Developing and Teaching a Course in “Applied Sustainability and Public Health in Civil Engineering Design” at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 136, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper presents the writer’s pedagogical development and delivery of a new undergraduate course in applied sustainability and public health in civil engineering design in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. This innovative course introduces undergraduate civil engineering students to methods in sustainability indicators, life-cycle analysis, environmental input-output analysis, and risk analysis to evaluate the environmental impacts and public health impacts of civil engineering design. The paper discusses the learning objectives and course themes of preventive design, multicriteria decision making, and systems-level analysis. The course syllabus and the design project in which students were asked to design a water transmission pipeline and evaluate its environmental impacts are discussed in detail. An overview of the pedagogical methods and student evaluation tools employed in the course is given. An evaluation of learning outcomes and student impressions of the course suggest that topics on design for environment, sustainable development in an international context, and the interface between sustainability, engineering, and policy development should be included in future editions of the course.
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Acknowledgments
The writer thanks Ms. Cathy Wagar for providing information and data on the academic requirements of the Civil Engineering program at Queen’s University. The writer also thanks the Queen’s Civil Engineering Classes of 2009 and 2010 for their feedback and insights on how to improve the course “CIVL 380—Applied Sustainability and Public Health in Civil Engineering Design.”
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 136 • Issue 4 • October 2010
Pages: 197 - 205
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 7, 2009
Accepted: Feb 3, 2010
Published online: Feb 8, 2010
Published in print: Oct 2010
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