Journal of Civil Engineering Education

Abstract

When the ethical responsibilities of engineers are discussed in classrooms, the focus is usually on microethics, which concentrates on individual decision-making, rather than macroethics, that addresses broad societal concerns. Pandemics (e.g., COVID-19) and natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, derechos) have presented unique opportunities to observe engineering macroethical responsibilities, because unjust social, economic, and environmental systems have been brought to the forefront amidst the responses (e.g., inequitable transportation access). In this paper, we consider pandemics and natural disasters through the lens of engineering macroethics, aiming to understand students’ perceptions about the macroethical responsibilities of engineers. In the fall of 2020, we deployed a survey to undergraduate engineering students at two universities ($\mathrm{n}=424$). Students were asked to discuss what they perceived to be the role of engineering professionals in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. We used a qualitative content analysis to explore the macroethical responsibilities mentioned in students’ responses. Many of these responses include considerations of infrastructure resilience, resource distribution, and community equity. Logit models were used to identify which sociodemographic factors were associated with responses that included macroethical responsibilities, revealing engineering major (specifically, civil engineering), employment status, gender identity, and family size, among others as significant factors. The implications from this study include recommendations on curricular content, and identifying which student sociodemographic groups would especially benefit from macroethical content in coursework.

Practical Applications

Teaching through crisis contexts (i.e., pandemics and natural disasters) can be an impactful approach to ethics lessons in undergraduate engineering classrooms. These lessons demonstrate that unjust social, economic, and environmental systems are brought to the forefront amidst crisis responses (e.g., inequitable transportation access). We can use the findings from this study to improve teaching methods for engineering ethics. The analysis demonstrates that students may benefit from being exposed to real-world problems that leverage their lived experiences. Instructors can facilitate this learning by incorporating current and relatable social issues into engineering lessons. While the traditional approach is to teach historical case studies that include atypical, unrelatable events (e.g., the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster), a focus on current events may help students to better understand and explore the societal context in which decisions must be made. Classroom lessons could include discussion between students applying their lived experiences to understand the values of engineering ethics. Overall, these changes can foster a more inclusive learning environment and encourage ethical development amongst engineering students.

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented disruptions in models for engineering student training. At The Citadel, an undergraduate-focused college in the Southeastern United States, a variety of modalities were implemented following the onset of the pandemic, including emergency online and Hyflex learning. We conducted a longitudinal study to analyze the cognitive load among our undergraduate engineering students throughout changing modalities. Using data from the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) and open-ended reflections on student challenges, we found that total workload (a surrogate for cognitive load) was generally highest during emergency online learning in the second half of Spring 2020 semester, with experiences possibly varying across different demographic and academic groups. Emergency online challenges were often related to time management, personal organization, and responsibility for learning. In contrast, HyFlex challenges were often related to technology and communication challenges. While emergency online learning was a cognitive load disruption, that disruption was often associated with personal and/or academic development. HyFlex learning mediated cognitive load disruption; although, student challenges may have been simple nuisances rather than mediators of developmental change.

Abstract

Parametric optimization techniques allow building designers to pursue multiple performance objectives, which can benefit the overall design. However, the strategies used by architecture and engineering graduate students when working with optimization tools are unclear, and ineffective computational design procedures may limit their success as future designers. In response, this research identifies several designerly behaviors of graduate students when responding to a conceptual building design optimization task. It uses eye-tracking, screen recording, and empirical methods to code their behaviors following the situated function-behaviour-structure (FBS) framework. From these data streams, three different types of design iterations emerge: one by the designer alone, one by the optimizer alone, and one by the designer incorporating feedback from the optimizer. Based on the timing and frequency of these loops, student participants were characterized as completing partial, crude, or complete optimization cycles while developing their designs. This organization of optimization techniques establishes reoccurring strategies employed by developing designers, which can encourage future pedagogical approaches that empower students to incorporate complete optimization cycles while improving their designs. It can also be used in future research studies to establish clear links between types of design optimization behavior and design quality.

