Search results

1 – 10 of over 10000
Article
Publication date: 1 September 1996

Suzanne Wilkinson

Examines the factors affecting the career choice of male and female civil engineering students in the UK. Draws on empirical research from a national survey of graduating male and…

5381

Abstract

Examines the factors affecting the career choice of male and female civil engineering students in the UK. Draws on empirical research from a national survey of graduating male and female civil engineering students which identified similarities and differences between male and female graduates in the factors affecting their career choices. Argues that there are some significant differences between male and female civil engineering students in the factors which affect their career choice but on the whole these factors rank low in their importance. Discusses the implications of these results for employers of civil engineering graduates.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 1 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2018

Chandra Mouli Vemury, Oliver Heidrich, Neil Thorpe and Tracey Crosbie

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…

Abstract

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.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 May 2022

Fethiye Ozis, Shannon Lynn Isovitsch Parks, Deborah Lynne Sills, Mustafa Akca and Christine Kirby

This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate…

1412

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate sustainability with innovation in engineering design.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of paradigm shift was introduced in the classroom by using a tangram activity to help students understand that sustainable design requires out-of-the-box thinking. Instructors from three institutions teaching various levels of sustainability courses to engineering majors used the activity to introduce sustainable design, then measured the understanding and appreciation of the concepts introduced through the tangram activity with pre- and post-activity surveys.

Findings

Findings from the study indicate that students’ perceptions of sustainability significantly improved due to the activity, without regard to the institution. The activity also significantly improved students understanding of the connection between sustainability and innovation, across all three institutions, across all majors and across all years of study except second-year students. Improving engineering students’ views on sustainability may lead, over time, to changes in the industry, in which environmental performance is incorporated into the engineering design process.

Originality/value

Active learning approaches are needed for affective-domain learning objectives in the sustainability field for students to learn the necessary attitudes, values and motivations to implement sustainability in engineering design. Simple, easily implemented active learning techniques, such as the tangram activity presented here, can be implemented across the curriculum or to the public to introduce the paradigm shift necessary with sustainable design.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Pengkun Liu, Zhewen Yang, Jing Huang and Ting-Kwei Wang

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the influence of individual learning styles on the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR)-based learning in structural engineering

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the influence of individual learning styles on the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR)-based learning in structural engineering. There has been a lack of research examining the correlation between learning efficiency and learning style, particularly in the context of quantitatively assessing the efficacy of AR in structural engineering education.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT), a model that emphasizes learning through experience, students from the construction management department are assigned four learning styles (converging, assimilating, diverging and accommodating). Performance data were gathered, appraised, and compared through the three dimensions from the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) survey model across four categories of Kolb’s learning styles in both text-graph (TG)-based and AR-based learning settings.

Findings

The findings indicate that AR-based materials positively impact structural engineering education by enhancing overall learning performance more than TG-based materials. It is also found that the learning style has a profound influence on learning effectiveness, with AR technology markedly improving the information retrieval processes, particularly for converging and assimilating learners, then diverging learners, with a less significant impact on accommodating learners.

Originality/value

These results corroborate prior research analyzing learners' outcomes with hypermedia and informational learning systems. It was found that learners with an “abstract” approach (convergers and assimilators) outperform those with a “concrete” approach (divergers and accommodators). This research emphasizes the importance of considering learning styles before integrating technologies into civil engineering education, thereby assisting software developers and educational institutions in creating more effective teaching materials tailored to specific learning styles.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

Cecilia Lundholm

Describes how first‐year civil engineering students interpreted the content and structure of an ecology course. Students’ learning processes were analysed from an intentional…

