Reforming Undergraduate Education in Environmental Engineering: Urban Studios as Knowledge Delivery Systems and Vehicles for Service Learning

这个项目是在哥伦比亚大学地球与环境工程系（EEE）进行的，该系最近作为亨利·克伦布矿业学院的一部分成立，以解决地球可居住性和资源的可持续利用作为一个关键问题。本系的重点是需要广泛的物理、化学、生态、社会和经济知识来解决这一领域的实际问题。该项目旨在解决将这些领域有意义地整合到本科课程中的困难，这些课程还需要接触实验室和现场技术以及数值和统计建模技能。该项目选择Urban Studios作为课程改革的载体。这有几个原因。首先，城市问题为深度（例如，燃烧过程和汽车产生的污染物）和广度（例如，洪水控制战略、媒介传播疾病和接收水体的累积生态影响之间的联系）提供了机会。第二，这里的环境自然适合服务项目和与工程专业实践的互动。第三，城市化是一个全球关注的问题，对于位于纽约市的一所大学来说，这是一个适当的重点。最后，建筑、规划和保护研究生院（GSAPP）的城市工作室的持续经验使其能够快速实施、重新评估和完善拟议的课程，同时为工程专业学生与城市规划师和建筑师提供互动。这一提议启动了一个基于工作室的课程的发展，在所有4年的课程中提供这种学习模式，补充传统课程。工程和GSAPP的学生将在工作室一起工作。

This project is being carried out at the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering (EEE) at Columbia which was created recently as part of the Henry Krumb School of Mines to address planetary habitability and sustainable use of resources as a key issue. The focus of this department is that a broad range of physical, chemical, ecological, social and economic knowledge is needed to address practical problems in this field. This project is addressing the difficulty of meaningfully integrating these areas into an undergraduate curriculum that also requires exposure to laboratory and field techniques as well as numerical and statistical modeling skills. This project has chosen Urban Studios as a vehicle for curricular reform. There are several reasons for this. First, urban problems provide the opportunity for depth (e.g., combustion processes and pollutant production from cars) and breadth (e.g., the link between flood control strategies, vector borne disease, and cumulative ecological impacts in receiving water bodies). Second, the setting naturally lends itself to service projects and interactions with engineering professional practice. Third, urbanization is a global concern, and an appropriate focus for a University located in New York City. Finally, ongoing experience with Urban Studios at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) makes it possible to rapidly implement, re-evaluate and refine the proposed curriculum, while providing interactions for engineering students with urban planners and architects. This proposal is initiating the development of a Studio based curriculum that provides access to this mode of learning through all 4 years of the program, complementing traditional classes. Engineering and GSAPP students will work together in the Studios.