SOME EXPERIENCES WITH THE INTRODUCTION AND
TEACHING OF AN INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING CLASS

ABSTRACT

Recently, a new two-credit hour course titled "Introduction to Civil Engineering" was introduced at SIUC. This paper will discuss the experiences of the author in developing and teaching this course for the first time. There were many reasons for introducing this class. One reason is to provide early contact with the students. Otherwise, their first civil engineering class is in their fourth semester of study. Meeting the students earlier should help in reducing the number of students who change their major before they take a civil engineering class. Another reason is to provide a design experience early in the student's program of study, thereby, helping to integrate the engineering design experience throughout the curriculum. The third reason is to provide training in the use of computer programs that the students will use in subsequent classes.

The class has a one hour lecture per week, and a two-hour lab or small group session. The topics of the lectures include the following: a discussion of the profession of engineering, the various subfields of civil engineering (i.e., structures, environmental, geotechnical, etc.); engineering ethics and professionalism; the engineering design process; problem solving strategies; written and oral communication skills; practical information on using units properly, preparing homework assignments, and graphing; and an introduction to statistics.

The lab is split between computer instruction and design exercises. Instruction is provided on how to use a web browser, a word processor, a spread sheet, and an e-mail package. These programs will be used in subsequent classes. The use of the computer programs is reinforced by a series of exercises. The small group meetings are related to various aspects of design. The first meeting involves a simple design-and-build activity, such as a newspaper bridge. Other activities include a communications exercise, where the students are challenged to display their oral, written, and graphical skills to convey ideas, leading to the students having a greater appreciation for the need for clear communications by engineers. Nearly all of the activities are performed by small teams of students. The concepts of teamwork and group dynamics are emphasized. These exercises are meant to be both educational and fun for the students.

Additional topics on study skills and making the transition from high school to college will be added in the future. It is hoped that this class should have a positive impact on student retention.

INTRODUCTION

Recently, a set of first year level "Introduction to Engineering" courses have been added to the curriculum at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Courses have been introduced by Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the freshmen level. While these courses have many similarities, each has a distinct focus and purpose. This paper is concerned with the Civil Engineering course "CE 101 - Introduction to Civil Engineering."

There were many reasons for introducing this course. Some of these reasons were in response to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) guidelines about integrating design, computer usage and statistics throughout the curriculum. By introducing students to these topics at the freshman level, a foundation is created. While it is not expected that the students become experts during this class, they should have some basic skills and a sound idea about the role of engineers in the design process. They should have a basic appreciation of statistics that will be expanded on in subsequent laboratory classes. A higher level of expertise is expected in the area of computer skills. Subsequent classes can assign spreadsheet problems or require the use of a word processor with full confidence that the student has the required skills. This should save class time for later classes that will not have to provide basic instruction on these topics to some students.

Over the last few semesters, there has been a decline in enrollment at SIUC and in the College of Engineering. Campus initiatives are underway in the area of recruitment and retention of students. It was the opinion of the Civil Engineering faculty that contact with CE students at the first year level would aid in retention in engineering. Students would be better informed about their choice of a major and have contact with engineering faculty and other engineering classes at a much earlier point in their academic careers.

There were several topics that the faculty felt that students needed some exposure to. These ranged from general orientation about the campus such as student organization, using the library, advising, financial aid, etc., to program specific topics such as presented homework in a prescribed format, graphing, and using units.

Opportunities also exist for presenting topics on academic skills such as notetaking and time management as suggested by Landis [1]. While this class was not original designed as a student success class, some of these topics are covered.

This paper will discuss the author's experiences teaching this class for the last two semesters. Some detail on the mechanics of this class will be discussed as well as the students' reaction to the efforts. The reaction of the faculty to this class will also be covered in a brief fashion.

Perhaps the easiest material in this class is the lectures on orientation. Handouts were prepared or gathered from agencies across campus. Representative from the library and other groups were invited to speak to the class. Appointments were arranged for groups to visit the library and learn how to use the electronic card catalog. The Dean of Engineering and the Civil Engineering Department head were guest speakers.

Students reacted favorably to these topics. Much of this material was covered in a freshman orientation session before the fall semester, but the students seemed to overwhelmed with new experiences at that time. Presenting this material in a classroom setting seemed to help.

DISCUSSION OF THE PROFESSION OF ENGINEERING

Most first year college students have little knowledge of what engineering is and what engineers do. In areas such a accounting, education, and agriculture the student usually has some frame of reference or general idea about the major. Most students choose engineering because they were "good in math and science" and heard engineering paid well. One goal of this class was to help the students understand what engineering is, and in particular what civil engineering is. This is accomplished through lectures about the history of engineering, presenting the formal ABET definition of engineering, and discussing the day to day work of a "typical Engineer." Recent graduates of the program that are working in the area were used as guest lecturers to discuss this last topic. The interaction between the alumni and the students was good. The students seem to view the young engineers as peers and more approachable than the faculty. There is a sense that some students do not think of engineering faculty as "real" engineers.

