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Built environment students graduate with good technical skills but often lack the rudiments of management and leadership skills. Other challenges they face, among others, include interpersonal skills, emotional skills, self-awareness and impulse control. This article presents a case study assessing the emotional intelligence (EI) attributes of built environment students. EI questionnaires (Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i)) were distributed to fourth-year undergraduates studying construction-related courses at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. A total of 182 questionnaires were completed and retrieved from the fourth-year students. Analytical tools included descriptive statistics, mean score ranking, regression and correlation. Construction technology management students had the highest EI value, followed by civil engineering students, quantity surveying and construction economics students and lastly architecture students. There was no significant difference in the overall EQ-i scores of the students. Furthermore, there is insignificant correlation between the built environment programmes and the EI level of the students. The results illustrate that the EI level of the students is not statistically dependent on the programmes undertaken. From regression analysis, age is a significant predictor of EI. This study presents a methodology for assessing the EI levels of built environment students in developing countries and adds to the body of knowledge. The work concludes with directions for future research.

This study explored if it is possible for liberal arts students to develop engineering professional competencies without detailed engagement with the engineering sciences. Students on a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programme were compared with their undergraduate peers in Civil Engineering. A new method for evaluating such competencies was developed. Two one-hour individual problem-solving exercises were devised to assess capabilities against 14 criteria, based on the Institution of Civil Engineers' "Competency framework for professional development" (2011 The BASc cohort's scores for each criterion improved notably from the start of term to the end. This cohort rated their capabilities more highly at the end of term and was more satisfied with the answers they gave. Engineering students showed a slight decline in performance against the criteria. Self-evaluation in this group revealed a smaller increase in perceived capability but increased dissatisfaction. Both cohorts felt more anxious about the assignment at the end of the term. PBL environments can improve student competence in attributes associated with professional engineering. The scope of the study is constrained by the small cohort but the findings and evaluation method provide the basis for further development, including detailed statistical evaluation and validation of the evaluation instrument.

The aim of this study was to understand how students' attitudes were connected to the web based software Socrative. The study was conducted with 50 students taking first year physics courses in a university. The survey dimensions were based on four previous research works and the survey instrument was extended to better reflect the current study needs. Quantitative results showed that there was no difference between attitudes of male and female students. Moreover results indicated that students in the civil engineering major had significantly more positive attitudes than molecular biology and genetic major students. For the results of the qualitative question students generally mentioned the practical use, time saving, immediate feedback and enabling many question types as the advantages of Socrative. Based on these results, it can be noted that Socrative serves an important role in student engagement and attitudes toward physics.

Environmental awareness and ethical moral reasoning are important aspects of the engineering profession. Yet, engineering programmes have been struggling to teach these topics and measure the effectiveness of these educational interventions. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of two independent measures of environmental awareness and moral reasoning. We conducted pre-and post-test in two groups (experimental and control). Our sample was 84 students in the control group and 152 students in the experimental group. Data were collected with a survey. Results suggest the instruments were effective in measuring changes in scores, although they presented some limitations. Based on our results, we discuss implications for education practice and policy.

This article provides a case study of student experiences working as part of an interdisciplinary research team. A team of graduate-level students from social work, civil engineering, and computer science collaborated on the design of a mobile device application that captures data regarding how transportation disadvantage affects the lived experiences of community-dwelling older adults and single parents experiencing homelessness with dependent children. An online survey (N=5) was used to assess student experiences on the team. Findings from this case study have important implications for engaging students in interdisciplinary applied research, including challenging them to expand their knowledge base beyond the traditional confines of their disciplines, encouraging critical and creative thinking skills, and harnessing technology for the greater social good.

Background: Computer-aided learning management systems (LMSs) are widely used in higher education and are viewed as beneficial when transitioning from conventional face-to-face teaching to fully online courses. While LMSs have unique tools for transferring and assessing knowledge, their ability to engage and assess learners needs further investigation. This paper focuses on a study examining the LMS "Moodle" to ascertain the effectiveness of "Moodle quizzes" to improve, assess and distinguish knowledge in a civil engineering course at an Australian university. The course has a database comprising 62 formative and 61 summative quiz questions with embedded text, images, audio and video. This study investigates the use of these quiz questions with four course cohorts and 169 students. The quizzes assessed competencies of students during various stages of a study period through automated marking. The suitability of questions to assess and distinguish student knowledge levels was determined using a psychometric analysis based on facility index (FI) and the discrimination index (DI) statistics embedded within the Moodle quizzes. Results: This study highlights strategies used to set and review quiz questions for formative and summative assessments. Results indicated that students were engaged and satisfied in the formative assessment because they viewed the interactive videos between 2 and 6 times and 65% of students attempted all the formative questions. The FI indicated student pass rate for the summative questions and DI indicated the difficulty of these questions, while the combination of FI and DI results separated students with different knowledge levels. Using these Moodle statistics provided information to make effective decisions on how to improve the summative quizzes. Conclusion: The multimodal quizzes were effective in teaching and assessing a theoretical engineering course and provided efficient methods to replace conventional assessments. The FI and DI indexes are useful statistical tools in redesigning appropriate sets of questions. Time-poor academics will benefit from using these easily attainable Moodle statistics to inform decisions while revising the quizzes and making assessments more autonomous.

