Developing a Research-Based Undergraduate Experience Focused on Systems Thinking, Information Technology and Laboratory Applications

University Of Vermont & State Agricultural College, Burlington VT

Investigators

Abstract

PROPOSAL NO.: 0230554 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Hayden, Nancy INSTITUTION NAME: University of Vermont & State Agricultural College TITLE: Developing a Research-Based Undergraduate Experience Focused on Systems Thinking, Information Technology and Laboratory Applications Abstract The goal of this planning grant is to develop a comprehensive plan and strategy to reformulate the undergraduate experience within the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont to allow its graduates to meet the engineering and technological challenges of the future. It is important to change the way students are educated to better develop their creativity, promote their critical thinking, enhance their knowledge discovery skills and promote life-long learning and teaching. The vision for achieving this presented in this proposal is to develop a research-based educational experience for students throughout their undergraduate tenure. This experience will focus on: (1) systems thinking, and an appreciation of the societal and environmental impacts of engineered systems; (2) Information Technology (IT) applications and computational modeling; and (3) experience in the design, conduct and analysis of hands-on laboratory experiments.