The various areas of civil engineering (structures, geotech, hydraulics, environmental, etc.) were also presented. Students were asked to select an area of interest and interview a faculty member in that area. This assignment works on several levels. The student meets a faculty member, helping them feel like a part of the CE community. The interview and subsequent report on it help develop communication skills. The student learns more about their area of interest, and must use the word processor in preparing the report. Many of the assignments in this class attempt to work on multiple levels.

By understanding more about the major they have chosen, students can better appreciate why some of the courses they take in the first two years of college are required. By explaining the major and discussing the curriculum, it is anticipated that the students will not feel as lost when they are taking chemistry, physics and calculus before they ever get to an engineering class. This is one of the retention aspects of this class.

Material in this area (and others) is supplement by use of the internet [2]. A web site has been created to support this class [3]. This web site has pages of links to sites at other colleges and universities that cover various aspects of civil engineering.

COMPUTER USAGE

Using microcomputers is a main focus of this class. The goal is that upon completion of this course the students will be able to competently use a spreadsheet and a word processor. They should also be able to use e-mail and a web browser. The particular programs used are EXCEL and WORD from Microsoft for the spreadsheet and word processor. Eudora Light is used for the e-mail client, and NETSCAPE is the web browser. While instruction is program specific, the general concepts are emphasized so that mastering another spreadsheet or word processor should be a simple task.

Computer instruction is done on a "hands on" basis in small groups (less than 10 students per group). Group size is limited by the number of seats in the PC lab as well as by the need for individual attention. Instruction is provide in a two hour block. Two lab sessions are devoted to spreadsheets and word processing, with one session on web browsing and one on e-mail.

For the spreadsheet, students need to be able to enter text, numbers and formulas and control the format (e.g. column width, font size and type). They must be able to navigate around the spreadsheet using the keyboard or the mouse. The use of formulas includes using built in functions such as SIN and COS for trig functions as well as some statistical functions such as MODE, AVERAGE, and MEDIAN. Basic editing tasks such as cut, copy, paste and fill are covered. Manipulating data with the sort command is also covered. Finally, the basics of creating graphs or charts are covered. Sample of line graphs and bar charts are shown. The use of the program is reinforced through a set of two assignments.

The basics of word processing are covered. Basic formatting is demonstrated, such as setting margins, line spacing, justification and font selection. In the second class on this topic, the use of the equation editor is covered. In both spreadsheets and word processing, the use of on-line help is emphasized so the students can learn more advanced material as they need it. Several small and one large paper are assigned in this class. These require the use of a word processor. Again, topics such as library research, technical writing and computer usage are all present in a single assignment.

Some of the reading material for this class is upon the world wide web. The internet represents a tremendous educational opportunity for the next century. Many first year engineering students are quite familiar with using a web browser such as NETSCAPE, while some have never used a computer. The basics setup of the web is explained. Elementary navigation using a browser is explained. The use of bookmarks (or favorite places) is covered. Some instruction is given in using the various search engines (e.g. LYCOS, EXCITE, YAHOO) available. The use of the web as a research tool is encouraged when they write their research paper for the class. As previously stated, a web site for this class has been developed. Required and optional reading assignments on this site are part of the curriculum for this class. The students get enough exposure to using NETSCAPE that any internet assignment in subsequent classes should present no trouble. The use of the web is the most popular aspect of this class. Students find many recreational as well as educational uses for the internet.

Some facility with the use of electronic mail is required. The program in use is Eudora Light. Students are helped to get an e-mail account and shown how to use the e-mail client. Topics such as including a signature file, creating a personal address book, and sending files electronically as attachments are covered. It is encouraged that some of the spreadsheet and word processing files be submitted by e-mail. In one senior level class, all assignments are required to be turned in electronically. This topics is also very popular with students. Most of them have friends at other schools that they keep in touch with via e-mail.

There can be a wide range of computer skills among the students at the beginning of this class. Those students that have extensive skills find some of the basic instruction boring. Students that can clearly demonstrate mastery of a program are excused from the lab sessions about that program. They are still required to do the homework assignments. By providing this level of instructions to all first year students, instructors in upper level classes can reasonably expect a uniform minimum level of computer literacy.

DESIGN

Teaching design in an introduction to engineering course is probably the most controversial topic covered in this class. Many faculty and practitioners will claim that you cannot do design at the freshman level since the students do not have the technical expertise. It should be remembered that the ABET definition of design speaks of open-ended problems. With some careful planning it is possible to introduce the area of engineering design at the freshman level. In this class design work is done in a series of in-class and homework assignments.

The engineering design process is introduced in lecture. The lecture material is based on a paper by Barry Hyman from University of Washington [4] that is available on the internet. This paper presents a nine step model of the design process, emphasizing the iterative nature of the process. These lectures lay a strong foundation for the student to understand the design process, a provide a context for them to understand the need for the engineering science classes that they will take at the sophomore and junior levels.

