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Integrating Sustainability Grand Challenges and Experiential Learning into Engineering Curricula: Years 1 and 2

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Conference

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Seattle, Washington

Publication Date

June 14, 2015

Start Date

June 14, 2015

End Date

June 17, 2015

ISBN

978-0-692-50180-1

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

6

Page Numbers

26.8.1 - 26.8.6

DOI

10.18260/p.23341

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/23341

Download Count

513

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Paper Authors

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Claire Louise Antaya Dancz Arizona State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4359-8041

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Ph.D. Candidate in Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University

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Kevin J. Ketchman University of Pittsburgh

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Rebekah Burke P.E. Arizona State University

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Melissa M. Bilec University of Pittsburgh

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Elizabeth A Adams Chandler-Gilbert Community College

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Residential Engineering Faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

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brad allenby Arizona State University

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Mikhail Chester Arizona State University

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Vikas Khanna University of Pittsburgh

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Kristen Parrish Arizona State University

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Kristen Parrish is an Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University (ASU). Kristen’s work focuses on integrating energy efficiency measures into building design, construction, and operations processes. Specifically, she is interested in novel design processes that financially and technically facilitate energy-efficient buildings. Her work also explores how principles of lean manufacturing facilitate energy-efficiency in the commercial building industry. Another research interest of Kristen’s is engineering education, where she explores how project- and experience-based learning foster better understanding of engineering and management principles. Prior to joining ASU, Kristen was at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2009-11) and then a Scientific Engineering Associate (2011-2012) in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Department. She worked in the Commercial Buildings group, developing energy efficiency programs and researching technical and non-technical barriers to energy efficiency in the buildings industry. She has a background in collaborative design and integrated project delivery. She holds a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Civil Engineering Systems from University of California Berkeley.

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Thomas P Seager Arizona State University

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Dr. Seager is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering & the Built Environment at Arizona State University in Tempe AZ.

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Amy E. Landis Arizona State University

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Dr. Landis joined ASU in January 2012 as an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. She began her career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, after having obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Illinois at Chicago under the supervision of Dr. Thomas L. Theis. She has developed a research program in sustainable engineering of bioproducts. Her research ranges from design of systems based on industrial ecology and byproduct synergies, life cycle and sustainability assessments of biopolymers and biofuels, and design and analysis of sustainable solutions for healthcare. Since 2007, she has lead seven federal research projects and collaborated on many more, totaling over $7M in research, with over $12M in collaborative research. At ASU, Dr. Landis continues to grow her research activities and collaborations to include multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable systems with over 60 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Landis is dedicated to sustainability engineering education and outreach; she works with local high schools, after school programs, local nonprofit organizations, and museums to integrate sustainability and engineering into K-12 and undergraduate curricula.

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Abstract

Integrating Sustainability Grand Challenges and Experiential Learning into Engineering Curricula: Years 1 and 2Complex global challenges require multidisciplinary, sustainable solutions; the next generationof engineering students must be prepared to apply sustainability concepts to solve thesechallenges. Many undergraduate engineering students, however, report that they do not feelprepared to address these challenges because they were not introduced to these concepts duringtheir engineering education. In addition, students report educational deficiencies of real worldexperiences and applied sustainability concepts as areas that need critical improvement in theireducation. This TUES 2 project evaluates two methods for integrating grand challenges andsustainability into engineering curricula, termed as the stand-alone course method, and themodule method. In the stand-alone course method, engineering programs establish one to twodistinct courses that are designed to address sustainability grand challenges in depth. In themodule method, engineering programs integrate sustainability grand challenges throughout a hostof existing courses and weave student exposure throughout the curriculum. We are implementingand monitoring these two strategies in five different engineering programs, from Research-1Universities to community colleges; the collaborating institutions include the XXX, XXX(located in X), XXX, XXX (located in X), and XXX (located in X). This poster summarizes theprogress and accomplishments during years one and two of this collaborative research project.We review the development of ready-made, stand-alone sustainability courses and ready-madesustainability themed modules that employ experiential learning that have been developed overthe past two years, including the packaging of three courses and fourteen modules on topics fromgreen building to life cycle assessment to applied sustainability topics for engineers. In addition,we present the dialogues and critical collaborations that have lead to successful first two years inestablishing a stable network to explore both the stand-alone and module methods. Ultimately,through this TUES 2 research project, we aim to develop succinct recommendations regardingbest practices for universities integrating sustainability and systems thinking into engineeringcurricula.

Dancz, C. L. A., & Ketchman, K. J., & Burke, R., & Bilec, M. M., & Adams, E. A., & allenby, B., & Chester, M., & Khanna, V., & Parrish, K., & Seager, T. P., & Landis, A. E. (2015, June), Integrating Sustainability Grand Challenges and Experiential Learning into Engineering Curricula: Years 1 and 2 Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.23341

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