First-Year Engineering Students’ Environmental Awareness and Conceptual Understanding through a Pilot Sustainable Development Module

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system. Design/methodology/approach ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned. Findings The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics. Originality/value This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.

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Impact of Household Location on First-Year Engineering Students' Environmental Awareness and Resistance to Change

Journal of Engineering Education ◽

10.1002/jee.20028 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 102 (4) ◽

pp. 603-625 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicole Weber ◽

Melissa Dyehouse ◽

Christopher C. Miller ◽

Jun Fang ◽

Inez Hua ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Engineering Students ◽

Resistance To Change ◽

Environmental Awareness ◽

First Year ◽

Household Location

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Gender differences in chemical engineering students identified in understanding of rolling motion

Glasnik hemicara i tehnologa Bosne i Hercegovine ◽

10.35666/ghtbh.2020.54.06 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

Male Students ◽

First Year ◽

Rolling Motion ◽

Energy Principle ◽

First Year Students ◽

Engineering And Technology

In this research papaer we presented the results of exploration of gender differences in conceptual understanding of rolling motion (velocities and work-energy principle). For this purpose, we have selected nine conceptual items and conducted experiment with 184 first year students at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb. Results show that male students significantly outperformed female students. We detected particularly large differences on items that tests knowledge of the rolling phenomena. Results of our research can help teachers to create lessons that are adapted to general student population.

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ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS OF CIVIL ENGINEERS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY

Problems of Education in the 21st Century ◽

10.33225/pec/21.79.568 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (4) ◽

pp. 568-584

Author(s):

Inna Khyzhniak ◽

Vasyl Kravets ◽

Larysa Lysak ◽

Vita Hryhorieva

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

General Education ◽

Professional Training ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Technical Education ◽

Environmental Awareness ◽

Management Skills ◽

Questionnaire Method ◽

Civil Engineers

In the context of the man-made burden on the natural environment, the issues of developing civil engineering students’ environmental awareness are important and particularly relevant to low environmental security countries, which include Ukraine. The authors emphasize the need for broad implementation of the Concept of Sustainable Development in professional training of civil engineering students, determine the level of their environmental awareness, compare the levels of formation of environmental awareness components, and pursue to identify effective ways to environmentalize engineering training. The study involved the students of Donbas National Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture. The authors selected the semi-structured questionnaire method combining rating, Likert and importance scales, alternative and unstructured questions, as well as elements of the Azapagic and the Naturafil techniques. The results did not prove the formation level of the civil engineering students’ environmental awareness to be unsatisfactory. It was also found that the civil engineering students have steady environmental beliefs and are willing to comply with environmental norms in their activities. This fact brought the authors to the conclusion that the current practice of higher technical education in Ukraine takes account of sustainable development. The level of the civil engineering students’ environmental knowledge was also determined as sufficient, while their environmental activity and environmental management skills were seen as low. According to the authors, the use of integrated and practice-oriented approaches to teaching professional subjects and the introduction of environmental topics into general education subjects will contribute to strengthened environmentalization of professional training of civil engineers. Keywords: civil engineer, environmental awareness, higher school, sustainable development, technical education

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Pre-, post- and delayed post-test evaluation of the conceptual understanding of direct current resistive electric circuits of cohorts of first year electrical engineering students

2013 48th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference (UPEC) ◽

10.1109/upec.2013.6714872 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Aidan O'Dwyer

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Direct Current ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Electrical Engineering ◽

First Year ◽

Test Evaluation ◽

Electric Circuits ◽

Post Test

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Conceptual Understanding of Resistive Electric Circuits Among First-year Engineering Students

10.18260/1-2--21097 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Deepika Sangam ◽

Brent Jesiek

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Engineering Students ◽

First Year ◽

Electric Circuits

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Introducing First Year Engineering Students to Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Systems

ICSI 2014 ◽

10.1061/9780784478745.091 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Angela R. Bielefeldt

Keyword(s):

Engineering Students ◽

First Year ◽

Rating Systems

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REVERSE ENGINEERING: TENSION RATCHET DISSECTION PROJECT

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3726 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Jeremiah Vanderlaan ◽

Josh Richert ◽

James Morrison ◽

Thomas Doyle

Keyword(s):

Reverse Engineering ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Measurement Techniques ◽

First Year ◽

Stepping Stones ◽

First Year Students ◽

Final Project ◽

Undergraduate Study ◽

Solid Edge ◽

Part Modeling

We are a group of engineering students, in our first year of undergraduate study. We have been selected from one thousand first year students and have competed and won the PACE competition. All engineers share a common general first year, but we have been accepted into Civil and Mechanical engineering. This project was assigned as the final project in the Design and Graphics course. The project we are tasked with, called the Cornerstone Design Project, is to first dissect a product, discover how it works, dimension each part and create a fully assembled model using CAD software (Solid Edge V20 in our case). As part of discovering how it works we must benchmark it so the device can be compared with competing products. The goal of the project is to develop a full understanding of part modeling and assembly in Solid Edge, learn proper measurement techniques, and learn the process of reverse engineering and product dissection. All of these tasks were stepping stones to help us fully understand how the device, and all its components, work.

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Implementation of the Second-year course in an Engineering Professional Spine

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.v0i0.13070 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Umar Iqbal ◽

Deena Salem ◽

David Strong

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Research University ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Employability Skills ◽

First Year ◽

Computer Engineering ◽

Core Courses ◽

Second Year ◽

First Time ◽

Academic Year

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.

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First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.v0i0.4635 ◽

1969 ◽

Author(s):

Sean Maw ◽

Janice Miller Young ◽

Alexis Morris

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Expected Value ◽

Knowledge Development ◽

First Year ◽

Recent Past ◽

Engineering Programs ◽

Digital Computation ◽

Pedagogical Philosophies ◽

Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

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