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When implemented effectively and systematically across a curriculum, high impact practices (HIP) have the potential to increase student engagement and result in higher student achievement. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a four-year military university with a large liberal education core curriculum that provides the foundation for service and officership in the United States Air or Space Forces. Building on the liberal education core, the civil engineering (CE) major’s courses begin with the cornerstone field engineering course, paired with a two-week co-curricular experience for students at an Air or Space Force installation. With its motto “construct first, design later,” the field engineering course is an HIP and quintessential experiential learning course that gives students a practical frame-of-reference for future analysis and design courses. The CE major culminates with another HIP, the capstone design course, which gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, building confidence in their ability to successfully apply those skills to the increasingly complex problems they will face after graduation. This book chapter provides a case study of the CE major at the USAFA, documenting the HIPs across the majors’ program, and highlighting the key elements and benefits of each.

It is well-known and documented that despite a plethora of efforts by institutions to broaden participation in engineering, the representation, retention, and degree completion of Black males in engineering continues to lag. Coupled with a lack of representation, there is also a dearth of research that has sought to understand the experiences of Black males in engineering. In this chapter, through the lens of Hildegard Peplau's (1991) interpersonal relations theory, we sought to explore the experiences of nine undergraduate Black male engineering majors with academic advisors. Academic advisors are strategically positioned in higher education settings as guides to help students navigate college culture, policies, and procedures. Using thematic analysis, three salient themes emerged: “spots are limited,” building their own “advising team,” and prescriptive perceptions. As institutions imagine routes for broadening participation in engineering, they might also consider how they support advisors and encourage relationship development between students and advisors.

Course credentialing essentially involves the implementation of digital badges. A number of studies have recently been conducted that clarify this philosophy and promote their adoption in learning programmes. The research presented in this chapter contributes to the body of knowledge on learning and teaching regarding the comparative analyses of learning outcomes, multidimensional credentialing and digital badges relevant to the pedagogy of construction management. The aim of this research was to determine the maturity of multidimensional credentialing within its online pedagogy in particular. A review of literature pertaining to course multi-disciplining, accreditation, credentialing and digital badges had been conducted. Comparative analyses were performed to allocate learning outcomes of the tertiary institution and two accrediting bodies onto each unit in the online delivery mode of a Construction Management Bachelor Degree course. These analyses had yielded three matrices that could assist decision-making on how to assess learning in each unit. The results revealed that almost all units in this course had implemented at least one tertiary institution and accrediting body learning outcome.

Due to a change in higher education and adult education ideas and practices globally that have become more learner-centered, higher education is undergoing a transformation at a rate never before seen. Education has also evolved into a lifetime endeavor as the importance of higher education and adult learning has grown. In light of the fact that it offers guidance on how people can find purpose in their lives, transformative learning theory has a prominent position in higher education and adult education. By critically examining their presumptions and expectations and updating them to support higher education students' successful learning, educators can transform their theory and practice of instruction through active and transformative learning. Adapting to the changing capacities brought on by digitization, technological advancements, growing technological connectivity, global market expansion, mobility and migration, and workplace diversity is becoming more and more difficult for higher education institutions. The idea of active and transformative learning and transformative learning strategies are discussed in detail in this chapter to help readers understand their importance and function in effective teaching and learning in the transforming world of higher education. This chapter's major contribution to Active and Transformative Learning: Digital Transformation in Education is the provision of a comprehensive guide and strategy on how to successfully incorporate digital technologies into the teaching and learning process in order to improve student engagement, knowledge acquisition, and the growth of critical thinking skills.

Smart scenarios related to industries or cities, characterized by intensive technology transfer and use of innovative and disruptive technologies, have been in the spotlight either on academic or organizational discussions, especially those with a technocentric focus. Among these technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as the most challenging one due to its complexity. Therefore, this chapter aims to address AI, in particular the future of the labor market, exploring the challenges regarding the skills required in the context of AI technology, addressing its uses, challenges, and benefits. In order to achieve this goal, a systematic review was conducted on the extant literature using the methodology Methodi Ordinatio. The results show that the current literature is gradually changing from a more critical and negative view of AI to a more optimistic one, with more positive approaches and expectations regarding its benefits. As practical implications, the findings can be used as a guide for governments to develop strategies aiming to deal with upcoming challenges, especially regarding future jobs and employability.

