Improving Undergraduate Engineering Education by Integrating Sustainable and Resilient Engineering Design Skills

通过整合可持续和有弹性的工程设计技能来改善本科工程教育

• 批准号: 2013613
• 负责人: Bhaskar Chittoori
• 金额: $ 59.83万
• 依托单位: Boise State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2013613&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Undergraduate; Engineering; Education; Integrating

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving engineering students’ ability to create sustainable and resilient engineering designs. Industry, government, the public, professional associations, and accreditation organizations are increasingly demanding that engineers consider sustainability and resiliency during the design process. Sustainable designs balance economic, ecological, and societal needs by being responsive to community impact, public health, and the environment. Resilient designs are durable: in adverse situations, they continue to function, resist damage, and recover quickly. This project is driven by the need for engineers who can design solutions that maximize societal benefit while minimizing costs and environmental impacts. In other words, the next generation of engineers needs the skills to produce sustainable and resilient solutions to engineering design problems. To help students develop these skills, the project plans to develop a set of active learning modules that integrate sustainable and resilient design concepts. These modules will be deployed in existing upper and lower division courses across multiple engineering degree programs. This project has the potential to help equip the next generation of engineering professionals with the ability to create design solutions that benefit the economy, environment, and society.The goal of this project is to transform undergraduate engineering education by instilling sustainable and resilient design concepts in electrical, materials, mechanical, and civil engineering, and in construction management curricula. A new junior-level interdisciplinary engineering design course will be developed that emphasizes the importance of these design concepts through project-based learning and that advances the used of sustainable and resilient design in multiple disciplines. The project team will develop and implement active learning modules for engineering design courses. The project will address the following research questions: (1) How do active learning modules focused on sustainable and resilient design affect students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards these topics and their relevance to professional engineering practice? (2) How well do students understand and manage the trade-offs associated with designing for sustainability and resiliency in engineering? (3) How do approaches to sustainable and resilient design vary by engineering discipline? Guided by the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors conceptual model, the study will use a mixed-methods approach to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to address the research questions. The results of the project will be disseminated through an online repository that will include active learning modules, a strategic plan for implementation, and research results demonstrating the modules’ effectiveness. In addition, a conference on sustainability and resiliency will be hosted to provide a venue for colleagues from multiple institutions to share their curricular activities and research. This project is funded by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在通过提高工科学生创造可持续和有弹性的工程设计的能力来服务于国家利益。行业、政府、公众、专业协会和认证组织越来越多地要求工程师在设计过程中考虑可持续性和弹性。可持续设计通过响应社区影响、公共健康和环境来平衡经济、生态和社会需求。有弹性的设计经久耐用：在不利的情况下，它们继续发挥作用，抵抗损坏，并迅速恢复。该项目是由对工程师的需求推动的，这些工程师能够设计出最大限度地提高社会效益，同时将成本和环境影响降至最低的解决方案。换句话说，下一代工程师需要技能来为工程设计问题提供可持续和有弹性的解决方案。为了帮助学生发展这些技能，该项目计划开发一套整合可持续和弹性设计概念的主动学习模块。这些模块将部署在多个工程学位课程的现有上下级课程中。该项目有潜力帮助下一代工程专业人员具备创造有益于经济、环境和社会的设计解决方案的能力。该项目的目标是通过在电气、材料、机械和土木工程以及建筑管理课程中灌输可持续和有弹性的设计概念来改变本科工程教育。将开发一门新的初级跨学科工程设计课程，通过基于项目的学习强调这些设计概念的重要性，并促进在多个学科中使用可持续和有弹性的设计。项目团队将为工程设计课程开发和实施主动学习模块。该项目将解决以下研究问题：(1)专注于可持续和弹性设计的主动学习模块如何影响学生对这些主题的知识、态度和行为以及它们与专业工程实践的相关性？(2)学生如何理解和管理与工程中可持续和弹性设计相关的权衡？(3)可持续和弹性设计的方法如何因工程学科而异？在知识、态度和行为概念模型的指导下，本研究将采用混合方法收集和分析定性和定量数据，以解决研究问题。该项目的成果将通过一个在线储存库传播，该储存库将包括积极的学习单元、实施战略计划和展示这些单元有效性的研究结果。此外，还将举办一个关于可持续性和复原力的会议，为来自多个机构的同事提供一个分享他们的课程活动和研究的场所。该项目由NSF改善本科生STEM教育：教育和人力资源计划资助，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。