Butler, E. (2012, June), Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21060

\bibitem{asee_peer_21060}
  Butler, E. (2012, June), \emph{Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class}
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--21060

Elizabeth Butler.  "Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/21060 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_21060}
  Elizabeth Butler.
  "Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/21060 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_21060
author = "Elizabeth Butler"
title = "Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class"
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/21060}
number = {10.18260/1-2--21060}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -         Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable         Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory                       Science and Engineering ClassThe “Bodies of Knowledge” (BOKs) of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers(AAEE 2009) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 2004) identify the skill setsrequired to practice environmental and civil engineering. Outcome 8 of the AAEE BOK calls forthe ability to recognize life cycle principles, identify non sustainable components in engineeredsystems, explain how and why to integrate sustainability in engineering projects, and quantifyemissions and resource consumption associated with engineering processes (paraphrased fromAAEE (2009)). Outcome 10 of the ASCE BOK also calls for an appreciation of sustainabledevelopment and the environmental impacts of engineering projects.The objective of this work was to develop a learning module for a sophomore class that would:(1) introduce the concept of sustainable development, (2) require students to identify linksbetween sustainable development and sustainable engineering, and (3) introduce the concepts oflife cycle stages and life cycle assessment. The goal was to increase students’ knowledge by achange in values (Fink 2003, p. 30)—specifically a change in students’ assessment of theimportance of sustainable engineering in their own careers. The desired outcomes, defined usingFink’s “Taxonomy of Significant Learning” (Fink 2003, Ch. 2), were for students to (1)understand the definition sustainable development, the concept of life cycle stages, and theenvironmental processes (e.g., global climate change) commonly included in life cycleassessments (Fink’s “foundational knowledge”); (2) identify relationships between sustainabledevelopment and sustainable engineering (Fink’s “Integration”); and (3) believe thatsustainability is an important facet of science and engineering education and practice (Fink’s“Human dimension”).First, students’ prior knowledge and attitudes were assessed using a survey, with some questionsadapted from prior published surveys (Azapagic et al. 2005, Kagawa 2007, Bielefeldt 2011) andadditional questions based on the AAEE and ASCE BOKs. Next, class activities were used tointroduce and explain the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable engineering.After these activities, the survey was re-administered and changes in students’ knowledge andattitudes assessed by comparing the before and after survey responses.In terms of knowledge gained, there was a significant increase in familiarity with the terms“product life cycle”, “sustainable development” and “sustainable engineering”. Even in the pre-survey, students indicated familiarity with global climate change, acid precipitation, ozone layerdepletion, and smog formation, but were quite unfamiliar with the term “eutrophication” (aglobal environmental problem), and there was a significant increase in their understanding of thisterm between the pre- and post-surveys. In terms of changes in students’ attitudes, there was asmall increase between the pre- and post-surveys in the percentage of students who stronglyagreed that sustainability should be integrated into all science and engineering disciplines, thatscientists and engineers should consider environmental impacts over the life cycle in designingproducts and processes, and that scientists and engineers can affect the quality of life around theglobe through their work. Whether these outcomes are lasting will be assessed in future classes.ReferencesAAEE (2009), Environmental engineering body of knowledge, Environmental Engineering Bodyof Knowledge Task Force, Annapolis, MD.ASCE (2004), Civil engineering body of knowledge for the 21st century, Body of KnowledgeCommittee of the Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice, Reston, VA.Azapagic, A., Perdan, S., and Shallcross, D. (2005), How much do engineering students knowabout sustainable development? The findings of an international survey and possibleimplications for the engineering curriculum, European Journal of Engineering Education 30(1),1-19.Bielefeldt, A. R. (2011), Incorporating a sustainability module into first-year courses for civiland environmental engineering students, Journal of Professional Issues in EngineeringEducation and Practice 137(2), 78-85.Fink, L. D. (2003), Creating significant learning experiences, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.Kagawa, F. (2007), Dissonance in students’ perceptions of sustainable development andsustainability: Implications for curriculum change, International Journal of Sustainabilityin Higher Education 8(3), 317-338.
AU  - Elizabeth Butler
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Changing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Sustainable Development and Sustainable Engineering in an Introductory Science and Engineering Class
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21060
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21060
ER  -