National Geographic: understand civil engineering differently

Abstract

Undergraduate civil engineering students have access to a rich and diverse bank of textual and graphic knowledge concerning their chosen profession. However, over a number of decades, commentators have raised concerns that students have insufficient understanding of the role of civil engineering in society. Indeed, the call for universities to educate 'global engineers' emphasises the need for students to be schooled in the humanities, in parallel with their core computational studies. Unfortunately, engineering students in particular are not accustomed to regular exploratory reading. This paper considers the use of the National Geographic magazine as a means to ignite students' curiosity in the world around them. The results from a pilot study and a content analysis of a number of editions from over a decade show that this periodical regularly carries themes directly concerning the impact of civil engineering in society, be it political, financial, environmental, social or ecological.

Standing on ye shoulders of giants: promoting a social systems engineering education using ICE president addresses (1820–2014)

“…Additional curricular and co-curricular activities include a civil engineering book reading coursework and associated book club (UOS 2016). Other blended learning assessment requires students to consult the weekly New Civil Engineer (Murray and Tennant 2014) and the promotion of more general reading including the National Geographic magazine (Murray and Ross 2014).…”

Editorial

“…It is a subject that merits the critical appraisal and strategic thought that a book such as this provides. Building information modelling provides an illustration of the point made by Murray and Ross (2014). If the industry is to harness the potential of integrated design and delivery solutions, their development needs to be guided not by technocrats, but by people capable of understanding the value drivers, the implications for those employed in the industry, the many vested interests at play and the scale of the collaboration needed to make it all happen.…”