Paper ID #46197Design Build Capstone Project – Pedestrian Bridge (Case Study)Dr. Brad Wambeke, United States Air Force Academy Dr. Brad Wambeke is currently an Assistant Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He received his B.S. from South Dakota State University; M.S. from the University of Minnesota; and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. He is a member of ASEE and is a registered Professional Engineer in Missouri and Colorado. His primary research interests include structures, construction engineering, and engineering
Paper ID #38740Service Learning Capstone Projects to Enhance Civil Engineering EducationDr. Xi Wang, Drexel University Xi Wang is an Assistant Teaching Professor in Construction Management program at Drexel University. She received her Ph.D. and M.Eng both in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky and Auburn University. Her research interests include technology adoption in building trades, learning motivation, and engineering student success.Dr. Hans M. Tritico, University of Mount UnionKathleen M. ShortVahraz Honary ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023Service Learning
Paper ID #46199Research-Focused Design Capstone Project: Ultra High-Performance Concrete(Case Study)Dr. Brad Wambeke, United States Air Force Academy Dr. Brad Wambeke is currently an Assistant Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He received his B.S. from South Dakota State University; M.S. from the University of Minnesota; and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. He is a member of ASEE and is a registered Professional Engineer in Missouri and Colorado. His primary research interests include structures, construction engineering
Paper ID #48235Design-Build Capstone Projects: Continuing the Poly Canyon Legacy of Learn-by-DoingDr. Anahid Behrouzi, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Anahid Behrouzi is an associate professor of architectural engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. She has been involved with STEM education beginning in 2003 as a volunteer and summer instructor with the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science. She has been engaged with undergraduate/graduate course delivery in the topic areas of engineering problem-solving and structural engineering at North Carolina State
Paper ID #43295Pedagogical Changes to a Capstone Course to Foster Refinement of ProfessionalSkillsDr. Corinna Marie Fleischmann P.E., United States Coast Guard Academy Captain Corinna Fleischmann is a licensed Professional Engineer with military, academic and research experience in water resources engineering, environmental engineering, coastal resiliency, construction project management and engineering education. CAPT Fleischmann is a career educator who has been a member of the US Coast Guard Academy (CGA) faculty since 2004. She served as the Department Head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Program from 2017-2021
, especially in the capstone which typically has all students from a major or multiple major(s) participating in it; • Having enough projects to keep group sizes optimal without having multiple groups working on the same project lest they collaborate and effectively work as a larger group; • Having an open-ended design problem with enough regular, expert mentorship meetings to effectively guide the students to viable solutions and design deliverables without “hand-holding” the students toward a specific set of solutions; and • Defining an appropriately complete and robust yet approachable target for design deliverables with a structure that is flexible enough to accommodate a range of projects while
Expectation of Culminating Design ExperienceAbstractThe Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET requires that the programcurriculum provides a culminating design experience that prepares students for engineeringpractice. Emphasis is placed on how this experience is based upon the knowledge and skillsacquired in earlier coursework and incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multipledesign constraints. In many Civil Engineering programs, capstone projects are associated with anadvanced course with emphasis on one concentration area. Even though students mayincorporate components outside of their concentration areas, it is rather minimal. This narrowsstudent’s culminating design experience to that specific concentration area
Paper ID #47583Work in Progress: Supporting Better Conversations in Senior Design TeamsDr. Charles Riley, Oregon Institute of Technology ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 Work In Progress: Supporting Better Conversations in Senior Design TeamsAbstractEffective interpersonal communication in senior design teams can be the key to their success orthe reason for their failure. The high-risk, high-reward nature of senior project courses can leadto challenging team environments where miscommunication between even just two members canhave significant consequences for the whole team. While team member assessment tools
