Teaching sustainability and sustainable engineering practice in the civil engineering curriculum

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to (1) present the approach used to integrate sustainability content into the civil engineering curriculum at the University of -, (2) assess the effectiveness of the approach, and (3) provide general recommendations to improve the integration of sustainability into the civil engineering curriculum. The approach being implemented at the University of - involves brief references to sustainability at the lower levels, targeted modules in junior and senior level courses, and dedicated project-based electives at the senior and introductory graduate level. A sustainability knowledge survey was administered to students at the sophomore, senior, and Masters levels to determine their relative knowledge of terminology, concepts, and practice as it relates to sustainability and civil engineering. The results were analyzed to determine the relative knowledge and depth of understanding of sustainability at the three levels that have been exposed to different levels of sustainability content in the civil engineering curriculum. The results are also synthesized with analysis of student recognition of sustainability in course assignments and previous results assessing effectiveness of a course dedicated to teaching sustainable design. Overall the results showed an increase in sustainability knowledge as the students progressed through the curriculum from the sophomore to senior years. By the end of the curriculum more than 90% of the students surveyed could define sustainability, had heard of LEED® and could list an example of sustainable design in civil engineering practice. But less than 30% could identify a specific example of sustainable design instruction and less than 10% could identify specific elements of sustainable design practice such as LEED® Credit Categories. Overall, the assessment indicated the need to provide more in-depth coverage of sustainability concepts and design in the form of dedicated courses in addition to the continuous coverage in the form of lessons and modules in existing courses. In addition, a need to expose civil engineering students to greater multi-disciplinary courses in sustainability and sustainable design at the lower and upper levels is noted. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2010.