780

Abstract

Describes how first‐year civil engineering students interpreted the content and structure of an ecology course. Students’ learning processes were analysed from an intentional perspective, i.e. a perspective that takes into account the students’ educational aims and conceptions of the study situation. Interviews were carried out with six civil engineering students who had taken the ecology course. Classroom observations were carried out and the dialogue between the lecturers and the students recorded. Interviews were transcribed and analysed from an intentional perspective, i.e. meaning is ascribed to the students’ actions and utterances in terms of intent. Students contextualised the content of the ecology course in different ways – within natural science, cultural, social and political, applied and professional, and existential contexts. Students found the content of the ecology course to be a question of value judgement. Also, among the students there were feelings of accusation on behalf of engineers as professionals. Learning processes among the students were analysed in terms of contextual awareness and contextual inconsistency. Students mainly enhanced their knowledge in the sense that they tended to elaborate concepts solely on an empirical level and learned more facts. Suggests that environmental issues can be seen and dealt with from natural science, social science and philosophical perspectives, and that it is important that these different perspectives are explicitly addressed on a meta‐level. The tendency to enhance the amount of content matter to be taught without considering the meta‐level issues can cause the students problems in their efforts to learn. Suggested that the premises for teaching certain content should be made explicit by the teacher. To know why certain content has been included in the teaching may be of considerable help for the students in formulating relevant learning projects.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2012

J. Goggins

The purpose of this paper is to focus on a number of initiatives in civil engineering undergraduate programmes at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) that allow…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on a number of initiatives in civil engineering undergraduate programmes at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) that allow students to complete engineering projects in the community, enabling them to learn by doing.

Design/methodology/approach

A formal commitment to civic engagement was undertaken by the NUIG in 2001 with the establishment of the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) to work on mainstreaming civic engagement (service learning) within the curriculum across the institution. Today, the majority of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the College of Engineering and Informatics at NUIG have embedded service learning into their curriculum. These initiatives allow students to work with and in local communities, international communities and multi‐disciplinary groups as part of their academic courses. The paper investigates and shows that community‐based projects can enhance student learning and engagement in a number of ways. At NUIG, these projects are framed by a research orientation, commitments to civic engagement and building university‐community partnerships, city‐university partnerships and partnerships with other official agencies, so that community users can provide real learning problems and contexts for students and researchers and benefit from the results.

Findings

It was found that the students got a sense of pride and satisfaction out of the knowledge that their work may be helping communities and that learning is not just to get marks to pass the exam! The projects can increase the students’ sense of ownership of their own learning. Learners are more motivated when they can see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others.

Research limitations/implications

The work represents work done in one institution affecting a region in a country. This can be extended to include more institutions and other regions. This paper presents evidence from the aforementioned projects that by creating service‐based learning the students’ energy in learning can have a positive impact on the community.

Practical implications

The energy and enthusiasm of learners can be better utilised (and increased) by setting assignments as real community‐based projects.

Originality/value

This lies in the design of projects and assessment involving education providers and public for the benefit of learners and the society at large.

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2019

Luca Sgambi, Lylian Kubiak, Noemi Basso and Elsa Garavaglia

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, it highlights the importance of the presence of active teaching experiences in architecture courses. Such experiences can lead to an…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, it highlights the importance of the presence of active teaching experiences in architecture courses. Such experiences can lead to an improvement in the teaching of technical disciplines, such as structural engineering. Second, it purports to demonstrate the relation and interaction between the active teaching strategy here presented and the learning outcomes required by the study programme.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports an active didactic experience (addressed to students of architecture and performed at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium), from its conception to its development in the classroom with the students. The experience is reported by discussing the three main steps of which an active didactic experience should be composed: the stimulus, the practice and the discussion.

Findings

The experience seeks to find innovative methods to stimulate the study of structural engineering by students of architecture. Through this experience, based on the study of a square silicon pot mat, students are able to learn concepts related to the mechanics of structures. In addition, students find in their experience direct connections with structures of considerable architectural importance, such as the structure of the New National Gallery by Mies van der Rohe.

