Sustainability Education: Approaches for Incorporating Sustainability into the Undergraduate Curriculum
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 137, Issue 2
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to describe two approaches to incorporating sustainability into the undergraduate engineering curricula and to list a variety of existing course resources that can easily be adopted or adapted by science and engineering faculty for this purpose. The two approaches described are (1) redesigning existing courses through development of new curricular materials that still meet the objectives of the original course and (2) developing upper division elective courses that address specific topics related to sustainability, such as manufacturing or life-cycle assessment, in depth. Case studies of three courses—Green Industrial Organic Chemistry, Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing (Kettering University), and Sustainable Engineering (University of Oklahoma)—are presented. Assessment results from Green Industrial Organic Chemistry indicate that alternative curricular materials incorporating green chemistry can be used to meet the learning objectives of more traditional courses in organic chemistry, which are already required for many engineering majors. Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing assessment data indicate that students increased their knowledge and application of industrial ecology topics as a result of taking the course. Preliminary assessment data from Sustainable Engineering indicate that students applied concepts of global resource reserves, sustainable growth and development, design for environment, and life-cycle assessment in their course work or employment approximately 1 year after finishing the course.
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Acknowledgments
Green Industrial Organic Chemistry was funded by the Michigan DEQ RETAP Internship Program, Environment and Science Division, and all course materials are available for dissemination. Environmentally Conscious Design was based on the work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF0511322. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 137 • Issue 2 • April 2011
Pages: 102 - 106
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 15, 2010
Accepted: Aug 27, 2010
Published online: Mar 15, 2011
Published in print: Apr 1, 2011
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