The technological revolution is fundamentally changing our lifestyle, work, and communication. There is still no accurate information about the future of this great transformation, but one thing is quite clear: the speed of the transformations in terms of scale and complexity, like a storm, will go through all aspects of a society's life and change all the current paradigms. One of the expectations from the fourth industrial revolution will be the expansion of smart cities in accordance with sustainable development criteria. In order for a city to be truly smart and innovative, city officials must pay attention to elements such as renewable and clean energy such as the internet of things, smart networks, smart parking, and smart transportation. In another sense, there must be a balance between economy, environment, and society in order to build a strong, sustainable, and flexible smart city that will survive the test of time. Of course, based on the 7PS model, the dimensions of culture and education are very important and fundamental for high sustainability. Researchers and those involved in the implementation of smart cities have explained the main indicators to identify these cities, which include some of the following items: For example, smart building, environmental protection, smart garbage collection, digitization of all government affairs and administrative work, widespread use of smartphones and electronic devices, complete, convenient, and universal access to the internet, car sharing service and online taxi. Other important indicators include the intelligentization of the traffic system and urban planning, citizen participation, economic ecosystem, optimization in electricity, water and energy consumption, development of electric and electric public transportation fleet, quality control and management, and reduction of air pollution. In this chapter, the theory of i-Sustainability Plus and i-Comprehensive Strategic Urban Plan is introduced as the beating heart of the ubiquitous blue-green smart city design. In such urban areas, it is all about the combination of real life, virtual reality, and in addition the future of clean technologies. In general, it can be said that sustainable smart cities are a solution to combat the challenges of urbanization.

Based on the 5th wave/tomorrow age theory, we are living in the world that is in necessity to change. Rapid urbanization causes global challenges such as economic problems and recessions, environmental challenges, climate change, social instability, health diseases, biological attached, and crisis caused by technological dominations. These challenges threaten the world, humanity, and human beings. Therefore, it is vital to tackle and struggle with them in order to maintain the world and improve quality of livability and quality of life to achieve sustainability. Generally, modern Blue-Green urban areas and smart cities with high quality of livability and life are proposed to deal with urbanization challenges to maintain the world and improve quality of human life. Based on Prof. Doost's 5th wave theory, related theories, concepts and models like Doost Risk Mitigation Method (DRMM), and also his experience on sustainability as best practice such as cooperating with Danish Sustainable Platforms Company, working as an academic leader at IoE/EQ EU Erasmus Plus project in Germany during 2017–2020, cooperating with former mayor of Copenhagen, consulting the German MV State Minister of Energy, Digitalization, and Infrastructure to cooperate with Iran in 2016, more than 15 years holding lecture and research internationally about risk and risk management on mobility in different universities like (TU Berlin) Technical University of Berlin (EUREF Campus, Sustainable Mobility Management and Sustainability Building) and also achieving a honorary doctorate in sustainable development management, a practical model concerned on risk management in mobility to provide comprehensive global Blue-Green clean sustainable urban mobility risk mitigation strategic plan is given. Therefore, in this chapter, impact of risk management on mobility to provide sustainable global urban mobility plan in order to create modern Blue-Green sustainable urban area and future smart cities through the 5th wave theory are explored. Fundamentally, the main goal of the research is to have an applied study about mobility risk mitigation and utilize it as a key to create comprehensive global urban mobility risk mitigation plan toward Blue-Green sustainable clean mobility technologies to create modern sustainable smart cities through the tomorrow age theory in order to create livable urban area with high quality of livability and life. In addition, the risks in mobility through the DRMM are measured to analyze the risk and to do risk mitigation and mobility project improvement to move to sustainable mobility and high sustainability in future smart cities.

One of the characteristics of our age is urbanization and the increase in the population of cities and the development of small and large cities. In fact, the sustainable development of a city, which in its general sense means all-round growth and expansion without contradiction, with two main goals: (1) improving the quality of life in terms of the capacity of the environment and (2) responding to the needs of the present generation without restrictions for the future ones. But according to the fifth wave theory, entering the first edge of the future from 2020 to 2030, with the development of urbanization, we are witnessing instability in recent decades. Depletion of forests, thinning of the ozone layer, accumulation of greenhouse gases, noise pollution, threatening air pollution in cities are among these indicators in urban areas. Other important indicators also show the social and economic instability of the world community. The increase in poverty, economic growth without job creation, increase the gap between developed and developing countries, social disintegration, and the sense of citizenship of the residents of local communities and the class gap are among these indicators. Therefore, since 1970, with the advancement of technologies, today the realization of urban development depends on attention to the factors of innovation, digitalization, and intelligentization. In the concept of development, aspects, domains, and scales become important. This improvement of the current situation will be realized when it brings all-round intelligence without conflict and contradiction in meeting the tangible and intangible needs of this society. Growth in material and spiritual aspects, from local to global scales and in different economic, cultural, educational, social, technological, and even political fields. Therefore, paying attention to the quality makes the concept of development more effective. These qualities are aligned with the concept of sustainability. In this chapter, U-city, smart sustainable mobility through 5th Wave, i-Sustainability Plus, and doost cultural theory (DCT) will be probed as a new concept of urban living for blue-green smart city and mobility. In addition, challenges made some countries not to prefer to utilize smartness and ubiquitous idea as a tool for their problems, will be explored.

The purpose of this study was to examine the learning experiences of high school Black males participating in an academy of engineering that was configured as a magnet school. We followed a qualitative case study design to explore the experiences of 16 Black male academies of engineering students. We identified three recurring themes from the interviews with the Black male academy of engineering students: Promoting Interests in STEM, Drawing Connections to Core Academic Concepts, and An Affinity for Hands-on Learning through the Engineering Curriculum. The results of our study helped us to better understand how academies provide a platform for Black male students' interest in engineering as a viable college and career pathway.