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Teaching the BOK- Challenges for Faculty and Programs Abstract

In February 2007, the Second Edition of Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge (BOK) for the 21st Century was released for review by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The revised BOK uses an outcome-based approach and Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to define what should be taught to and learned by tomorrow’s civil engineers. The 26 outcomes – 16 technical and ten professional, collectively prescribe the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of an individual aspiring to enter the practice of civil engineering at the professional level in the 21st Century. Central to achieving the BOK is the university-level education and those who teach the BOK are critical to this education. The ten professional outcomes which include leadership, teamwork, communication, history and heritage, professional and ethical responsibility, and life-long learning, can present challenges to some programs since they fall outside the traditional teaching roles of faculty. Colleges and universities will need to adjust their programs to educate and train faculty to teach the BOK. The authors draw on their experience serving on ASCE’s Second Edition of the Body of Knowledge Committee, ASCE’s Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice Committee, and as the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the United States Military Academy. This paper discusses the non-traditional faculty model in the Department of Civil & Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy and how we’ve modified our program and educated our faculty to teach the BOK. Many of these modifications including faculty education and training programs can easily be adapted to colleges and universities across the country.

Introduction

For many decades in the United States, the reformation of civil engineering education has been discussed and debated. The American Society of Civil Engineers is leading the charge in reforming engineering education. First released in October 1998, ASCE’s Board of Directors passed a revised version of Policy Statement (PS) 465 in 2004 that states, “The ASCE supports the attainment of a Body of Knowledge for entry into the practice of civil engineering at the professional level.”1 The focus of the revised policy is knowledge centric. ASCE defines the Body of Knowledge (BOK) as “The knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to be a licensed professional engineer.”1

The first edition of the ASCE BOK (BOK-1) was published on January 12, 2004 and it listed 15 educational outcomes for civil engineers.2 These included 11 outcomes modeled after ABET Criterion 3 (a-k) outcomes3 and four outcomes specific to civil engineering. The levels of competence in BOK-1 recognition, understanding, and ability became problematic as the BOK was examined for assessment and mapping the outcomes into existing curriculum. The Levels of Achievement Committee was formed to address the levels of competence. The committee recommended using the six levels of cognitive development in Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as the levels of achievement (rather than levels of competence) in the BOK.4

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Hains, D., & Evans, M., & Ressler, S. (2007, June), Teaching The Bok ? Challenges For Faculty And Programs Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2607