Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3215

Computers in the Integrated Civil Engineering Curriculum: A Time of Transition

Thomas A. Lenox, Stephen J. Ressler, Robert J. O'Neill, Christopher H. Conley United States Military Academy

This paper examines the authors' continuing experiences in incorporating the personal computer into the civil engineering program at the US Military Academy. The paper describes how the civil engineering program has changed its approach to using the common software purchased by students at the Academy.

1. Situation

Academic Program for Civil Engineering Majors The purpose of the United States Military Academy (USMA) is to provide the nation with leaders of character who serve the common defense. The four year undergraduate experience is built upon intellectual, military, and physical development programs. This academic program is deliberately broad in scope. It includes 26 common core courses distributed between 10 mathematics and basic sciences courses on one hand, and 16 humanities and social sciences courses on the other. A typical academic program for a civil engineering major, excluding military science and physical education courses, is shown in Table 1.

As shown in Table 1, 20 of the 26 common core courses are taken during a cadet’s first two years at the Academy. It is important to note that ALL cadets take four semesters of college mathematics, two semesters of chemistry, two semesters of physics, and a computer programming course. The ABET-accredited civil engineering major requires 17 courses in addition to the 26 common core courses. The 17 additional courses prescribed for civil engineering majors are italicized in Table 1.

Brief History of Personal Computer Use at USMA In August 1986, the Academy began the computerization of its entire student body and faculty, clearly demonstrating its commitment to assuring the computer competency of all its graduates. Since this date, each freshman has been required to purchase a personal computer. A personal computer is also furnished to every faculty member at the Academy. The particular machine to be purchased is determined each year based on contract renewal schedules, the cost of available technology, and the computation requirements envisioned by academic departments. For example, the students of the Class of 2000 have purchased a Pentium-120 with 32 MB of RAM, 1.2 GB hard disk, 1.44 MB floppy drive, and SVGA monitor. In addition, they have all purchased an HP-48G calculator.

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Lenox, T., & Ressler, S. J., & O'Neill, R. J., & Conley, C. (1997, June), Computers In The Integrated Civil Engineering Curriculum: A Time Of Transition Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6461