Collaboration is recognised as valuable in enhancing students' learning as well as their social integration and sense of belonging at an institution, which lead to higher retention rates. We investigate the informal, self-organised collaborative practices of military and civilian engineering students in out-of-class settings using a mixed-methods approach including a weekly survey and in-depth interviews. We find that these students collaborate frequently and pervasively and have developed informal codes of ethics around sharing. Most of the students believe that collaboration with peers is the most effective form of study support. However, we also find that some students may remain isolated. The aspects of the institution and the engineering programme that support these collaborative processes are identified. These aspects include the concurrent military training, which fosters a collaborative rather than competitive or individualistic culture, residential accommodation, and the type of assessment used in engineering. Implications for non-military campuses are discussed.

Background: Conceptual understanding is critical to both engineering education and practice. In fact, many undergraduate courses focus on developing students' knowledge and understanding of core engineering concepts. At the same time, a growing body of literature points to substantial gaps across educational and professional practice contexts, including how problems are embodied and solved. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore potential differences in conceptual understanding across engineering students and professional engineers. To do so, we compared the responses of civil engineering practitioners to the Statics Concept Inventory (SCI) to those of engineering students enrolled in statics courses. Design/Method: We administered the SCI to 95 practicing civil engineers and compared their responses to an existing dataset from 1,372 engineering students. We conducted three comparisons: overall SCI score, concept subscores, and item-by-item. Results: Students generally outperformed engineers on the SCI in terms of overall performance. However, on closer inspection, students' superior performance appears to be driven by differences in knowledge or understanding of specific statics concepts rather than a stronger understanding in general. Conclusions: We caution against interpretations that imply students have a better understanding of statics concepts. Instead, our results suggest that differences in the way concepts are situated and applied across school and workplace contexts might account for the differences in the performance observed. These findings raise critical questions regarding the nature of concepts and the immutability of common academic representations, and point to the need for further qualitative and exploratory work investigating concepts in practice.

Projects in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry are known for cost and time pressures that cause stress, which brings excessive workload to employees. As candidate professionals, civil engineering (CE) students often worry about the balance between work and life due to the adverse reputation of the industry in this regard. This study aimed to assess the work-life balance (WLB) perceptions of CE students and how their perceptions differ based on their demographic characteristics. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was administered in three civil engineering programs in Turkey and the US, and a total of 357 responses were collected. The results showed that statistically significant perception differences were observed in eight of the 12 questions related to WLB concepts with respect to country--more than the differences observed for any other classification of the students, such as gender or internship experience. The findings of this research highlight possible root causes of the issues by establishing clear baselines for the work and family life satisfaction-level perceptions of possible future industry professionals, thereby helping the industry identify strategies for attracting more qualified students as future employees.

Robin Moore and Nilda Cosco view the Montessori approach to the prepared environment as overlapping their understanding of the naturalization of school grounds. As they present the possibilities for a naturalized setting to overcome sedentary lifestyles and maximize learning in the outdoors, they establish necessary components for success: professional design, careful attention to surface drainage, thoughtful use of a hierarchy of pathways, variety in elevation, transitional shelters and terraces, moveable parts, restoration of wild places, inclusion of fruit-bearing species, and, above all, establishing a sense of place. [Reprinted from "The NAMTA Journal" 32,1 (2007, Winter): 129-151. This article is based on a talk given at the NAMTA conference titled "Montessori Awareness: Opening the Doors to Perception," St. Louis, MO, October 12-15, 2006.]

This study investigated acquired and required competencies in interactive computer technology (ICT) in labour data were collected from employers' and employees'. The study is a descriptive research of the survey type. The population of the study consisted of unemployed graduates, employed graduates and various parastatal where graduates seek for employment in Ondo state. The study sample consisted of fifty employed graduates randomly selected from different parts in Ondo state, one hundred unemployed graduates randomly selected from different parts of Ondo state and fifty employers of 6 six respondents each from the Banking Sector, Radio Station, Power Holding Company Sector, Local Government Sector, Hospital, Teaching Service Commission Sector, Construction Companies Sector, Police Force and Road Safety were randomly selected for the study. A self developed questionnaire was used to gather information for this study. Six research questions were raised for the study and analyzed using frequency percentage count and simple percentage. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made.

