GIFTS: Showcasing Interconnectedness of Engineering Disciplines in an Introductory Engineering Class through a Climate Change Module

Haritha Malladi

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Conference: 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference
Location: University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
Publication Date: July 30, 2023
Start Date: July 30, 2023
End Date: August 1, 2023
Page Count: 4
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44841
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44841
Download Count: 70

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Haritha Malladi University of Delaware orcid.org/0000-0002-8723-8964

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Haritha Malladi is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Director of First-Year Engineering at the University of Delaware. She received her Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India, and her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University. She is a teacher-scholar working in the intersection of undergraduate engineering education, sustainable infrastructure, and community engagement. She teaches the introductory engineering course for all first-year undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at UD. Her undergraduate teaching experience includes foundational engineering mechanics courses like statics and strength of materials as well as courses related to sustainability and infrastructure. Her research interests are in foundational engineering education, sustainability in engineering curriculum, and green technologies in infrastructure.

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Abstract

Introductory engineering courses taken by first-year undergraduate engineering students often include an overview of the different engineering disciplines. The learning objective is to help students understand the unique expertise of each major engineering field, and how they all use fundamental science principles and the basic engineering design framework. It is equally important for the students to recognize the similarities across the disciplines and real-world examples of work being done to tackle important global and societal challenges. At the author’s institution, Introduction to Engineering is a 2-credit required course taken by all first-semester undergraduate students in the College of Engineering (COE). Most students in the course have declared an engineering major (12 different majors) but there are some students who are admitted to the College of Engineering without a major—they need to declare their major before the end of their first semester. The course also has a small number of students from other Colleges who may be considering switching to an engineering major. Showcasing the different engineering disciplines in this class is particularly important for the students who haven’t yet declared an engineering major. Typically, engineering department overviews are provided to the students in the form of weekly lectures from guest speakers from each COE department. While the weekly overviews provided information on the expertise of that discipline, there was a need for students to have the opportunity to reflect on the interconnectedness of engineering disciplines. Sustainability and resilience are important goals in engineering. The theme of sustainability is an integral part of the National Academy of Engineering’s 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. Consideration of environmental factors in engineering design is a part of the student outcomes required by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for all engineering programs. Student feedback surveys have shown the author that students across all disciplines are interested in the topic of sustainability. Given that students across disciplines are interested in sustainability, the author recognized an opportunity to engage students with the important topic of climate change. In Fall 2022, a climate change module was created to showcase how different engineering disciplines are contributing toward resilience, mitigation, and adaptation techniques. The module included a lecture on the basics of climate change—introducing the concepts of “Anthropocene”, greenhouse gases, and the Keeling curve. Students looked at the proposed plan for achieving net zero emissions described “Speed & Scale by John Doerr (2021) and identified the engineering disciplines involved in each of the plan’s objectives. A list of articles featuring news on climate change-related work from all major disciplines was compiled for the students to highlight recent real-world applications. At the end of the module, each student created a concept map to link the fields of engineering, net zero objectives, and the information they gleaned from reading the news articles. Informal feedback from students on the climate change module has been positive. The author intends to continue developing this module and measure learning outcomes in future semesters.

Citation
Format

Malladi, H. (2023, July), GIFTS: Showcasing Interconnectedness of Engineering Disciplines in an Introductory Engineering Class through a Climate Change Module Paper presented at 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--44841

TY - CPAPER
AB - Introductory engineering courses taken by first-year undergraduate engineering students often include an overview of the different engineering disciplines. The learning objective is to help students understand the unique expertise of each major engineering field, and how they all use fundamental science principles and the basic engineering design framework. It is equally important for the students to recognize the similarities across the disciplines and real-world examples of work being done to tackle important global and societal challenges.
At the author’s institution, Introduction to Engineering is a 2-credit required course taken by all first-semester undergraduate students in the College of Engineering (COE). Most students in the course have declared an engineering major (12 different majors) but there are some students who are admitted to the College of Engineering without a major—they need to declare their major before the end of their first semester. The course also has a small number of students from other Colleges who may be considering switching to an engineering major. Showcasing the different engineering disciplines in this class is particularly important for the students who haven’t yet declared an engineering major. Typically, engineering department overviews are provided to the students in the form of weekly lectures from guest speakers from each COE department. While the weekly overviews provided information on the expertise of that discipline, there was a need for students to have the opportunity to reflect on the interconnectedness of engineering disciplines.
Sustainability and resilience are important goals in engineering. The theme of sustainability is an integral part of the National Academy of Engineering’s 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. Consideration of environmental factors in engineering design is a part of the student outcomes required by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for all engineering programs. Student feedback surveys have shown the author that students across all disciplines are interested in the topic of sustainability. Given that students across disciplines are interested in sustainability, the author recognized an opportunity to engage students with the important topic of climate change.
In Fall 2022, a climate change module was created to showcase how different engineering disciplines are contributing toward resilience, mitigation, and adaptation techniques. The module included a lecture on the basics of climate change—introducing the concepts of “Anthropocene”, greenhouse gases, and the Keeling curve. Students looked at the proposed plan for achieving net zero emissions described “Speed &amp;amp; Scale by John Doerr (2021) and identified the engineering disciplines involved in each of the plan’s objectives. A list of articles featuring news on climate change-related work from all major disciplines was compiled for the students to highlight recent real-world applications. At the end of the module, each student created a concept map to link the fields of engineering, net zero objectives, and the information they gleaned from reading the news articles. Informal feedback from students on the climate change module has been positive. The author intends to continue developing this module and measure learning outcomes in future semesters.
AU - Haritha Malladi
CY - University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
DA - 2023/07/30
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - GIFTS: Showcasing Interconnectedness of Engineering Disciplines in an Introductory Engineering Class through a Climate Change Module
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44841
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44841
ER -