The Role of Disasters and Infrastructure Failures in Engineering Education with Analysis through Machine Learning
Publication: Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 150, Issue 4
Abstract
Engineering programs must produce graduates who are able to consider multicriteria decisions including ethical implications during engineering practice. Teaching students in a meaningful manner to consider these multifaceted decisions was investigated through the usage of disasters and primary coverage of infrastructure disasters. Students provided reflections as part of the course, which were then analyzed using a topics discovery latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model. Our analysis of the students’ reflections on engineering disasters reveals six major themes touched on by students: engineering, ethics, community, monetary, case scenarios on engineering failures, and change. The analysis shows the multifaceted ethical reasoning students developed as a result of discussions on engineering failures and their implications. Ultimately, this teaching framework can guide engineering class design that embraces real-life failures as avenues of education.
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Data Availability Statement
The data generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available for legal and ethical reasons but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The slides and links to the video clips used in the course discussed are available upon request as a resource for other instructors.
Acknowledgments
The authors would first and foremost like to thank the students in CEE 494, whose reflections provide the basis for this work. Second, A. Hicks would like to thank the Nosbusch Professorship from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 150 • Issue 4 • October 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 10, 2023
Accepted: Apr 19, 2024
Published online: Jul 8, 2024
Published in print: Oct 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 8, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Computer programming
- Computing in civil engineering
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Education
- Engineering education
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering profession
- Ethics
- Failure analysis
- Infrastructure
- Man-made disasters
- Practice and Profession
- Professional practice
- Students
Authors
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