Continuing Assessment of Sustainability Skills in the Environmental and Civil Engineering Curriculum

Abstract

Sustainability in engineering practice and design is increasingly important as an outcome for engineering education for Civil and Environmental Engineers. ABET criteria for both Environmental and Civil Engineering stress sustainability, and the development of curriculum components for these degree programs continues to evolve; efforts are directed at spreading sustainability across the curriculum either in a modular fashion or in directed course sequences specifically focused on sustainability. To evaluate curricular sustainability outcomes, we continue a longitudinal study to assess and address more successful curricular applications and teaching methods in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments. Currently, the senior-level course in Sustainability is required for Environmental Engineers and serves as an environmental elective for the majority of Civil Engineers. Environmental and Civil engineers at Florida Gulf Coast University share the same course template for the first two years. Performance in the senior level Sustainability in Engineering course varies even though the topics reflect all varieties of infrastructure including energy efficiency, construction, transportation and water and waste infrastructure as well as project planning, life cycle analyses and economic topics. Students in both disciplines achieve student learning outcomes at high taxonomic levels; however, a large cohort of Civil Engineers fall short in achieving learning outcomes at the highest levels. An analysis of course outcomes, particularly in the senior level Sustainability course and the senior capstone design course, presents the results of curricula redesign in regards to sustainability. Continuing the longitudinal study begun in 2015, there is an enhanced immersion of students in all the environmental courses with an emphasis on projectbased learning; civil students are exposed to sustainability in the required Fundamentals in Engineering with a majority of civil students also taking the stand alone Sustainability course.Survey results continue to demonstrate that a focus on sustainability in all environmental courses improves student knowledge and abilities in sustainability concepts. There are some weaker areas in certain concepts in both majors: Civil students score continue to score lower than Environmental students but show a significant improvement in overall knowledge from the previous year's survey. Recommendations based on assessment and survey results are recommended for improvement in environmental policy knowledge as well as environmental tools and technologies associated with sustainability. IntroductionFlorida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is the newest public regional university in Southwest Florida. As its mission, FGCU emphasizes "innovative, student-centered teaching and learning", "promotes and practices environmental sustainability", and promotes "habits of lifelong learning and the discovery of new knowledge." FGCU first admitted students in 2006, debuting with three majors leading towards...

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