Civil engineering and construction (CEC) are among primary higher education programs preparing the next generation of subject experts and decision makers working on different aspects of infrastructure resilience, which is a key component of community resilience. However, in the curriculum of most CEC programs, there is no well-established approach for the formal education of students about resilience. Additionally, the evolving nature of the subject makes it even more challenging to develop a comprehensive knowledge foundation for CEC students regarding infrastructure and community resilience. In this situation, the perception of students becomes a critical factor shaping a program, dealing with resilience in the future. The main objective of this study is to examine the perception of CEC students toward community resilience with a primary focus on infrastructure. A quantitative research method was employed to identify challenges, potentials, importance, and gaps in students' knowledge and quantify the comparisons. A survey was designed based on the DeVellis model and completed by 382 students enrolled in CEC programs in 15 universities across the US to assess how students perceive basic terms and factors related to resilience. Both descriptive and inferential methods were used to analyze the data. The results highlight a gap in students' perceptions in terms of resilience definition, factors, scope, and tools, and the potential for better training programs and more engagement is warranted. The findings of this study can be utilized to design, develop, and implement modules to better educate CEC students about the subject matter. Improving the resilience knowledge level among CEC students will equip the next generation of subject experts and decision makers with proper knowledge and tools to enhance preparedness and planning, along with proactive response and recovery before, during, and after adverse natural events. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an assessment on a sample group in the area of resilience within civil engineering curricula and emphasizing the necessity of embracing educational components by corresponding educators and administrators.

The Montana State University student chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA is a student-managed partnership with the people of Khwisero, Kenya. The primary mission, to bring potable water and clean sanitation facilities to 61 primary schools and the surrounding communities of Khwisero, necessitates a long-term commitment to collaboration and cultural exchange. Engineers Without Borders has helped transform views regarding engaged scholarship at Montana State University. Students and faculty members are collectively advancing interdisciplinary, service-learning, and global action initiatives across the campus. This article describes the growth, organizational principles, and goals of Engineers Without Borders at Montana State University. (Contains 2 figures.)

The sustainable development of an economy and a society cannot be realized without the help of modern geoscience. Engineering geology knowledge is necessary on a civil engineering construction site to ensure the construction work goes smoothly. This paper first discusses the importance of geoscience, especially the study of engineering geology. Then, the current Chinese engineering geology course for civil engineering students is summarized. The engineering geology course at Shijiazhuang Tiedao University is described in detail, including its history, its content, and some teaching tactics for the course. The paper closes with an evaluation of the effects of the teaching tactics.

This study suggests that community service learning experiences facilitate the reconstruction of civil engineering student beliefs about both the type of work performed by civil engineers and the broad impact of civil engineering knowledge. Further, the service learning experiences highlight for students 1) the importance of relationships between people, 2) the value of variations in perspective, and 3) the responsibilities of civil engineers in society as holders of expert knowledge. Meta-cognitive and self-regulated learning activities may be the mechanisms by which student beliefs evolve during service learning. Therefore, the quality of community service learning experiences may be enhanced by increasing the opportunities for students to articulate and organize their knowledge, critique their perspectives, compare and contrast their understanding with the understanding of others, and engaged in activities requiring knowledge integration.

This paper describes the creation and evolution of an undergraduate dynamics and vibrations course for civil engineering students. Incorporating vibrations into the course allows students to see and study "real" civil engineering applications of the course content. This connection of academic principles to real life situations is in itself a critical learning stage for the students, and addressing the creation of these connections led to the incorporation of active demonstrations into the course. The course also focuses on developing skills through various active learning strategies that can be transferred to other non-structural engineering courses, such as problem solving and critical thinking, as well as ABET skills such as teamwork and the utilization of computer tools. This paper presents how designing a course structure and implementation with the explicit consideration of developing these critical skills aids students in mastering both course content and in enhancing their educational development. Results of increased student performance due to the synthesis of strategies incorporated into the course are presented, including performance in a later course as well as in the dynamics portion of the Fundamentals of Engineering exam.

The engineering profession is very sensitive to the new changes in the engineering job market demand. The engineering job market is changing in a much faster rate than the engineering/engineering technology education. A 13-year study will be presented. The study focuses on the factors affecting the survival rate, student academic performance, initial salary, and the waiting period before getting the first job after graduation. Techniques and procedures to enhance creative environment in the civil engineering technology program will be discussed. Reforming math and science courses in the engineering technology curriculum became a necessity to help engineering technology graduates survive with the new challenges in their careers. North Carolina statewide completion study for the civil engineering technology program will be presented. The study shows the survival rate of the students in the engineering technology program. Several factors affecting the survival rate in the engineering technology program will be discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

