Infrastructure: Introducing sophomores to the “big picture”…and beyond

1. Infrastructure: Introducing sophomores to the “big picture”…and beyond Mike Penn Philip Parker Matt Roberts Keith Thompson 7th Annual National Civil Engineering Department Heads Conference Madison, WI May 22-24, 2011

2. A new sophomore-level course: Introduction to Infrastructure (I2I) • Rationale • Approach • Implementation • Preliminary results

3. UW-Platteville • Primarily Undergraduate, approx. 7000 students…and growing! • Civil & Environmental Engineering Department 250 students 11 faculty members • Hands-on, professional-practice oriented • BS in Civil Engineering, emphasis areas: Construction, Environmental, Geotechnical, Municipal, Structural, Transportation • BS in Environmental Engineering (~40 students)

4. Why We Did It • Only minor changes had been made in our curriculum in 20 years • We want our graduates to be “citizen engineers” – in tune with the social aspects of CEE projects • We want our graduates to be leaders in infrastructure management(not merely designers of infrastructure components)

5. Our Plan / ASCE’s PlanASCE “The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 ”(released July 2007, the summer after we developed our plan )

6. Why We Did It • Increase student learning • Get sophomores connected/engaged in their major during the “death march” • Infrastructure theme provides a systems approachframeworkwhich ties together technical emphases (sub-disciplines)

7. Increase student learning • Don’t save the “good stuff” (non-technical aspects) until the end (e.g. Senior Design)

8. UWP past approach for CE Computer Applications in CEE Intro to Construction Intro to Structures Intro to Geotech Intro to Transportation Intro to Enviro Geotech Technical Electives Structures Technical Electives Const Technical Electives Trans Technical Electives Enviro & Municipal Technical Electives Senior Design

9. The Problem Computer Applications in CEE Sophomore Intro to Structures Intro to Geotech Intro to Transportation Intro to Enviro Intro to Construction Junior Highway Design Trans Technical Electives Traffic Senior -1st Intro to Enviro Pavement Design Senior Design Senior – 2nd

10. “If I would have only taken Intro to Enviroearlier, I would have chosen the environmental emphasis…”

11. I2I Course Sophomore-level Prerequisite to all emphasis intro classes An “Intro to the Intro’s” Engineering Projects, 1st year, 2nd semester 2 weeks each for MechE, CivE, EnvE, IndE, ElecE, SoftE, EngPhys Intro to Engineering, 1st year, 1st semester Computer Applications in CEE Introduction to Infrastructure Intro to Construction Intro to Structures Intro to Geotech Intro to Transportation Intro to Enviro

12. I2I Course • Using the infrastructure theme to simultaneously introduce civil and environmental engineering • CEE history, case studies and current events • Intro to all CEE emphasis areas • Construction • Environmental • Geotechnical • Municipal • Structural • Transportation

13. Does your program have an undergraduate course similar to this?

14. Teach sub-disciplines as a means of designing components of infrastructure systems • Teach interdependence and compatibility • Placed in the context of infrastructure needs: • growth • maintenance • rehabilitation • security • risk management • planning • The “good stuff”: • financing, economics and contracts • political process (local, state, federal) • global and societal impacts of CEE projects • sustainability • aesthetics

15. Local Infrastructure Evaluations

16. Local Infrastructure Evaluations Students Gain: • Awareness by direct exposure to local infrastructure • Increased “buy-in” due to responsibility to client/community (service learning) • Experience through first-hand analysis of in-place infrastructure • Beyond design-- exposure to maintenance, rehabilitation and funding requirements • Communication skills-- project management and final presentation of findings

17. Implementation • How many credits (2 or 3) for the I2I course? • “Take” 1 credit (merge content) from the existing Computer Applications course? • What will be dropped “to make room” for the new class (without increasing credits req’d)? • Physics II • Dynamics • Thermoscience • Let students “pick” 2/drop 1 of the above 3?

18. Implementation • We are considering these (and other) options amidst other curriculum changes… • …to be finalized this summer • Added teaching load for the Department • (~ 1 faculty member) • I2I currently offered as a pilot-course

19. Student Feedback from Pilot Course “To be honest, before I took this course I didn’t really have any idea what civil engineering was all about.” Another student, caught in what he termed the “death march” of calculus, chemistry, and engineering fundamentals courses, said this after completing the course: “At the start of this semester, I was planning on dropping civil engineering and getting a [non-engineering] degree in construction management. But after taking this course, I am motivated to continue my degree.”

20. Student Feedback from Pilot Course • A senior taking the course stated: • “In general I feel the class was a major success. Being in my fourth year, I wish I had the information and the class in my sophomore year. It would have really opened my eyes to the beauty of engineeringearlier, and would have been a significant help in my course work in other classes.

21. Summary • We have designed an Introduction to Infrastructure course for sophomores to introduce: • the “big picture” • the CEE sub-disciplines • non-technical aspects • We’ll start with the big picture, rather than end with it in Senior Design • Students will perform local infrastructure evaluations

22. Summary • We believe the I2I course will: • allow sophomores to identify/verify preferred CEE emphases or major (CE vs. EnvE) • increase student retention (and possibly recruitment) • give students a broader view of engineering & society • better prepare them for: • upper-level courses • summer jobs/co-ops • their careers • We also plan to incorporate an infrastructuretheme throughout the entire curriculum • It has been invigorating

23. Acknowledgements • NSF DLR Grant EEC-0530506 • NSF CCLI Grant DUE-0837530 • UWP CEE Department Faculty University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents 2007 Teaching Excellence Award

24. If you are interested… An Innovative Infrastructure Curriculumfor 21st Century Civil Engineering. Roberts, M. et al. 2007 Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference

25. Further reading… Publisher: Wiley & Sons Fall 2011 Shameless Sales Pitch Mike Penn & Philip Parker

26. Thank you… mrpenn@uwplatt.edu

27. Geotech Structures Enviro The Problem Scenario #1 Scenario #2 Computer Applications in CEE Computer Applications in CEE Sophomore Intro to Construction Intro to Transportation Junior Intro to Geotech Highway Design Construction Equipment Costs and Estimates Pavement Design Intro to Structures Senior -1st Costruction Project Mgmt Traffic Intro to Enviro Senior Design Senior Design Senior – 2nd

28. What We Did As part of an NSF DLR grant we created a plan to: • revise our curriculum to emphasize social aspects of engineering (societal impacts, the political process, etc.) • infuse an infrastructure themethroughout the curriculum • outline a new I2I course developed later, with support of an NSF CCLI grant