The students are asked to utilize the principles of the engineering design process in an individual design project and later in a group design and build project. The individual projects are basically layout problems. The students are asked to come up with the layout of their ideal concept for items such as a golf practice facility, a grade school playground, a bass boat, or a health club. They are required to consider alternatives, gives reasons for the inclusion of the features that they select. Some basic cost estimation is also a major part of this project. A report with drawings is required from each student. The results are not polished engineering design reports and plans, but tend to be of a high quality for their level of academic expertise. The students seem to enjoy this project, as it gives them the sense of being an engineer.

In the group project, the class is broken up into small groups of three or four students. They are asked to design, build, test and demonstrate a mechanical device. Some examples are mouse trap powered cars, a device to separate balls of different sizes and weights, and a wind powered windup mechanism. Mechanical projects are selected since civil engineering projects tend to be too large for design and build type of exercises. Students are encouraged to use readily available, low cost materials (e.g. cardboard, glue, duct tape) . The teams are given several weeks to do this task. Very brief weekly progress reports are required. A written and oral presentation of the results accompanied by a demonstration is part of the exercise. The typical problems of working in groups are usually encountered. Students miss meetings or tend to dominate the group. Some time is taken to discuss how groups function and the need for engineers to work in groups. This exercise helps develop not only design skills, but teamwork and communication skills as well. Results for these projects have been outstanding. Some very clever solutions to some of the problems have been presented. However, this is usually the first time that academic success depends in part on other people, so some may find that aspect of this assignment to be bothersome.

Some in-class design exercises are also done. During the first week, students are asked to work in a small team to build a bridge out of newspaper and a roll of tape. This serves as a way of letting the students get to know each other and try a "design". Their experiences in this exercise serves as a basis for discussion later after the engineering design process lecture. The students find that they intuitively followed many of the steps in the design process model, including the iterative nature of design.

Another in-class project involves Legos. A small group of students is given a set of 30-40 blocks and are asked to construct an object and to write a set of instructions so that another group with an identical set of blocks can construct the same object. This exercise emphasizes the importance for communicating the results of a design in a useful fashion to others.

Hard core technical design is emphasized in the senior level classes, but there are ways to have a meaningful exposure to design at the freshman level. Projects such as those outlined above serve to convey information about design to students at the freshman level.

STATISTICS

To help integrate the knowledge and use of statistics throughout the civil engineering curriculum, it was decided to include some discussion of statistics in this class. Currently, no formal class in statistics is required. One difficulty in trying to introduce statistics at this level is the wide range of backgrounds in mathematics. Only about 50% of the students in this class are taking calculus. The others are taking college algebra or trigonometry. Only some general topics relating to statistics are covered.

Measures of center (mean, median and mode), and histograms or normal distributions including standard deviations are as in depth as the class gets in the area of statistics. A set of three videotapes called "Decisions Through Data" by David Moore [5]. These tapes illustrate the basic principles and show some real world applications of statistics. The training on the use of the spreadsheet is expanded to include doing some elementary statistical work. The built in statistical functions are used to find the average and median for sets of data.

CONCLUSION

This paper has tried to convey some of the reasons for having a freshman level class in Introduction to Engineering. Such classes can exist in many form. At SIUC the classes are taught by individual departments. Some institutions teach a college wide class. Credit ranges from one to three credit hours (two credit hours for CE 101 at SIUC). Content can range from "success based" classes to content oriented classes. The class described herein is a combination of both approaches. The hands on projects in class have proved to be very popular. Students report that they like to do things rather than be talked at all of the time.

It is the author's opinion that having students take a class like this makes them feel more like a part of their major than just taking math, science and general education classes for three or four semesters. The students get the chance to meet and interact with some engineering faculty. They spend time in the engineering buildings and can meet older students. They are made aware of student organizations at an earlier stage of their academic careers. All of these items should have a positive impact on retention.

The students leave this class with a better understanding of what engineering is and what engineers do. They have a better answer to why they want to be an engineer than it pays well. By discussing topics such as design and statistics, the students have a better fell for the reasons behind the engineering curriculum. They have begun to develop a sense of community with their faculty and fellow students. The knowledge about their chosen profession and the sense of belonging to the "engineering family" can provide them with the determination to tough out the hard academic times and become practicing professional engineers.

REFERENCES

1. Landis, Raymond B., Studying Engineering - A road map to a Rewarding Career, Discovery Press, Burbank, CA., 1995.

2. Craddock, James N., "Using the Internet to Create an "Electronic Text Book", to be presented at ICEE '97, The International Conference on Engineering Education, Chicago, IL.

3. CE 101 Web Site, http://howard.engr.siu.edu/civil/intro/ce101.htm.

4. "Into the Swamp: What is Engineering Design and How is It Done?", Barry Hyman, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, http://octavia.ce.washington.edu:2048/ENGR100/Teaching_Admin/Readings/SwampVibes.html

5. Moore, David, "Statistics: Decisions Through Data", videotapes, Video Applications Library, COMAP, Inc., Lexington MA., 1992.

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