching Model as presented to participants of the 2020 Teaching Workshop and promoted to faculty.In the summer of 2019, as
of which correspond nominally to ABET Criteria 3(a) through 3(k).3Outcome 12 describes a requirement for knowledge in a specialized area related to civilengineering; and Outcomes 13, 14, and 15 require understanding of professional practice topicssuch as management, business, public policy and administration, and leadership.The fifteen outcomes of the BOK reflect five major areas of emphasis: • Fundamentals of math, science, and engineering science • Technical breadth • Breadth in the humanities and social sciences • Technical depth • Professional practice breadthThe association between these “big picture” areas of emphasis and the fifteen BOK outcomes isillustrated in Figure 1 below.In October 2004, the ASCE Board
. mention societal impacts of their project as a separate item to consider in design, 2 but they do not provide examples or any further detail. mention societal impacts of their project, perhaps only in passing or in a sentence 1 with all three pillars of sustainability. do not discuss societal impacts of their project. 0ReflectionFinally, we reviewed students’ reflections of how the Community Engagement module impactedtheir understanding of and ability to incorporate preliminary social sustainability principles intheir senior
. Page 24.571.5 4Weekly Reflection PapersAll REU fellows submitted weekly reflection papers using VT’s course management software(Scholar) and reflected on their weekly research, social and cultural experiences. These paperswere due by 10:00 p.m. on Thursday every week. The author reviewed these papers beforemeeting with the REU fellows at Friday seminars and answered questions.YouTube VideosREU fellows were divided into teams at the orientation session and were assigned to createYouTube videos (2-3 min) to document their research/social/cultural experiences. A YouTubecompetition was held at the concluding ceremony on the last day of the program. As of summer2013, we have 7 YouTube videos of our
15-17. In addition, although not often formally linked to academic programs,globally-focused engineering student organizations, such as Engineers Without Borders andEngineers for a Sustainable World, reflect students’ growing interest in internationaldevelopment, eradication of poverty, environmental action, and application of technology forsocial benefit 18-19.However, the issue of sustainability of such efforts in terms of faculty time and universityresources is not yet resolved 20. Perpetuating these socially focused initiatives is an importantissue in smaller schools where limited resources constrain new initiatives, but, in an era ofshrinking resources, also affects larger institutions. The issue of sustainability of such effortsmay be
universities. The assessmentof the course sought to determine if these anticipated challenges occurred and then solicit studentsuggestions for improvement.AssessmentMethodsThe assessment of the initial course offering involved (i) administering mid-semester and end ofclass surveys to the students, and (ii) instructor reflections. The midterm and final surveys wereboth anonymous and similar (words were changed slightly to improve meaning of questions anda couple of additional questions were added to the final assessment survey). The open-endedquestions were: What went well in class? What contributed most to your learning? What could have been improved? How could this course be more effective to help you learn?Surveys also requested students to
influence that CIT-Ehas had on him. But we were still left with unanswered questions related to the demographics ofCIT-E and its impact. For example: 1. Who makes up the CIT-E CoP, and how does it reflect the demographics of CEE faculty? 2. To what extent is the model course being used, and by whom? Why? Which lessons are being accessed the most? 3. What skills have faculty members gained from their association with CIT-E, and has it made a meaningful impact on faculty professional networks? 4. What else do faculty members want out of CIT-E, and what are the next steps for CIT-E as a CoP? 5. Which aspects of the CIT-E CoP reflect the characteristics of a CoP as found in the literature?Finding answers to these questions
thestudents’ general sentiment towards the probabilistic assessments. Through formal and informalfeedback, many students reported that they did not appreciate losing points due to selecting theincorrect answer. This inherent consequence in the probabilistic MC method used in CE404 mayhave tainted some of the students’ views towards the assessment technique, which is reflected inthe student survey data.1. Increases the student’s level of critical thought throughout the courseAs seen in Figure 4, only 29% of the class felt as though probabilistic multiple choice questionsincreased their level of critical thought while 39% of the students felt the questions did notincrease their level of critical thought. However, comparing the end-of-semester
professional development tool.Dr. Peter T. Savolainen, Iowa State University Dr. Peter Savolainen is an Associate Professor in the Iowa State University (ISU) Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. His research includes fundamental and applied projects focused on traffic operations, safety, and driver behavior, as well pedagogical approaches to improve transportation engineering education. Dr. Savolainen currently serves on the editorial advisory boards of Accident Analysis and Prevention and Analytic Methods in Accident Research. Dr. Savolainen’s peda- gogical efforts are reflected by his selection as a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) Excellence in Civil Engineering
/board notes, demonstrations and visual components of concepts, and group hands-onactivities. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Developing/Using Learning Objectives Board Work/Color/Lecture Notes Group/Hand-on Activities (connecting to Concepts) Illustration of Concepts/Demos/Visual Incorporating Music Ongoing Instructor Reflection/Self-Assessment Instructor Movement Learning Names/Building Rapport Provide More Feedback/Peer Review Dynamic Classroom Spaces
cross-section of societyacross gender, racial, political, and cultural boundaries. Although specific demographicdata were not collected in these specific classes, the University of Idaho’s undergraduatestudent population of approximately 8,800 students consists of a gender breakdown thatis approximately 60% male and 40% female, and a student ethnicity that is 77% white,9% Hispanic or Latino, 5% International, and 9% representing other affiliations.7The civil engineering students noted that there was a strong sense of community at theUniversity of Idaho, likely linked to the small, college-town setting. While some studentsenjoyed smaller class sizes others reflected that the classes were large and unfocused onthe student. This was influenced by