Practical Applications

Increasingly, building designers use digital, optimization tools to explore and improve designs. This research identifies and categorizes several distinct design behaviors when using optimization tools that have not been previously recognized. Applying these categories to describe graduate student designer behavior allows educators to find opportunities for improving design education. While there is no set standard for how optimization tools should be used, different strategies range in the potential they create for simulation feedback to improve the design. Although all study participants were able to implement an optimization feature, they did not all fully integrate the feedback into their design decisions. From this research we observe that it is not enough to explain algorithms and show a student how to run an optimization tool, but these tools must be taught in the context of robust design approaches. Educators wishing to identify their students’ design strategies can use the methods and language established in this paper to assess student comprehension of optimization techniques. Future work can apply the behaviors that investigate other dimensions of optimization in design, such as design quality and comparing categories of designers.

Abstract

The American Society of Civil Engineer’s Body of Knowledge versions 2 and 3 (BOK2 and BOK3) explicitly describe the knowledge expected in each category (outcome) of those entering the civil engineering profession. The goal of this study was to determine the extent that the BOK2 and BOK3 outcomes align with undergraduate civil engineering program content. Data were gathered from a representative sample of civil engineering program curriculums in the 2017–2018 academic year and mapped to the BOK2 and BOK3 outcomes using three different methods. The results reveal the average civil engineering program has dedicated, required courses that cover 67% of the BOK2 and 69% of the BOK3 outcomes. When including elective and survey courses that cover multiple outcomes, coverage increased to 95% of the BOK2 outcomes and 91% of the BOK3 outcomes. About 31% of the programs met all of the BOK2 outcomes and 6% met the BOK3 outcomes. Civil engineering programs offer courses that cover the majority of the BOK2 and BOK3 outcomes, but because of the flexibility in curriculums, some programs cover as few as 75% of the outcomes. Outcomes that were most often not met include mathematics (numerical methods), sustainability, business and public administration, globalization, and engineering economics.

Practical Applications

As undergraduate programs continue to evolve, undergraduate program administrators should consider mapping their required and elective course offerings to the BOK3 outcomes. Based on the results of this study, most programs cover the majority of the outcomes, but still have gaps in coverage. A comparison of BOK3 outcomes using Method 2 and Method 3 in this study would help identify program content that may be missing and overlooked in undergraduate programs.

This study presents a between- and within-subjects quasi-experiment that investigated the impact of interactive holographic scenes (virtual environment) on learning sensing technologies such as laser scanners, drones, radiofrequency identification devices, and inertial measurement units. To achieve this, the study assessed students’ semester project grades, survey ratings, and spatial reasoning tests in two study groups to investigate the effects of the virtual environment on students’ learning outcomes. The study further assessed the impacts of individual differences in spatial reasoning abilities on learning with the environment. The findings revealed the effectiveness of the virtual environment for learning sensing technologies via higher positive ratings on the postsurvey (57%), a higher number of perfect scores on the semester project (43%), and higher perceived learning gains (71%) for the experimental group. However, higher but not statistically significant evidence that the virtual learning environment might be better than traditional learning methods was highlighted. Qualitative feedback from the students indicated that the virtual learning environment was fun, exciting, and informative. Students noted the need for more interactions with the learning environment during the semester. The study found no relationship between students’ spatial abilities and learning outcomes. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the potentials of virtual environments for hands-on experiences in construction education.

There is a growing need for engineers to be effective communicators, yet professional skills often are underdeveloped by college-level engineering curricula and undervalued by engineering students. To improve communication skills, we integrated a technical communication block of instruction into a civil engineering (CE) computer applications course. Applying strategies from self-regulated learning theory, we used self-assessments to measure effectiveness of the instruction. Specifically, we used a pre-course and multiple post-assignment knowledge surveys (KS) that comprised competency statements aligned with the learning outcomes for each assignment. We also reviewed scores students received on their technical writing assignment submissions. Then we compared students’ KS assessments against instructor scores on each of the five writing assignments. Overall, the technical communication was deemed to be effective, as demonstrated by improved student technical writing competencies, including creating more-audience-centered, -accessible, and -usable deliverables. Results from KS demonstrated that self-assessments became better aligned with instructor’s grades, indicating that students improved their ability to self-assess their own capabilities. This study reinforces the benefit of integrating technical communication instruction, even on a small scale, and highlights the usefulness of KS for self-assessment and learning. Recommendations for integrating peer review, in terms of both frequency and type, also are discussed.