Teaching Sustainability Topics to Attract and Inspire the Next Generation of Civil Engineers

Beiler, Michelle R. Oswald; Evans, Jeffrey

doi:10.1061/(asce)ei.1943-5541.0000204

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Huang et al [31] found that the mixing of visual, audio, and interactive activities also helps reach a wider audience and cover different learning styles. Beiler and Evans [5] suggested educators create engaging lessons to enhance trainees' attention and learning effectiveness. In a comparative study in France, researchers found that students using stereoscopic glasses for a learning module had fewer errors in a post‐lesson assessment and felt more immersed in the experience than the group using a traditional computer display [40].…”

Section: Background Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reality‐facilitated engineering education: A case study on sustainable systems knowledge

Han

Weeks

Leite

2023

Comp Applic In Engineering

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Sustainability research findings are imperative to reach a wide audience but are often hard to interpret for the general public because of their complex and interdisciplinary nature. Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging tool in education and research dissemination that can make information more accessible and engaging. This case study leveraged VR, gamification theory, and art design to develop an immersive experience that educates the general public with environmental engineering and sustainability knowledge. Through a series of informative and interactive games, this experience presented scientific findings while providing realism and entertainment throughout. This paper presents step‐by‐step guidelines for transferring engineering knowledge into a pedagogical VR experience, including human–computer interactions, storyboard development, data visualization, and gamification theory implementation. Participants provided positive feedback on the learning experience and stated that the experience sparked a curiosity to learn more about sustainability concepts. Improving opportunities for future development proposed during beta‐testing were also documented to guide future development. This case study contributes to the body of knowledge by validating the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating VR and gamification theory in engineering education. Practically, the proposed development procedure can be implemented in various engineering education contents and scenarios.

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Section: Background Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reality‐facilitated engineering education: A case study on sustainable systems knowledge

Han

Weeks

Leite

2023

Comp Applic In Engineering

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“…A strong leader learns how to help others to create sustainable business practices which meet the triple bottom line (Oswald Beiler and Evans 2015). Female students ranked helping others as more important to their career satisfaction expectations than did male students.…”

Section: Comparing Career Satisfaction Expectations By Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognizing Differences in Underrepresented Civil Engineering Students’ Career Satisfaction Expectations and College Experiences

et al. 2021

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Student career satisfaction expectations and college experiences are an underutilized map toward attracting and sustaining the interest of underrepresented groups (URGs) in the civil engineering and construction industry. URGs provide indispensable contributions to the development of the built environment; however, URGs in civil engineering have not received sufficient attention to their unique expectations and experiences. Furthermore, diversity and inclusion efforts still are special practices in civil engineering, and are far from a conventional factor of professional respectability. Leveraging a national survey data set of responses from senior level undergraduate engineering students (n ¼ 4,605), this study found measurable differences in career satisfaction expectations and college experiences between URGs and non-URGs in civil engineering. From the survey, 830 senior-level students majoring in civil engineering and construction related fields provided their career satisfaction expectations and undergraduate cocurricular experiences. Welch's t-test and Hedges' g were used to measure the significant differences in career satisfaction expectations between URGs and non-URGs. A frequency distribution was created and paired with chi-squared test for independence and Cramér's V to measure the difference in undergraduate participation in cocurricular activities between URGs and non-URGs. The results of this study showed URGs' career satisfaction expectations and cocurricular activities significantly differed from those of non-URGs. URG students reported more interest in helping others and in volunteering with charity groups in their careers. URG students also reported higher participation in cocurricular activities such as contributing as a member of an organization for women and/or minorities in engineering, acting as a member of an outreach club, and working a work-study or other type of job to pay for college. The findings presented in this paper highlight the need for the civil engineering profession to move beyond monolithic traditions, which can perpetuate exclusion.

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“…From this perspective, various curriculum integration efforts have been made in the past (Painter, 2003;Boks and Diehl, 2006;Kumar et al, 2006;Kalla and Brown, 2012;Prevost, 2013;Mintz et al, 2014;Schroer et al, 2015). Further, with the aim of integration, numerous teaching methods have been adopted in different curricula including civil engineering (CE), such as introducing new courses, mandatory courses, course modules, lectures (Kevern, 2011;Bielefeldt, 2013;Christ et al, 2014;Sisiopiku, 2015), problem and project-based learning (Jollands and Parthasarathy, 2013;Beiler and Evans, 2015;Guerra, 2017), incorporating sustainability into existing junior and freshman courses (Christ et al, 2014), in capstone projects (Christ et al, 2014), in teaching modules (Glendinning et al, 2013) and through role-playing games (McConville et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic curriculum integration of sustainable development using life cycle approaches

Roure

Anand

Bisaillon

et al. 2018

IJSHE

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a consistent and systematic integration framework of sustainable development (SD) in a civil engineering (CE) curriculum, given the connection between the two. Curriculum integration is a challenging project and requires the development of certain protocols to ensure success. Design/methodology/approach This paper thus proposes a framework for the systematic integration of SD through the lenses of life cycle approach and associated tools to attain effective curriculum integration. The proposed framework suggests the following five steps: mapping the curriculum, setting learning targets, developing an action plan for the assessed program, implementing the action plan and assessing the final performance. Findings This framework was applied to the CE curriculum at Sherbrooke University. To assess its success, a student satisfaction survey was conducted, and teachers’ feedback was obtained; the results showed 85 per cent positive responses. The authors show how this study allowed the CE curriculum to be properly updated and brought in line with today’s engineering profession requirements with regard to SD. Originality/value The integration focuses on the application of life cycle approaches and tools such as environmental life cycle assessment and life cycle costing on CE content. Additionally, the presented approach can be easily adapted to other engineering curriculums and, to a certain extent, to other non-engineering curriculums.

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Teaching Sustainability Topics to Attract and Inspire the Next Generation of Civil Engineers

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

Virtual reality‐facilitated engineering education: A case study on sustainable systems knowledge

Virtual reality‐facilitated engineering education: A case study on sustainable systems knowledge

Recognizing Differences in Underrepresented Civil Engineering Students’ Career Satisfaction Expectations and College Experiences

Systematic curriculum integration of sustainable development using life cycle approaches

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