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Data Science in the Civil Engineering Curriculum

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Committee on Educational Policy Presents: Pillars of Professional Development

Tagged Division

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)

Page Count

13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42870

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42870

Download Count

156

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Paper Authors

biography

Ashraf Badir Florida Gulf Coast University

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Dr. Badir is a Professor in the Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, and Environmental Engineering Department at the U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering in Florida Gulf Coast University. He earned his B.Sc. (1982) in Civil Engineering and M.Sc. (1985) in Structural Engineering. He also holds a M.Sc. (1989) and a Ph.D. (1992) in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Badir is a licensed Professional Engineer in Florida, and a civil engineering program evaluator for ABET.

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biography

Seneshaw Tsegaye Florida Gulf Coast University

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Dr. Seneshaw Tsegaye is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, and Environmental Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is the Backe Chair of Research for Sustainable Water and Renewable Energy. He has 10 years of experience in the fields of integrated urban water management, water-energy-food nexus, infiltration-based best management practices, flood modeling, and decision support systems for transitioning to vegetation-based stormwater systems. Dr. Tsegaye’s latest research project is focused on the application of Virtual Reality for flood resiliency and engineering education. With many years of teaching and research experience in both developed and developing nations, Dr. Tsegaye has strong relationships for international collaboration.

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Long Duy Nguyen, P.E. Florida Gulf Coast University

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Dr. Long Nguyen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). Before joining FGCU, he was the deputy director of Tuan Le Construction and a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Universi

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Abstract

Data science is an emerging field that encompasses several STEM domains and offers exciting career prospects in a wide range of engineering applications. Several studies have emphasized that the use of data science in the present civil engineering undergraduate curricula is mostly restricted to simple introductory subjects, usually with the use of Microsoft Excel. The curriculum does not encourage students to fully benefit from big data since data science is not extensively used. In Additionally, there is a lack of clear guidance on how to strengthen the synergy between common civil engineering courses and data science.

In this paper, the authors will report on a recently introduced course entitled “Data Science and Engineering Systems Analysis,” at XXX University, incorporating the integration of R programming into data analytics, and systems thinking for the analysis and design of civil engineering applications. The course aims at empowering students with the necessary tools to apply statistics in a civil engineering context, perform data transformation, data wrangling, visualization, and modeling using R for data science. In this course, students learn how to gather and analyze data as part of the engineering design process, apply systems thinking to an engineering or societal phenomenon, collaborate with peers to find solutions, and effectively present solutions to an audience.

This work will aim at reporting four main issues, namely (1) the unique components of the current integrated Data Science and Engineering Systems Analysis Course, (2) an account of selected civil engineering projects using R for data science, (3) a survey result collecting data on students’ attitude and belief towards data analysis and its impact on the civil engineering profession, and (4) strategy to enhance synergy between data science and other engineering courses within the curriculum. It is anticipated that a thorough examination of the course's features, students' perceptions, and course synergy-enhancing factors would help to develop a guideline for data science curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation in civil engineering.

Badir, A., & Tsegaye, S., & Nguyen,, L. D. (2023, June), Data Science in the Civil Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42870

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