GIS to perform tasks across various stages in their respective projects,including map creation, site assessment, design, and 3D visualization. Former students applyingGIS in their capstone projects, when there is no requirement to do so, is an encouraging outcomethat speaks to the true benefit of this course model.Assessment of student learning in this course will continue, emphasizing the impact of courseprojects and connection between software skills and engineering concepts. Additionally, courserevisions are continually being considered whether exploring new project sites (IPs and ICPs) orworking with other faculty to better integrate concepts with other CEE courses at Villanova suchas CEE Fundamentals, Project Development, or Capstone
“thinkingabout thinking” and Ayersman’s explanation that it “occurs as a result of one’s individualevaluation and observation of their cognitive behavior in a learning environment” [4]. Inexplaining the importance of metacognition to critical reading, Baker and Brown state that“effective learning requires an active monitoring of one’s own cognitive activities” [6]. Acrossthe various descriptions of metacognition, the recurring theme is of learners being consciouslyaware of, and taking responsibility for, their learning. Vos and de Graff argue that active learningin engineering (ALE) experiences like project work and problem-based learning, e.g., theactivities we undertake in engineering capstone design courses, require clear developmentalobjectives [7
a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Aaron has served in the military for 24 years as an Engineer Officer with assignments around the world to include Afghanistan, Egypt, and Bosnia- Herzegovina. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia and a Project Management Professional. Aaron’s primary areas of research are engineering education, the behavior of steel structures, and blast. Aaron mentors students by serving as an advisor for capstone projects and through service as an Officer Representative for Women’s Volleyball and Men’s Basketball. His passion for teaching and developing tomorrow’s leaders resulted in his selection for the 2009 American Society of Civil Engineers
Paper ID #42934Integrating a Design Project to Bridge Experiment for Statics learning inGeneral Engineering EducationDr. Yingxiao Song, Muskingum University Assistant Professor in Physics and Engineering Department of Muskingum University ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024Integrating a Design Project to Bridge Experiment for Statics learning inGeneral Engineering EducationAbstractEngineering Statics, a foundational course for most engineering students, is typically undertakenearly in their academic careers. Integrating hands-on experiments, such as the classic bridgeexperiment, is essential not only for a
infrastructure resilience, and engineering ed- ucation. She taught 11 courses at UConn, including Statics, Structural Analysis, Senior Capstone Project, and new Structural Health Monitoring and Sensors courses. Dr. Jang is the recipient of the 2018 Civil Engineering Educator of the Year award from the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers, the 2021 Dis- tinguished Engineering Educator Award from the UConn School of Engineering, and the 2021 ASEE Emerging Leader Fellow Award from the Civil Engineering Division. She is the newsletter editor of the ASEE Civil Engineering Division and the treasurer of the ASEE Northeast Section. In addition, she is a faculty advisor of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) UConn Chapter
participants to recall events in different sequences, can unearth moreaccurate and detailed information.Now that the core details of the project have been developed, the instructors plan to gatherfeedback from future project groups to bolster the preliminary data presented here. Refinementof the survey and additional surveys will be needed to document how well the educationalobjectives are being met. Additionally, the instructors will study how the perception of thedesign process changes over the course of the project and how students perceive the newtechnology.List of References[1] J. Retherford, B. L. Hartmann, R. Al-Hammoud, and G. A. Hunt, “Civil engineering capstone inventory: Standards of practice & the ASCE body of knowledge,” ASEE
scenario. Many of thesedesired goals are difficult to attain in a traditional classroom setting and may not be realized tillstudents complete their senior capstone design projects. Capstone projects are the culminatingexperience for undergraduate civil engineering students. Performance on these projects mayserve as an individual assessment tool to evaluate student learning outcomes in accordance withthe Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The ABET student outcomesinclude a student’s ability to solve problems, apply new knowledge, design, communicate bothwritten and orally, conduct experiments, function effectively as a member of a team, andrecognize ethical and professional responsibilities. One of the main challenges for
over time. In addition, while scholars and accrediting bodies have worked to defineengineering design, the extent to which these definitions reflect the students’ understanding ofengineering design is less clear. This paper aims to provide insight into student perceptions ofdesign by discussing the results of a survey that asked both first year and capstone undergraduatecivil engineering students to identify the components of several design and engineering designdefinitions that resonated most strongly with their experience and understanding of engineeringas a profession. In addition to sharing the results of this study, we review the literature on waysto expand student understanding of engineering design and provide recommendations, along
