Board 36: Case Study: Sequential Development of Sensing Skills in a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum
- Conference
- Location
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Baltimore , Maryland
- Publication Date
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June 25, 2023
- Start Date
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June 25, 2023
- End Date
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June 28, 2023
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
- Page Count
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9
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--43007
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/43007
- Download Count
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133
Paper Authors
Sarah Jane Christian P.E. Carnegie Mellon University
Sarah Christian serves as an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. She is interested in curricular innovation including integrating applications of emerging technology into projects and laboratory experiences, project-based learning, curricular content threading, methods for instilling teamwork skills, and implementing pedagogical methods that help students to make sense of difficult technical content. Sarah earned her BS in Civil Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, MCE at Johns Hopkins University in 2004, and PhD at Stanford University in 2009.
Fethiye Ozis Carnegie Mellon University
Dr. Fethiye Ozis is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Ozis holds a B.S. in environmental engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California. Dr. Ozis is a licensed Professional Engineer, Environmental, in Arizona. Before joining CMU, Dr. Ozis was a faculty member at Northern Arizona University.
Katherine Ann Flanigan
Joe Dallas Moore
Carnegie Mellon University
orcid.org/0000-0001-5739-2218
Joe teaches across the environmental engineering program at Carnegie Mellon University. He first taught high school science through Teach For America in Chicago Public Schools. He later earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie M
Gerald J. Wang
Carnegie Mellon University
orcid.org/0000-0002-0631-011X
Jerry Wang is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering (by courtesy), at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his BS in 2013 from Yale University (Mechanical Engineering and Math
Abstract
The burgeoning use of technology and sensing within civil and environmental engineering (CEE) applications has created a need for future engineers to gain skills and understanding in the effective use of sensing and interpretation of massive amounts of data to understand and improve infrastructure. In response to these changes, our faculty have been defining learning outcomes necessary to prepare our students to be successful engineers in this new era in CEE engineering practice. The faculty have added two laboratory courses focused on sensing and additional computation and data science courses focused specifically on CEE applications. We have also incorporated sensing into projects in our project-course sequence and have developed and continue to adapt a threading document that maps how our students gain the desired knowledge and skills through our curriculum.
Through vertically-scaffolded, sequential courses, our institution aims to produce graduates who can effectively design sensing systems for different applications and environments, interpret large quantities of data, and use that data to control infrastructure systems and enhance management strategies. Over the course of two years, the courses are structured sequentially so that students gain greater autonomy over testbed selection and sensor choice as they gain skills and knowledge. These skills are first activated in the sophomore-design course where students are guided through the design and testing of an Arduino-based sensing system. After the initial exposure, sophomores develop an understanding of the physical principles of sensors, analyze sensor data, construct their own sensors, and develop code to control a small-scale infrastructure sensing system in a hands-on laboratory environment. In their junior-level project course, students design, construct, and implement a sensing system to collect data that is interpreted to aid in infrastructure decision-making. In their final sensing laboratory course, field-based CEE problems are posed that require students to choose and deploy appropriate off-the-shelf sensing hardware to collect data that is used for analysis of the problem.
Our sensing thread and courses are still in development and will continue to evolve as we better understand how students best learn these skills. This case study presents our current sensing thread learning objectives, describes how we are teaching sensing through hands-on activities, and shares observations of the effectiveness of our efforts, challenges we are encountering, and guidance for integrating sensing into civil and environmental engineering curricula and courses.
Christian, S. J., & Ozis, F., & Flanigan, K. A., & Moore, J. D., & Wang, G. J. (2023, June), Board 36: Case Study: Sequential Development of Sensing Skills in a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43007
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