The current study examined differential effects of two pre-modification types, syntactic elaboration and syntactic simplification (at the level of syntax and irrespective of problematic lexis), on EST students' reading comprehension. The purpose was to see whether a priori syntactic elaborative adjustment, given its advantages over simplification, can augment comprehensibility of scientific texts in order to replace simplification adjustment. To carry out the study, three versions of 5 passages including Baseline, syntactically simplified, and syntactically elaborated were provided. All the five passages were relevant to civil engineering and they were modified using two above-mentioned techniques. The subjects of the study were composed of 185 homogenous civil engineering students who participated in different phases. The results revealed that syntactic simplification and syntactic elaboration procedures operated nearly in the same way in orienting the EST texts toward comprehensibility. The results of the study even indicated that students benefited more from elaborated than simplified texts although it was not statistically significant. Therefore, the study supports the view that syntactic elaborative adjustment can be exercised in advance on EST materials for pedagogical purposes since it increases the reading comprehension at the same time keeps unfamiliar syntactic units intact to be learned by EST readers.

As America emerges from recession, certain industries are expected to grow particularly fast and will present many job opportunities for both young people and career changers. This article looks at these high-opportunity industries and the kinds of jobs they are expected to open up. In the global economy of the 21st century, many low-skill jobs can be done either by computers or by workers in low-wage countries. The American industries that remain competitive will be those that focus on what the nation does better than most other countries; creativity and innovation. But these do not happen by accident. They rest on three pillars: a highly educated workforce, a healthy workforce, and an outstanding infrastructure. All three of these pillars have been threatened over the last few decades, but the government has targeted them all for renewal, and each is associated with industries that will provide many jobs in the coming decade.

This paper presents a brief overview of the changes made during our department level reform (DLR) process (Grant Title: "A Systems Approach for Civil and Environmental Engineering Education: Integrating Systems Thinking, Inquiry-Based Learning and Catamount Community Service-Learning Projects") and some of the effects of these changes on our students and ourselves. The overall goal of the reform has been to have students learn and apply a systems approach to engineering problem solving such that when they become practicing engineers they will develop more sustainable engineering solutions. We have integrated systems thinking into our programs in the following ways; 1) new material has been included in key courses (e.g., the first-year introductory and senior design courses), 2) a sequence of three related environmental and transportation systems courses have been included within the curricula (i.e., Introduction to Systems, Decision Making, and Modeling), and 3) service-learning (SL) projects have been integrated into key required courses as a way of practicing a systems approach. A variety of assessment methods were implemented as part of the reform including student surveys, student focus groups, faculty interviews, and assessment of student work. Student work in five classes demonstrate that students are learning the systems approach, applying it to engineering problem solving, and that this approach helps meet ABET outcomes. Initial student resistance to changing the curriculum has decreased post implementation (e.g., graduating class 2010), and many students are able to define and apply the concept of sustainability in senior design project. Student self-assessments show support of SL projects and that the program is influencing student understanding of the roles and responsibilities of engineers in society.

This study explored the perceptions of academic staff towards admission of students with disabilities, and their accommodation once accepted into an undergraduate Civil Engineering program in a South African university. Qualitative responses relating to the perceptions of five academic staff were obtained through semi-structured interviews. The academic staff had limited interactions with persons with disabilities prior to the study. They were also uninformed about disability issues. However they were willing to admit and accommodate students with disabilities in the undergraduate Civil Engineering program. The perceived attitudes of the academic staff towards people with disabilities, and their knowledge and awareness about disability issues may negatively impact the accommodation of students with disabilities in the program.

APPA's Effective & Innovative Practices Award continues to highlight the best of the most creative and practical programs and processes that enhance and transform service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue, or otherwise benefit an educational institution. This article features five 2011 award-winning programs which focus on LEED measurement and verification; energy management outreach; a roadways and walkways treatment process; cost-saving lean principles; and laboratory energy retrofits. Up to five Effective & Innovative Practices Award submissions are eligible each year for a cash award of $4,000, generously sponsored since the award's inception by Sodexo Campus Services. Entries are judged by APPA's Professional Affairs Committee and are based on: 1) institutional benefit; 2) innovation and creativity; 3) portability and sustainability; 4) management commitment and employee involvement; and 5) documentation, analysis, customer input, and benchmarking. The five successful schools that received special recognition and a check at the APPA 2011 conference in Atlanta last July are: (1) Georgia Institute of Technology; (2) Medaille College; (3) Purdue University; (4) San Diego Community College District; and (5) University of California Irvine.

Observation on best future choices is not something that happens by chance; in fact, it should be carried out through careful planning driven by research. Therefore, observation on future curriculum would also involve in-depth research on future possibilities and their impact. Policy makers and curriculum developers of institutions or even the country should plan ahead not only for 50 years to come but beyond that. Research on the future would provide essential data in shaping the present generation as well as the future generation. Research oriented from future curriculum should be developed based on research findings on the future, including research on trends, events and their respective impact on the targeted learners. Therefore, the researchers will also discuss the aims, definition, basics and importance of future curriculum. The paper also includes discussion about future curriculum for engineering education. (Contains 1 figure.)

