Lesson in implementing sustainability courses into the engineering curriculum

摘要

This paper describes a newly accredited Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree requiring the completion of a two-course sequence in sustainability. The sustainability courses are the first significant exposure for undergraduate engineering students to sustainability, environmental impacts, and industrial ecology. This paper will discuss the lessons learned after four years of offering the two-course sustainability sequence in a general engineering curriculum. The first offerings of the sustainability courses identified students lacked the requisite understanding of applied chemistry and thermal sciences needed to fully understand potential anthropogenic impacts to the environment and broader sustainability issues. Students also noted dissatisfaction with the available textbooks, being frustrated by either a lack of quantitative examples or an overemphasis on waste treatment. Implementation of the combination of the following course modifications noticeably increased students' understanding of sustainability: (1) More extensive pre-requisites for general chemistry and thermo sciences were required. (2) A sustainable engineering textbook and workbook were adopted. (3) Literature on sustainability and engineering outcomes was adopted, as it became more broadly available. (4) Class time was focused more on student work time and question and answer time, with heavier reliance placed upon reading and independent study time for gaining information about the course content. Remaining challenges include, determining and adapting to prerequisites for the course, adapting the courses to the evolving engineering curriculum, and prioritizing topics to be covered.