Diversity, Inclusion and the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Teaching Workshops are currently in their 20th year of existence and have been highly successful. There is a growing body of literature on creating a multi-cultural classroom that celebrates diversity, accounts for the global differences and experiences of students, and deliberately fosters inclusivity. This paper examines the content of the existing culturally inclusive literature and quantifies how much is already present in the current ETW curriculum. It then suggests how much more could be included if a deliberate effort is made to include diversity and inclusivity into the workshop content. It suggests what elements in the culturally inclusive literature are not feasible to include in a one-week workshop. Finally, it makes recommendations on how to best revise the current ETW to include and incorporate this content without lengthening the time of the workshop

Using K’nex to Teach Large Scale Structures to Architects and ConstructionStudents

The College of Architecture and Environmental Design at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) is the only college in the nation that includes architecture (ARCH), architectural engineering (ARCE) and construction management (CM) programs in the same college. Given the unique mix of disciplines and the emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, the ARCH and CM students take a five-course structural engineering sequence from the ARCE department. A challenge of these courses is to maintain some degree of computational rigor while offering a broader perspective that will benefit the ARCH and CM students. This paper reports on one means of accomplishing this using K’nex toys to illustrate the entire design -construction sequence and relate how structure fits into this process during the sequence’s culminating course

Holistic Interdisciplinary Design - Everyone Does Everything (Engineering Students as Sculptors)

The ability to offer students an interdisciplinary experience under a team work setting is invaluable in preparation for a career in the built environment. A hands-on approach coupled with a real project presents unique opportunities in student learning. Learning in regards to the dynamics of team personalities, deadlines, approval procedures, and deliverables. One such hands-on based real project was to design, build, and install an 800 lb., 20 ft. long, and 10 ft. tall sculpture. The sculpture was to be built of recycled steel of a mustang in 10 weeks for the University’s library Spring 2016 exhibit. The project gave the students direct exposure to the phases required to take a highly constrained construction project from conception to completion (Impacted Project Delivery). Under the constraints of limited time, limited budget, unique materials, university regulatory requirements, and confined site location (second floor of library), the students learned how impacted constraints affect the design, engineering, and construction process. This paper outlines the methods used by the faculty adviser to facilitate student success

A structural engineering master\u27s program -- The trials and tribulations

This paper is specifically intended for the advertised session in the CE Division on “current issues affecting graduate CE programs such as double dipping, accreditation of masters programs, combined MS/BS degree, research versus practice oriented masters degrees, etc.” California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) is a predominately undergraduate university. Cal Poly has recently expanded master’s level graduate programs to support advanced education and faculty-student professional development opportunities. The Architectural Engineering Department in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) started a structural engineering master’s degree program six years ago and has graduated five separate classes. Since its inception, this master’s program has dealt with a variety of issues to include accreditation, blending the program with the undergraduate degree, offering a non-project option, managing the program through continuing education, collaborating with other departments, partnering with industry, and accommodating students who did not graduate from the Cal Poly ARCE undergraduate program. This paper offers a history of this masters program, describes these various issues, presents the current state of the program and makes recommendations for its future

Lifetime Bridge Maintenance Strategies Based on System Reliability

This study proposes a methodology for a system reliability-based condition evaluation of existing highway bridges. The approach is illustrated for an existing steel bridge located in Colorado. USA. An optimum lifetime repair strategy based on minimum expected cost is developed. The initial optimum repair strategy is updated using both biennial visual inspections and specific non-destructive evaluation testing

Researchers and practitioners: A dual track path to tenure that works

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has published the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge (BOK) for the 21st Century and has produced a draft version of the follow-on BOK II, both which attempt to define the knowledge, skills and attitudes required of a civil engineer. A section of that document addresses who should teach this body of knowledge. It concludes that civil engineering faculty must be scholars, effective teachers, practitioners, and role models. In most universities, practitioners are included on the faculty as adjunct professors. They are paid less and are not viewed as full-fledged partners. The Architectural Engineering program at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo is one of the few exceptions where practitioners with a master’s degree in structural engineering, a structural engineering license, and a decade or more of experience in industry have an equal path to tenure. This paper cites the advantages and disadvantages of this program and addresses the most often expressed concerns for this alternative. Such issues as the professional development and scholarship components of the tenure process, the role of consulting, the integration of practitioners into the faculty, the value of their contacts to industry, and the types of classes the practitioners teach are all addressed. The purpose is to describe a model that other universities may wish to consider as the profession debates the CE faculty of the future

Enhancing an upper division structural dynamics course using K\u27nex toys

K’nex toys consist of various plastic rods and connectors cleverly-sized to allow the creation of a variety of structures. While the K’nex Corporation focuses on the K-12 market, there are a myriad of engineering applications that have been demonstrated at the university level. Many of these occur at the lower division level in freshman experience courses or introductory statics courses. Other applications have included constructing structural models for structural design and capstone courses. This paper takes this use of classroom technology even further by demonstrating how K’nex pieces can be used effectively in an upper-division, highly technical structural dynamics / seismic design course. For the past several years, students in ARCE 483 Seismic Analysis and Design at xx university have been designing experiments using K’nex pieces. The types of experiments that have resulted include the effects of fixity on natural frequency, flexible versus rigid performance, seismic activity on a bridge structure, soft story behavior in buildings, the effect of floor system stiffness on the deflection of a system, the effect of mass dampers on tall buildings, identifying building mode shapes, and even modeling a viscous damper using K’nex, sponges and jello. This paper will demonstrate that K’nex toys can be an inexpensive yet very effective classroom technology for creating physical models and demonstrations in even the most technical engineering courses. This paper is part of a larger effort to develop a consortium of schools that use K’nex product in the classroom. The consortium members will share ideas, communicate best practices, and encourage each other to improve engineering education and understanding through physical models. This paper will hopefully be considered for the Civil Engineering Division session on Classroom Technology

Adjusting to the New ABET Criteria 3 and 5: It’s Really Not Very Hard

ABET has revised the criteria 3 (Student Outcomes) and 5 (Curriculum) of the general criteria. These changes have made it through the rigorous approval process and will be effective for the 2019-20 academic year. This paper analyzes the differences between the existing criteria and the proposed changes. Through a specific detailed example, the paper illustrates how an existing assessment system can seamlessly be adjusted for the new criteria. Most of the embedded indicators and direct measures of attainment can still be used. The results simply need to be organized differently

Program Assessment: A Structured, Systematic, Sustainable Example for Civil Engineers

As the outcomes-based accreditation process continues to evolve since its implementation six years ago, the standards for program assessment and continuous improvement are progressively being raised and many schools struggle with what is required. This paper offers an example of a structured, systematic, sustainable assessment program implemented by the civil engineering program at the United States Military Academy. The process is compatible with the university assessment process and has eight years of documented results. The assessment includes fast loop and slow loop cycles that accomplish very different things. Other features include standardized course assessments, embedded indicators, performance measures for all outcomes and objectives, advisory boards, feedback from all constituencies, faculty involvement, and closing of the feedback loop