This brief case study provides a pithy introduction to Uganda and outlines key factors that affect the implementation of distance education in the nation: poor infrastructure, the high cost of an education, an outdated curriculum, inadequate expertise in distance education, and poor attitudes towards distance learning. These factors are also evident in other African countries.

Seattle University has an industrially sponsored, yearlong, senior design program that has been in existence for more than 20 years. Students work in teams of three or four under the guidance of a liaison from the sponsoring agency and a faculty advisor. The students prepare a proposal in the fall quarter detailing their plan and a design report in spring quarter. Technical writing is an important component in the design program. For the past two decades the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has partnered with the English Department faculty members and students, technical writers from industry, and engineering practitioners to improve the technical writing component. This paper discusses the evolution and implementation of the technical writing component within senior design, describes the experience and the lessons learned over the years. It also presents the assessment results and/or reflections by the various constituents. The experience shared should be helpful to other senior design programs.

The primary role of a civil engineer is to serve the community; thus, it is essential that students understand the impact of engineering projects on, and the context of engineering projects within, society. One goal of an engineering capstone design course should be to mesh the technical knowledge of the discipline with an encompassing engineering problem that incorporates "real world" issues and challenges. With all of the aforementioned criteria in mind, the objective of Villanova University's structural capstone course described herein is to integrate technical and non-technical issues through a challenging real world project. This paper presents the development, implementation, objectives, and assessment of a structural engineering capstone course that incorporates an international service project. All data indicates that the students participating on the service trip achieve significantly higher non-technical outcomes compared to those students who work solely on the design project.

The admission procedure to higher education institutions in Turkey is based on the student's high school grades and Central University Entrance Examination (CUEE) score, with a much greater weight on the latter. However, whether the CUEE is an appropriate measure in the admission process to universities is still a much-debated question. This study assesses the validity of the CUEE as a selection tool for design-based departments by examining the relationship between CUEE scores and success in university education in two design-based departments, architecture and city planning. The analysis is then extended to test the relationship in three engineering departments, computer engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. Based on the bivariate correlation and one sample t-test result, we report that CUEE scores and graduation grades have no relationship at all. We conclude that the current admission procedure to design-based schools based on solely a central examination score is not preferable. (Contains 4 figures, 4 tables and 2 notes.)

In this article, we present the results of the administration of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the understanding that civil engineering students have of the "antiderivative." The questionnaire was simultaneously administered to samples of Mexican and Colombian students. For the analysis of the answers, we used some theoretical and methodological notions provided by the theoretical model known as Onto-Semiotic Approach (OSA) to mathematical cognition and instruction. The results revealed the meanings of the antiderivative that are more predominantly used by civil engineering students. Also, the comparison between the mathematical activity of Mexican and Colombian students provides information that allows concluding that the meanings mobilized could be shared among their communities and are not particular of their classroom or university.

Despite gains in baccalaureate and master's degree attainment, women continue to earn lower shares of doctor of philosophy degrees (PhDs) in many fields, a pattern that is often pronounced in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This article uses comparative case study to understand organizational trajectories toward gender parity achieved in two Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) PhD programs--chemistry and civil engineering--in which women have earned significantly higher shares of PhDs than is typical in their fields. Our analysis uncovered a surprising pattern of progress toward parity occurring as an unintended consequence of other changes. Structural reforms implemented to maintain these departments' relevance and stature in changing disciplinary fields had ripple effects that included reducing their gender enrollment gaps in graduate programs. Their trajectories differed, however, and comparing them affirmed the potential of mindful organizational learning as a means of achieving sustainable progress toward equity.

For civil engineering undergraduates, short-term industrial work placement provides an invaluable learning experience. Notwithstanding the near-universal endorsement of short-term placement programmes, the resulting experience is rarely articulated through the student voice. This article provides an analysis of 174 questionnaires returned by placement undergraduates studying civil engineering at four higher education institutions in the West of Scotland. The commentary captures industrial placement statistics, employability skill sets and a preliminary semantic interpretation of participants' testimonies. While the student journey to becoming a professional civil engineer is undoubtedly enhanced by short-term industrial placement, the findings disclose opportunities for university and industry to challenge and affect pedagogical discourse in relation to personal and professional development. The discussion is likely to resonate beyond civil engineering and may serve as a timely reminder of the necessity of periodically revisiting and reinvigorating academia--industry curriculum partnerships.

