Designing and Assessing a Curriculum to Address Professional Learning Outcomes for Civil Engineering

在美国国家科学基金会改善本科生STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源(IUSE：EHR)的支持下，该项目旨在通过提高土木工程专业学生的非技术性专业技能来服务于国家利益。该项目打算通过开发符合工程和技术认证委员会(ABET)的课程材料来实现这一目标，以提高对工程设计的社会和环境影响的敏感性。设计对社会和环境有积极影响的工程产品的能力是一项基本的工程技能，特别是对于使用他们的技术专长来解决对真人有影响的问题的土木工程师来说。然而，工程师通常被教育去考虑问题的物理维度，而不是社会维度。这种物理和社会考虑的分离可能导致工程项目加剧不平等，忽视社区的问题和关切，或者没有考虑对社区的后果。需要课程来帮助学生学习这些专业技能，并需要评估来衡量学生个人的专业学习成果。本项目通过以下方式满足这些需求：(1)为土木工程课程设计工程专业技能课程；(2)建立简化的土木工程专业技能评估；(3)在土木工程课程中实施工程专业技能课程，并利用评估来确定课程的有效性。工程师需要批判性地思考设计过程中包括了哪些人，以及该项目的目标是什么社会目的。能够做到这一点的工程师可以更好地准备应对具有重大社会影响的复杂问题。拟议的工作以批评教育学文献以及学习的社会文化理论为基础，论述了以权力为基础的资源分配的社会影响以及学习者作为知识共同建构者的情况。该项目计划将专业技能课程的重点放在以下学习成果上：应用工程设计并考虑公共健康、安全和福利以及全球、文化、社会、环境和经济因素的能力；与各种受众有效沟通的能力；认识道德和职业责任的能力；以及在团队中有效运作的能力。为了评估这些成果，该项目将改进以前开发的工程专业技能评估工具，以评估个人学习而不是小组学习。这一修改预计将导致对个人学习收益的更好理解，而不受群体动态的影响。新的评估工具，简化的土木工程专业技能评估，将使用现实生活中的案例研究方法，为学生提供当地、国家和国际工程项目的范例。预计该课程和相关评估将有助于改善工程教育，从而培养出一支高素质的美国STEM劳动力队伍。NSF IUSE：EHR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。

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by enhancing the non-technical professional skills of civil engineering students. The project intends to accomplish this goal by developing Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)-compliant course materials that promote sensitivity to the social and environmental implications of engineering design. The ability to design engineering products that have positive social and environmental impact is an essential engineering skill, especially for civil engineers who use their technical expertise to solve problems that have implications for real people. However, engineers are typically taught to think of the physical dimensions of problems in isolation from their social dimensions. This separation of physical and social considerations can lead to engineering projects that exacerbate inequality, ignore community questions and concerns, or fail to consider the consequences for communities. Curricula are needed to help students learn these professional skills and assessments are needed to measure the professional learning outcomes at the individual student level. This project addresses these needs by: (1) designing the Engineering Professional Skills curriculum for civil engineering courses; (2) building a simplified civil engineering professional skills assessment; and (3) implementing the Engineering Professional Skills curriculum in civil engineering courses and using the assessment to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum. Engineers need to think critically about who is included in the design process and to what social ends the project is aimed. Engineers who can do so are better prepared to respond to complex problems with significant social impacts. The proposed work is grounded in critical pedagogy literature as well as the socio-cultural theory of learning, addressing the social implications of power-based distribution of resources and the situation of learners as co-constructors of knowledge. The project plans to focus the professional skills curriculum on these ABET learning outcomes: the ability to apply engineering design with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors; the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences; the ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities; and the ability to function effectively on a team. To assess these outcomes, the project will enhance a previously developed assessment tool for engineering professional skills to assess individual learning rather than group learning. This modification is expected to result in a better understanding of individual learning gains, independent of group dynamics. The new assessment tool, the Simplified Civil Engineering Professional Skills Assessment, will use a real-life, case study approach, providing students with examples of local, national, and international engineering projects. The curriculum and the associated assessment are expected to contribute to improving engineering education, thus contributing to a highly-qualified U.S. STEM workforce. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program 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.