A Systems Approach to Civil and Environmental Engineering Education: Integrating Systems Thinking, Inquiry-Based Learning and Catamount Community Service-Learning Projects

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This department level reform project will incorporate systems and systems thinking into the civil engineering department at the University of Vermont. It will take a unique systems approach to implementing change and will focus not only on what is taught but how it is taught and how students learn it. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity lies in our reforms and approach. Some of changes include: 1) reformulating and repackaging courses in Environmental Engineering, Transportation and Engineering Economics into a unique sequence of three interrelated Systems courses (I, II, III); 2) making other substantial course changes to maintain greater continuity and connectedness throughout the program and infusing inquiry-based learning; 3) retraining the faculty in areas of systems, teaching and learning, teamwork and other personal/interpersonal skills, and service learning; 4) laboratory experiences that are inquiry-based; and 5) incorporating Catamount Community service-learning projects into the undergraduate curricula.