use team dynamics, understand how to make decisions, and honesupervisory skills. Finally, organizational leadership focuses on using influence to help a unit,recognizing and developing the skills of others, and professional standards [19].The major program follows this same PITO model beginning with personal and interpersonalleadership stages. The three methods used in the Civil Engineering program are competitivesmall teams, senior seminar, and large teams. Also, many of the courses have projects nestedwithin them where students work together to lead each other as they complete the projects. Aftereach feedback is given through comment cards, group assessment, or self-assessment.Competitive teams such as capstone, steel bridge, and concrete
institution, Seattle University, has an ABET accredited Civil Engineeringprogram. The average class size in a civil engineering discipline specific course is around 25.One of the missions of the department is for graduates to possess strong written and oralcommunication skills. Communication skills of the students are developed throughout the civilengineering curriculum starting with laboratory reports in the sophomore year through a year-long, industrially sponsored capstone design experience where students prepare writtenproposals, design reports, memos, reflection papers, and posters for an external project sponsor. CEEGR 3530 - Soil Mechanics is a 5 (quarter) credit junior level course required of allcivil engineering majors for graduation
) highlyinfluence the adoption of educational responses towards sustainability in the civil engineeringcurriculum. The accreditation requirements ensure that sustainability is addressed in specificdiscipline-based units, and to a greater extent, in the capstone unit. Barriers, however, occur inboth cases because sustainability considerations are not scaffolded. The cross-case analysisalso shows that while project-based environments were the most common type of educationalresponses implemented to strengthen students’ sustainability-based knowledge and skills,findings suggested projects do not always encourage the same complexity of problems and,consequently, do not generate the same level of learning outcomes. Results also reveal thathidden-curriculum
engineering, water resources, and environmental engineering; emphasis on integrating professional skills, data analysis, and technical skills. Project based.CIVE 401 – Civil Engineering Design 1 (3 credits-2 hr lecture+3 hr studio; Prereq.-all requiredjunior level civil engineering courses) The first of two courses in the capstone sequence. Practical application of the engineering design process in a team project focused on an authentic and comprehensive civil engineering design project.CIVE 402 – Civil Engineering Design 2 (3 credits-2 hr lecture+3 hr studio; Prereq.-CIVE 401) The second of two courses in the capstone sequence. Practical application of the engineering design process in a team project
, particularlyconfidence and civic engagement. Third, a longitudinal study is planned to track students intoupper-division and capstone courses to assess whether those who participated in the course aremore likely to use MATLAB or pursue sustainability-oriented projects. Finally, future studieswill explore replicating this approach in other programming-heavy courses across engineeringdisciplines to assess generalizability.5. ConclusionsA service-learning project partnered with the University’s Center for Sustainability wasintroduced into a required sophomore level computer programming for civil engineers coursewith the goal of increasing interest and self-efficacy in computer programming skills. Theintervention resulted in statistically significant increases in
organizational management, this paper discusses how the use of practitioners supports the“leadership” aspect of the fifth ABET student outcome. The seven ABET student outcomes and nineUSAFA institutional outcomes are shown in Figure 1: Figure 1: ABET Student Outcomes and USAFA Institutional OutcomesLiterature Review on Utilization of Practitioners in Education:Academic partnerships with industry provide many learning benefits that include opportunitiesfor field trips (Welch et al. 2018), service-learning experiences (Oakes 2011), and internships(Tener 1996, Saviz et al. 2011, Weatherton 2012, Welch et al. 2018). Partnerships with industryfor realistic projects in capstone courses is quite common (Akili 2010, McGinnis and Welch2010, Aktan et
, like civil engineering, are undergoing atremendous transformation with the emergence of newer technological solutions. The majority ofthese solutions require operational convergence, placing a heavy demand on the academiclearning process to ensure that graduates possess the skill transferability required at theworkplace. This study examines the transferability of design skills in undergraduate civilengineering students through a longitudinal study conducted at the Kerala TechnologicalUniversity. In particular, the study analyzes the impact of freshmen Design and Engineeringcourse on the transferability skills demonstrated by the same group of students in a senior-yearGroup Project course in the civil engineering program. The findings show that
