Background: Civil engineers design systems that have the potential to impact existing oppressive societal conditions. Critical action--the ability to recognize and act against oppressive conditions--is an obligation for civil engineers committed to building a more just world. Purpose/Hypothesis: History reveals that civil engineers often do not…

Background: Engineers' identification with their profession is crucial for persistence among engineering students and career professionals. Significant research has been conducted on various dimensions of identity in the engineering field. However, little is known about the ways students negotiate these dimensions as they construct professional…

Background: Conceptual understanding is critical to both engineering education and practice. In fact, many undergraduate courses focus on developing students' knowledge and understanding of core engineering concepts. At the same time, a growing body of literature points to substantial gaps across educational and professional practice contexts,…

Background: Numerous studies have identified a gap between the writing skills of engineering program graduates and the demands of writing in the workplace; however, few studies have analyzed the writing of practitioners and students to better understand that gap and inform teaching materials. Purpose: This study sought to compare word-level,…

Background: This study was motivated by the ubiquity and apparent usefulness of general epistemological development schemes, notably that of William J. Perry, Jr., in engineering education, but also by limitations that derive from their generality. Purpose/Hypothesis: Empirical data were used to articulate engineering students' epistemological…

Background: The personal epistemologies of engineering faculty are an important and as yet underinvestigated aspect of engineering education. In this study, personal epistemology is defined as the stances an individual takes on issues related to knowledge and knowing, such as what it means to know, what counts as knowledge, and what makes some…

Analyzes the effectiveness of introducing practical design projects at an early stage within a civil engineering undergraduate program. Traces the success of this strategy at each stage from its introduction to the final evaluation. Findings indicate that the projects were successful in improving the understanding of basic concepts and encouraging…

Four projects were assigned to final year civil engineering undergraduates in a course on structural steel design. The projects involved the design, construction, and testing of two columns and two trusses. (TS)