Teaching about drawbridges allows students to apply skills they have learned in math and science, while also being creative with design and the use of available materials. Students can be exposed to current and ancient designs. Today's drawbridges are beginning to look their age and are in need of updating and modernization. New bridges are being made of 21st century materials that are lighter, stronger, and more durable, allowing them to be built taller and needing to open less often. During the drawbridge challenge described here, students will be asked to take what they have learned about structural members, loads, and structural forces and apply it to their designs. They will have to apply measurement skills and their skills in using tools in order to complete their prototype bridges. They will have to use their scientific skills to collect and record data to make informed redesigns to their prototypes as needed. By using the extension pieces to build on this activity, students understand engineering and how many people form a team to build these civil engineering structures. They will begin to see how projects are bigger than just one person and see that there are people at several different levels contributing to the final product that can be changed along the way for different reasons, including environmental impacts. This is a real-world scenario that applies skills in a real way.

Ongoing efforts to broaden the participation of women and people of colour in engineering degree programmes and careers have had limited success. This paper describes a different approach to broadening participation that seeks to work with all students and develop inclusive engineering identities. Researchers worked with the instructors of two first-year engineering courses to integrate curriculum activities designed to promote the formation of engineering identities and build an appreciation for how diversity and inclusion strengthen engineering practice. Multilevel modelling results indicated positive effects of the intervention on appreciation for diversity but no effects on engineering identity, and qualitative results indicated students learned the most about diversity not through one of the intervention activities, but through team projects in the courses. We also describe lessons learned in how to teach engineering students about diversity in ways that are relevant to engineering.

This case study from the Civil and Environmental Engineering department of a UK university presents an educational design that uses team-based learning (TBL) to prepare students prior to undertaking a group project. Our aim is to show how the established TBL approach can be used in a novel way as a precursor to a group project to improve the achievement of learning outcomes. The purpose of the TBL was to ensure pre-reading was completed, to instil a sense of subject matter mastery, to allow students to discuss complex issues and to develop collaborative and inclusive behaviours. These skills and knowledge were necessary to successfully complete the follow-on group project and importantly for success in their future careers. Student's end of module reflective statements indicated that they positively collaborated and communicated when working on a group project.

The integration of art into curricula focused on teaching science is a new perspective in education designed to reach a broader range of students. The current study examined the process of second-grade students participating in science and art activities through qualitative content analysis. The subjects of science and art were not taught to the students separately, rather, students engaged in both subjects simultaneously, in an integrated manner. Participants were 23 second-grade students (11 female and 12 male; age range 7 to 8 years) who were learning about erosion through sketching and creative construction and the work of civil engineers through role-play and exploration of problems they solve. Sources of information for the study included student-reported symbolism for engineering badges, classroom discussions, students' responses during testing of sand hills, teacher observations, and student writings. Major themes in the process of the students were: connections to prior knowledge of erosion and engineers along with symbols connected to engineers; observing erosion and shapes of the land; integration of art bringing motivation; social learning and teamwork; problem-solving solutions to erosion; making connections between the classroom testing and the real world; and the desire to continue exploring erosion. The lessons emphasized learning "through" and "with" the arts, making the lessons engaging and motivating students to continue learning on their own.

Conventional graded assignments are commonly structured in a format where students attempt a prescribed question and are graded based on the completeness of their workings rather than the understanding of concepts. An alternative assignment format was proposed which requires students to identify and explain mistakes in a given set of workings based on a question. Questionnaire responses from 243 civil engineering undergraduates from National University of Singapore showed that majority preferred this format. They also felt that it enhanced their learning and thinking ability. However, based on results, students fared better in the conventional format due to its familiarity. Furthermore, students were generally over-optimistic about their grades. A possible reason could be the misinterpretation of the requirements of the alternative format. As such, role play was introduced to clarify concerns raised by students. Analysis also showed that students who are academically inclined reaped greater benefits from the new approach as compared to students who are not as strong academically.

The article reports on a case study of impact evaluation of external quality assurance, i.e. institutional evaluation including programme accreditation, which was carried out by the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education at Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest in the form of a methodological before-after comparison. The impact evaluation exhibits a marked stability of the attitudes towards quality assurance of different stakeholders on a high positive level. The analysis also shows that teachers, on the average, perceive better and perceive more effects of quality assurance in learning and teaching, and that they experience university leadership as highly supportive for quality assurance. The study further demonstrates that for teachers the perceived amount of benefit surpasses the perceived expenditure. Finally, a series of open answers gives indications for possible improvement of the university's quality assurance and organizational structures.

