Developing a Curriculum Incorporating the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge and Sustainable Design through an Active Urban Laboratory

Manhattan University, Bronx NY

Investigators

Abstract

The planning grant is to develop a curriculum to incorporate the civil engineering Body of Knowledge and Sustainable Design through an Active Urban Laboratory. The proposed planning project has several unique attributes will transform the way Civil Engineering is taught in the classrooms and will provide a truly positive learning experience for the students. One feature of the project is to make Civil Engineering education knowledge based process not just a learning mechanism. Another feature of this project is the focus on interdisciplinary engineering approach to provide the student with the knowledge of engineering design, environmental impact, sustainable design and construction, transportation issues, public policy, and construction management. As a result, the civil engineering students will combine lecture style education with real life experimental project. The junior and senior students are participating in the planning, analysis, design and construction of an actual structural system. Those students are now working under the supervision of the teacher and the industrial partners. Every student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department will accumulate within the last two year of undergraduate education at least 120 hours of professional experience in a design office, at a construction site or at construction management office. Those 120 hours are equivalent three courses in engineering. The experiential learning of the students at Manhattan College will be a process, starting with experimental work in college laboratories (Mechanics, Structures, Fluids, Geotechnical) and then applied experimental work in Active Urban laboratories.