Using Community-Based Projects in Civil Engineering Capstone Courses
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 128, Issue 1
Abstract
The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology has been and still is encouraging different ways of integrating design content of individual courses for students to get a meaningful design experience. In response to this emphasis on design integration, a capstone course was instituted 10 years ago in the Civil Engineering and Construction Department of North Dakota State University. This course has successfully evolved over the years. Initially, artificial projects were constructed for the course. Recently, real-life projects for the course are carefully selected from the community. Faculty members expend considerable time in seeking suitable community-based projects for the course. In this setting, students have plenty of opportunity to interact with clients and present their results to the community. The use of community-based projects in the capstone course is discussed in this paper. Overall, students and faculty are satisfied with the experience.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), Inc. (1985). 49th annual report, Engineering Accreditation Commission, Baltimore, Md.
Andersen, D. A.(1992). “Civil engineering capstone design course.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 118(3), 279–283.
Dutson, A. J., Todd, R. H., Magleby, S. P., and Sorensen, C. D.(1997). “A review of literature on teaching engineering design through project-oriented capstone courses.” J. Eng. Educ., 86(1), 17–28.
Ehrlich, T. (1996). “Foreword.” Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and practices, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Padmanabhan, G., Bengtson, M., and Andersen, D. A. (1996). “Evolution of a civil engineering capstone design course.” Proc., 58th Annual ASEE North Midwest Section Meeting, North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, N.D., I.B-4.1-4.7.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 128 • Issue 1 • January 2002
Pages: 12 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 16, 2000
Accepted: Feb 12, 2001
Published online: Jan 1, 2002
Published in print: Jan 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.