Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research
Abstract
In many undergraduate engineering programs, students do not synthesize content learned from multiple courses until a capstone senior design course. As an example, in undergraduate civil engineering programs, transportation engineering concepts (e.g., geometric alignment, asphalt design procedures) and geotechnical engineering concepts (e.g., shear strength of soils, soil compaction) are not often synthesized until senior design, if then. As a result, concepts learned in multiple upper-division engineering courses, as well as other required courses, often seem disparate to students. In reality, engineers are required to synthesize concepts learned in a broad number of their courses to develop creative solutions to unique problems. This will particularly be true for the engineer of the future, who will need to develop unique solutions to problems caused by climate change and increasing global population, among others
