This is a continuing series of quarterly articles on lessons learned and best practices in civil engineering education. The intent of the series is to reinforce good practices, describe new or developing practices, and provide a forum for what works well and what does not. It is hoped that this series will be an important quarterly read for all civil engineering educators and all those interested in what’s going on in civil engineering education today. Writers and topics will vary from issue to issue. Contact the Associate Editor, Mark Evans, at [email protected] if you wish to contribute to an upcoming issue. Improving Student Confidence through Metacognative Learning

This Forum article is a continuation of a regular series of columns on engineering ethics. The column has been generated, in part, by an interactive discussion on the Internet. The focus of the Ethics Case program is to present real situations taken from professional practice in order to stimulate greater attention to ethical issues, and to allow Internet Web site visitors the opportunity to avoid similar pitfalls in their own careers. In addition to providing an opportunity for individuals to read and respond to the case histories, it may also provide a convenient focus for informal brown bag discussions in firms and agencies. Those interested in this program are encouraged to visit the Web site at the following Internet address: http://www.engr.washington.edu/epp/Pepl/Ethics (Use of the capitalized letters as shown is important.) Results and discussion will also appear in the Forum section of the Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. A more detailed description of this program appeared in the January 1998 issue of this Journal.

This paper presents two educational experiences as examples of innovation in teaching structural analysis courses. At the University Jaume I de Castellon, Spain, an innovative way was developed to encourage students in the learning of structural analysis and design. The primary objective of the project is to enhance learning through the students’ experimental participation with real structures and computer simulation with commercial software programs. The first educational project combines the use of a plastic toy, called K’NEX, and the utilization of a well-known computer program for structural analysis, SAP2000. The second presents the use of small balsa-wood bars cut and mounted by the students. This paper presents an analysis of both experiences and evaluates the advantages from the engineering education point of view.

The Strategic Highway Research Program Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database provides considerable information about a large number of pavement test sections. The information may be easily accessed using DataPave 2.0 software, available free from the Federal Highway Administration. This software provides information on approximately 3,000 sections, with several modules for data analysis and extraction. This paper describes the integration of LTPP DataPave 2.0 software into a pavement design course. The database was used at several points throughout the course, including lessons on traffic characterization, materials, reliability, performance, and design. Twelve Texas pavement case studies were used. Each student was required to complete an individual project requiring the use of the database. Student projects and student evaluations of the use of the DataPave 2.0 software in this course are also discussed. This paper provides sufficient information for interested faculty to implement the use of DataPave 2.0 in their own courses in pavement design and related areas.

Engineers have traditionally focused on hard-skill knowledge acquisition, but the increasingly multicultural work practices of professional engineers now demand better soft-skill proficiency, such as foreign language ability, communication confidence, and cross-cultural experience. Students and staff within a university engineering department were surveyed to identify how cross-cultural language use potentially impacted academic and communication performance. The results indicate that engineering faculties may be concentrating on subject content at the expense of facilitating the development of soft skills. The findings suggest that students do experience problems with communication skills that may be exacerbated when studying in a second language. Lecturers need to become more energized to introduce innovative curriculum schemes, more proactive in developing challenging learning approaches, and more willing to integrate cross-cultural, language, and communication skills training into traditional engineering contexts. This case study has implications for any university engineering department where students are taught either partially or solely in a second language and where issues of communication and culture are recognized as impacting the professional development of engineers for the global workplace.

In this paper we discuss teaching fluid mechanics to civil and environmental engineering majors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Fluid mechanics is a key course in environmental engineering that ties together the physical aspects with chemical and biological aspects. We survey the historical development of the role of fluid mechanics in environmental engineering, discuss current needs and curriculum, and point out areas for potential improvements.

It is common to hear students in today’s engineering programs remark, “Theory is useless… . Please get past it and give practical instruction.” This complaint seems odd, given that these same students aspire to be the masters of technology in our complex twenty-first century culture. But the complaint is not new. Most engineering schools appeared in America in the mid-nineteenth century, directly in response to the growth of engineering science. But then, interestingly enough, it was the established engineer, not the student, who disdained theory. The self-styled nineteenth century engineer whose knowledge base was his experience tended to take a dim view of the university graduate and regarded theoretical education as “not being very practical.” In contrast to these two extremes, this paper argues that theory promotes understanding, and understanding enables engineers to develop the practical expression of judgment and intuition vital to the engineering profession.

A recent survey by ASCE showed a major need for rebuilding the critical components of the nation’s aging infrastructure, such as roads and water-supply systems. To accomplish this major task, in addition to knowledge of basic civil engineering principles and techniques, future civil engineers need to be aware of the effects of planning, design, and construction on our environment. Specifically, a course needs to be developed for educating future civil engineers on concepts and techniques of protecting our natural resources, and planning for sustainable development and construction in an environmentally friendly manner. Specific topics can include modules on water resources and recycling in construction. The focus should be on teaching applications of new environmentally friendly concepts and techniques through case histories and real-world problems. Continuous evaluation of course content and methods of presentation should be made. The course should instill environmental awareness in the students’ minds such that in the future, the environment is considered as much a part of any decision-making process in the practice of civil engineering, as are mathematics or the physical sciences.