Narratives aims to provide students with a toolkit for successfulcommunication in contemporary society and the workplace. This integrated course experience invitesstudents to reflect and use diverse ways of communication in the digital era. During one semester,participants were introduced to oral, written, visual and auditory techniques of communication, anddocumented through various digital media artifacts. Page 26.127.3Our value proposition that artistic storytelling can help students think, communicate and aid in theiremotional wellbeing is backed by a long history of scholarship. Such seminal articles as K. Egan’s“Memory, Imagination
. Moreover, knowledge of fundamental business functions is increasingly importantfor civil engineers.To address these needs, the authors developed a course, Leadership for Engineers, and usedan interactive and highly engaging business simulation, ScrimmageSimTM, to create anactive learning environment where students are placed in leadership positions and arerequired to develop basic business operating plans; execute these plans in the simulation;and reflect on their team’s successes, failures and missed opportunities. The authorspiloted the course during summer 2017 with students majoring in both engineering andbusiness.This paper addresses the development, execution and assessment of this course. Thedevelopment of the course included sequencing
curriculum. Finally, ASCEstudent group activities can also be used to support civil engineering program accreditation,under both current and proposed criteria.IntroductionCivil engineering programs, and the policies and guidelines for their assessment, continue toevolve. The latest activities in these areas are reflected in the American Society of CivilEngineer’s (ASCE) publication Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century[1], theNational Academy of Engineering (NAE) publication Educating the Engineer of 2020 –Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century[2], and the ABET, Inc. “PROPOSEDCriteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs”[3] . In fact, Bruce Seely writes in the NAE reportthat “Engineering education has been the subject
Houston’s Mechanical Engineering department, include a partnership withthe university’s Writing Center in which consultants teach workshops and hold consultationswith teams and individual students in conjunction with specific undergraduate courses.6 Thisprogram reflects the partnership that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began in1996 between its Aerospace Engineering faculty and communication instructors who taughtcommunication practicum in conjunction with specific courses.7 More recently, the partnershipsbegun in MIT’s ME department in 19908 and in Mississippi State University’s ECE departmentin 20049 have resulted in “multidimensional scoring rubrics” designed to provide comprehensivefeedback and help TA’s grade student lab
credit hours, or approximately 48 equivalent courses. Conversion of 48 equivalentcourses to a traditional semester system suggests the curriculum is equivalent to 144 semesterhours. The curriculum for the department of civil engineering is depicted in Table 2.Evaluation of Current Curriculum vs BOK2 OutcomesThe current CE curriculum at RHIT was compared to the BOK2 outcomes using severalprocesses: • Qualitative reflection on course and curriculum content by faculty members to identify likely BOK2 compliance • Mapping of RHIT Program Outcomes to BOK2 outcomes and using the results of assessment from the RHIT Program Outcomes to estimate likely BOK2 compliance • Surveying a cross section of students to identify whether they
my willingness to take a risk?Thus, the first hypothesis associated with this study is that by intentionally taking one’s self outof a comfort zone in front of students, an instructor will ultimately be more comfortable in theclassroom. Secondly, it is also suggested that the students associated with the course appreciateand respect the instructor’s attempt at using a non-traditional method of engineering instruction.Finally, an attempt will be made to determine if the use of poetry actually assisted with studentreinforcement of learned civil engineering concepts. The initial hypothesis will be addressedthrough self-reflection. The second and third hypothesis will be explored through analysis ofstudent-reported survey data.It should be noted
Processing Active Reflective Understanding Sequential GlobalIt is the consideration of learning styles and the assessment associated with that considerationthat is the focus of this paper and presented in what follows. Page 24.787.5Learning Styles Survey Results and ApplicationThe learning styles survey was administered to the 51 students enrolled in CE390 in the fall of2012 prior to the first lesson of the semester. Students completed the survey using an onlineweb-based tool developed and made available by Dr. Richard Felder and Barbara Soloman at NCState University (http
recognizedin the AEC industry. It has the capacity to scan existing spatial conditions and generate densepoint-cloud models. They include ground topography, rock formations, landscapes, forest canopiesand the built environment in general.T-LiDAR scanning devices emit narrow laser beams/pulses that hit, and capture reflected lightintensity, spatial coordinates (x, y, z) and color coordinates (read, green, blue) from distant points.That is, seven quantities are captured per hit point. The laser-based scanners were firstcommercially available in the mid-1990s and they evolved considerably in the last 25 years.Today, modern rotating T-LiDAR scanners may capture one million points per second within a1000-meter range with 5mm accuracy. LiDAR applications
chilled the classroom?• Celebrate every moment spent on critical self-reflection about teaching The ETW places a premium on reflective self-assessment. The assessment of the third participant class relies heavily on self-assessment, with the intent that workshop participants will continue to develop these skills at their home institutions.There are several items on the list that are not currently in the ETW but could andprobably should be incorporated:• Build coalitions with educators who are different from me in terms of race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, home language, class, (dis)ability, and other identities The suggestion of building a coalition is a great one and it could easily be incorporated into the