This study seeks to explore whether a combination of traditional teaching methods with project-based learning (PBL) activities can improve the student learning experience in an engineering course of soil mechanics. As an alternative to the traditional type of assignment that consisted of several textbook problems, a project-based assignment was introduced in 2015 so that students could work on real-world geotechnical problems throughout the whole semester. Students were permitted to choose whether they would undertake the project-based assignment or the traditional one, thus forming the 'project' and 'non-project' groups, respectively. The academic performance of these two groups was compared on the basis of student marks while the student experience was evaluated through a series of interviews. The data collected over 3 years indicated that students from both groups had very similar academic performances; however, the students who completed the project-based assignment reported better engagement in the learning process as they enjoyed the opportunity to experience the practical aspects of soil mechanics. The obtained results also revealed low motivation among students to embrace new learning approaches such as PBL, as the majority of them preferred more traditional methods of teaching.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present pedagogical approaches developed and implemented to deliver sustainable design education (SDE) to second-year undergraduate students on civil engineering programmes in the (then) School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University. In doing so, the work presented offers an example of how to help students understand the contested and contingent nature of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The research presented takes an action-based approach to the development of a teaching and assessment model centered on problem- and project-based learning in a real-world context. Findings: Because of the use of a design brief, which addresses a practical infrastructure problem encountered by regional communities, the academic team were able to make arguments related to the three pillars of sustainability more accessible to the students. This suggests that pedagogical instruments based on problem- and project-based learning strategies are effective in delivering SDE. Practical implications: The successful delivery of SDE requires commitment from the senior management teams leading individual departments as well as commitments embedded in the high-level strategies of Higher Education institutions. It was also found that some students need extra support from the teaching staff if their engagement through SDE is to be successful. This has practical implications for the amount of contact time built into undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. Originality/value: The teaching and assessment model presented in this paper addresses various substantive and normative issues associated with SDE making it relevant and transferable to courses other than civil engineering.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a consistent and systematic integration framework of sustainable development (SD) in a civil engineering (CE) curriculum, given the connection between the two. Curriculum integration is a challenging project and requires the development of certain protocols to ensure success. Design/methodology/approach: This paper thus proposes a framework for the systematic integration of SD through the lenses of life cycle approach and associated tools to attain effective curriculum integration. The proposed framework suggests the following five steps: mapping the curriculum, setting learning targets, developing an action plan for the assessed program, implementing the action plan and assessing the final performance. Findings: This framework was applied to the CE curriculum at Sherbrooke University. To assess its success, a student satisfaction survey was conducted, and teachers' feedback was obtained; the results showed 85 per cent positive responses. The authors show how this study allowed the CE curriculum to be properly updated and brought in line with today's engineering profession requirements with regard to SD. Originality/value: The integration focuses on the application of life cycle approaches and tools such as environmental life cycle assessment and life cycle costing on CE content. Additionally, the presented approach can be easily adapted to other engineering curriculums and, to a certain extent, to other non-engineering curriculums.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the predictive validity of the 2003 University Student Selection Examination (OSS). For this purpose, freshman grade point average (FGPA) in higher education was predicted by raw scores, standard scores, and placement scores (YEP). This study has been conducted on a research group. In this study, six programs--which accept students by verbal, numerical and equal weighted scores--were selected. These programs are agricultural engineering, civil engineering, law, business administration, social studies education, Turkish Language and Literature. The study was conducted with 2103 students from these programs. Data related with dependent variables used in this study has been gathered from universities' student affairs information centers. Data related with independent variables has been received from the Student Selection and Placement Center (OSYM). Stepwise regression analysis was used in order to analyze the data. It was found that the significant predictors of students' FGPA is YEP which is used for the placement of agricultural engineering, civil engineering, and social studies education program students, Y-OSS SAY scores which is not used for the placement of business administration program students and three YEP's (Y-OSS SOZ, Y-OSS SAY, Y-OSS EA) which is used for the placement of law program students. (Contains 1 table.)

Civil engineers will face increasing challenges in their careers due to climate change. The infrastructure they design and construct will directly contribute to or mitigate it. Action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change requires both a belief in human-caused global warming and a basic understanding of climate science. To understand which current engineering education efforts are successful or may need more consideration, a national sample of civil engineering students and students from other engineering disciplines was asked about their belief in global warming, understanding of greenhouse gases, the causes of global climate change, and ways to help reduce or slow it. The overwhelming majority of civil engineering students (83%) and students from other engineering disciplines (81%) acknowledged that global warming is happening. Nearly three of every four civil engineering students (73.5%) and other engineering students (71.3%) believed that global warming is caused by humans. However, only about half of civil engineering students (55.6%) and other engineering students (52.3%) felt that global warming is personally important. The majority of civil engineering students and other engineering students did not understand the causes and actions to reduce global warming. More than half of civil engineering students (60%) believed that nuclear power generation is a cause of global warming, which is significantly more than students from other engineering disciplines (52.6%). More than 8 of every 10 civil engineering students (83%) incorrectly believed or were unsure that the ozone hole in the upper atmosphere is a cause of global warming. A possible explanation for these misconceptions is that civil engineering students recognized general problems, such as nuclear waste and the ozone hole, but they did not link particular causes with particular consequences. Possible interventions were discussed for making climate change information personally relevant to engage students to think about cause and effect related to the climate.