]. Bordel et al. [10]indicated that a student competition helped improve autonomous, collaborative, and personalizedlearning based on surveys of students participating in a cybersecurity competition.Considering the above examples, it should be noted that student competition teams can bedescribed as either part of an engineering curriculum or as an extracurricular activity. Khorbatlyand Al-Olimat [11] recommended choosing the latter over the former due to the voluntary natureof extracurriculars, but examined benefits of both. Existing competitions can also be integratedinto engineering curricula as Senior capstone design projects [12, 13].As observed by some previous researchers, student competitions can help drive interest in aspecific engineering
(OSU). During his time at OSU, Sean taught multiple undergraduate engineering courses including, geotechnical engineering, highway design, surveying, and senior capstone design. His engineering education research aims to understand more about the gap in student preparedness for the engineering workplace. He has worked closely with engineering practitioners, faculty, and students to understand more about their problem-solving behavior, beliefs around engineering knowledge, and learning more about what it means to be an engineer. Sean enjoys being active outdoors with his family and friends while climbing, mountain biking, and camping.Audrey Dewey ©American Society for Engineering Education
assessing abilityto consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental,and societal contexts.As a result of this review process, we adopted two new student outcome criteria:20.4 and 21.3. These additional student outcome criteria ensured that the skill wasbeing demonstrated in the context specified by ABET Student Outcomes 1-7. Wealso observed that we were using the same activity (e.g., capstone design project)to provide the artifacts for each of the program student outcome criteriademonstrating a single ABET student outcome, but using that particular activity wasnot a requirement in our process. Because we felt it necessary to demonstrate thatall aspects of the ABET student outcome were demonstrated in one
roles for the second vignette, a capstone design scenario. One student was designated the “Team Leader”, one the “Team Member”, and the rest were “Observers”. In this vignette, the Team Member was to express concerns about calculation results, and the Team Leader was to respond in a such a way as to promote psychological safety. During the debrief for each vignette, the Observers led the discussion by sharing what they saw that promoted psychological safety and what they saw that hindered or removed it.Methods: This project was predicated on the research question: Does teaching psychological safety improve teaming experiences for first-year students? We hypothesized that we could improve students’ team interactions by directly
engineering design capstone course [13] [14].One group of educators identified a need for increased knowledge of sustainability, so theydeveloped a module with learning objectives that included definitions of basic concepts ofsustainability, sustainable development, the triple bottom line, cradle-to-cradle, life-cycleassessment and whole-system thinking, accompanied by application of the Envision ratingsystem to an infrastructure project [13]. The authors concluded that, although their PowerPointpresentation and assessment assisted in students achieving lower levels of development, deeperlearning and higher levels of achievement would require a dedicated sustainability engineeringcourse [13]. Another author described how the EnvisionTM rating system
motivation to persist through and master thecontent of foundational courses prior to design and capstone courses. Finally, anecdotal studentresponses motivate future work in applying the Classical Model to the engineering curriculum.Literature ReviewThe ASEE literature contains several efforts to improve knowledge retention and integration.Many educators might assume that repeat exposure through in-class review throughout asemester might be key to knowledge persistence; yet at least one study showed no positiveimprovement in knowledge retention [6]. With far greater success, active, student-centered, andconversational learning activities resulted in greater retention and integration [7], [8]. Modernengineering educators have rediscovered John Milton
of practice should offer professional development programs to help educators stay current with AI trends and pedagogical approaches. CIT-E is well situated to address this need. 6. Engage Industry Partners in Curriculum Design - Collaboration with industry professionals can ensure that academic programs align with evolving workforce needs. Industry input can inform curriculum updates, internships, and capstone projects that reflect current and future AI applications in CEE practice.References[1] P. Lu, S. Chen, and Y. Zheng, “Artificial Intelligence in Civil Engineering,” Math. Probl. Eng., vol. 2012, no. 1, p. 145974, Jan. 2012, doi: 10.1155/2012/145974.[2] J. Duan, S. Yu, H. L. Tan, H. Zhu, and C. Tan, “A