Originality/value

This experience is original in two aspects. First of all, the introduction of an active didactic experience to improve courses that are generally structured in a passive way. Second, in an era where the importance of numerical technology is growing, this experience goes in a different direction by choosing a low-tech but no less interesting approach.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2022

Yi Tan, Wenyu Xu, Keyu Chen, Chunyan Deng and Peng Wang

At present, teaching methods based on 2D drawings are still commonly used for educating students on the location of steel reinforcement bars in concrete. However, traditional…

Abstract

Purpose

At present, teaching methods based on 2D drawings are still commonly used for educating students on the location of steel reinforcement bars in concrete. However, traditional teaching methods have limitations as students can find it difficult to understand 2D drawings. This study aims to develop an interactive and collaborative augmented reality environment (ICARE) using augmented reality (AR) technology to improve students' engagement in learning.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops an ICARE prototype, which is organized into two stages: (1) The augmented teaching environment comprising of models and interactive components; (2) The AR collaborative application which uses Photon Unity Networking (PUN) plugin and Azure spatial anchors cloud service. The AR-based teaching environment runs with Universal Windows Platform (UWP) to enable development in the HoloLens 2 through Microsoft Visual Studio.

Findings

An experimental study was conducted, where 60 students were divided into three groups employing Drawings-based, building information modeling (BIM)-based and AR-based methods for teaching. After the test, the three groups of students were requested to complete a questionnaire. According to the analysis of the experimental results, the ICARE can improve students' comprehension, memory of learned materials and their ability to read and understand steel reinforcement drawings improving the quality of teaching, especially interactivity and engagement.

Originality/value

As illustrated in the experiments, the developed ICARE has outstanding performance over conventional approaches in civil engineering courses that can improve students' comprehension and memory of knowledge and their ability to read and understand steel bar drawings. This study provides empirical evidence that AR is a promising technology that can be integrated with traditional classroom instruction and can improve students' comprehension and memory of knowledge and their ability to read and understand steel bar drawings.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Rob Morrison and Betty Dance

Engineering State is a week‐long program held at Utah State University each June. It is designed to introduce top high school students entering their senior year to the engineering

Abstract

Engineering State is a week‐long program held at Utah State University each June. It is designed to introduce top high school students entering their senior year to the engineering field and the university experience, which includes learning to use a library. Initiated in 1990 by the civil engineering department, it expanded the following year to include additional departments within the College of Engineering. Although engineers are not typically strong library users, the civil engineering faculty felt a library component should be part of the students' Engineering State experience.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Claudia Calle Müller, Piyush Pradhananga and Mohamed ElZomor

The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of the world’s energy consumption, 30% of raw material use, 25% of solid waste, 25% of water use, 12% of land use and…

Abstract

Purpose

The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of the world’s energy consumption, 30% of raw material use, 25% of solid waste, 25% of water use, 12% of land use and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, environmental improvement and decarbonization are becoming increasingly critical objectives for the construction industry. Sustainable construction can be achieved through several practices, including: considering life-cycle assessment, circular construction, resource efficiency and waste management and providing eco-efficient materials, reducing energy demands and consumption and incorporating low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources. To achieve sustainable construction goals, it is critical to educate the future workforce about decarbonization, circular construction and how to overcome the challenges involved in transitioning to sustainable construction. This study aims to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction and the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveyed 120 undergraduate and graduate students at one of the largest minority-serving institutions in the USA to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction as well as the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula. The authors conducted several statistical measures to assess the consistency, reliability and adequacy of the sample size, including the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, the normality test to evaluate the appropriateness of using an ordered probit regression analysis and a multicollinearity test to observe the correlation between independent variables. The data was analyzed using ordered probit regression analysis to investigate the need for a curriculum that serves in educating students about decarbonization and circular construction.

Findings

The results of this research highlight the gaps in students’ knowledge pertaining to sustainable practices and the importance of providing future construction workforce with such knowledge to tackle global inevitable challenges.

Originality/value

The findings of this study contribute to sustainable construction bodies of knowledge by advocating for a reformed curriculum to prepare the future workforce and adopt less carbonized, more circular approaches within the engineering and construction industry.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 10000