Recruitment, retention, and preparation of students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are critical to meeting the global challenges of the 21st century. Gamification--game playing concepts used in another activity--has been postulated as an active teaching strategy that engages students, encourages a sense of community, and develops students' professional skills, which are all core components to recruitment, retention, and preparation. To explore the impact of game design and play on students' higher levels of perceived cognitive/learning engineering-related and course-specific concepts, higher levels of student engagement, a sense of community, professional skills, retention, and easy transferability for university-level educators, board game design and play projects were implemented in three civil, environmental, and construction engineering courses at the University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, and Clemson University in 2016. Findings obtained from analyzing students' responses to an open-ended survey and focus group questions indicated that game design and play were effective in learning technical course content, including content related to sustainability and construction terminology, but these results were related to lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Both the classroom observations and the focus group/interviews revealed that game design and game play enhanced engagement. The Likert survey results did not show a statistically significant difference in the sense of community but did show a statistically significant positive difference in the professional skill of writing. Lastly, neither the Likert survey results nor the focus group/interview results showed that game design and play impacted retention. Given these results, the findings of this study are cautiously optimistic at best for the applications of game design and play in engineering curricula as a method for recruiting, retaining, and preparing students. Recommendations for improving game design studies as well as the implementation of game design projects in engineering courses are provided.

This study explores engineering students' enactment of collective agency and perceptions of professional identity. Empirical data were drawn from observation and group interviews with 30 engineering students in a civil engineering course using a problem and project-based learning (PBL) approach. Using the technique of quantifying qualitative data, the study identified patterns of agency manifestation in seven domains within project work: (1) motivation, (2) goal setting, (3) planning, (4) project progression, (5) self-reflection and evaluation, (6) team dynamics, and (7) external support and resources. The study identified a significant correlation between the engineering students' collective agency in these seven aspects of their learning process and their project team outcomes based on group-based project grades. Although students reported many reasons for choosing to study engineering, the majority of the students were found to have a general uncertainty regarding their sense of professional identity, suggesting more activities to support the building of professional competences, such as PBL, should be provided at an earlier stage of engineering curricula.

It is generally accepted that the undergraduate cumulative point average (UCPA) is associated with graduate performance of the same discipline. Less known, however, is how good the UCPA at predicting graduate performance in a different discipline. This paper discusses a study on the relationship between UCPA, undergraduate program of study, and graduate performance--operationalised as graduate CPA (GCPA)--in a Master in Technical and Vocational Education program (MTVE). Data were gathered on UCPA, their undergraduate program of study, gender and previous university of 612 MTVE students using their application forms and academic records. The large number of programs of study was reduced to five groups of disciplines namely, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Business and Management, and Others. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used to analyse the data. The results showed that both undergraduate program of study and UCPA are predictors of GCPA and the extent to which UCPA contributes towards GCPA varies across programs of study. (Contains 7 tables.)

Virtual Reality (VR) is primarily a visual technology. Elements such as haptics (touch feedback) and sound can augment an experience, but the visual cues are the prime driver of what an audience will experience from a VR presentation. At its inception in 2001 the Centre for Advanced Visualization (CFAV) at Niagara College of Arts and Technology was equipped with state-of-the-art VR technology. The computer, screen and sound system were all arranged into a "Reality Centre" (RC). The reality centre was an SGI concept that saw VR being used in order to bring disparate groups of engineers together on a project so that they could talk together while they explored their data using VR technology. CFAV's first big project involved the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo. The target was to build a model of Fort Erie and Buffalo with sufficient detail that lay-people would be able to evaluate any new bridges, or proposed changes to the old bridge. CFAV's engagement in the Peace Bridge project introduced the facility to a new kind of partner, the land use planner. A land use planner is an engineer or architect, etc. who must explain their intent or changes to a public site or piece of infrastructure to the public. CFAV's technology has now changed to the extent that it uses conventional modeling tools and off-the-shelf technology to produce its presentations.

Undergraduate applications to civil engineering courses have been declining at an alarming rate despite the industry's healthy economic activity. Concerns abound as to the long-term impact of this decline as the sector is already suffering skills shortages across virtually all of its occupations. This paper investigates the likely future trends in undergraduate admissions to civil engineering degree courses based on an analysis of Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) statistics for the period 1994 to 2000. The analysis reveals that applications have sharply declined over this period from 5,104 in 1994 to 2,905 in 2000. This trend is then modelled using a bivariate quadratic and cubic model equations to determine the volume of future applications. With an R[superscript 2] of 0.99 and a mean absolute percentage error of less than one per cent, the model appears to be robust and reliable. By contrasting graduate intake with sector turnover, the paper explores whether any significant correlation exists between market buoyancy and the attractiveness of a professional civil engineering career. Model forecasts over a six-year period suggest that applications will continue to decline, albeit at a slower rate. The likely causes and implications of the trends are discussed and measures proposed to stem the decline in popularity of civil engineering degree courses. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)