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CIVL 495

ABET SYLLABUS

Course Title and Number

ENGR 195 - Lifelong Development for Engineers

Catalog Description

Professional practices in engineering: ethics, opportunities for continuing development, design practices, proper use of computer software, professional relationships. A substantial written project will be required.

Prerequisites

ENGL 001; graduation in engineering expected within 12 months

Coordinators

Reed Gibby and Stewart Oakley, Professors of Civil Engineering

Textbook and Other Required Material

Johnson, Deborah  Ethical Issues in Engineering, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1991

Course Objectives

The objectives of the course are to:

  • Allow the prospective engineering graduate an opportunity to develop or assess personal values to deal with ethical situations that may be faced in the profession
  • Make engineers aware of opportunities for career development, community service, and political action both within and outside the engineering profession
  • Inform potential graduates about design practices common to all engineering disciplines; applications of computer software, quality control in design, and value engineering
  • Develop awareness in the engineering student of professional problems relating to such things as unionization, marketing engineering services, relations with clients, co-workers and the public
  • Increase awareness of the role of society in engineering decisions and the impact of such decisions on society

Topics Covered

  • Career Development
  • Engineering and Society
  • Values and Ethics     
  • Professionalism
  • Business Organizations
  • Design Practices
  • Examinations

Outcomes

This course satisfies the General Education requirement for Breadth Area E (Lifelong Learning) for engineering. The course focuses on open-ended ethical issues that are addressed through classroom discussions, readings of case studies and extensive writing assignments. Students are required to develop, assess and express their own viewpoints, both verbally and in writing, to a wide range of hypothetical ethical situations encountered in engineering practice.

Class/Laboratory Schedule

One hundred minutes of lecture per week
One hundred minutes of activity per week

Contribution of Course to Meet the Professional Component

This course meets the ABET criteria:

  • An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
  • An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
  • An ability to communicate effectively
  • The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context
  • A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
  • A knowledge of contemporary issues

Relationship of Course to Program Objectives

The course supports the achievement of the following program objectives:

  • Tto develop skills or oral and written communication, critical thinking, and leadership which are important to a successful professional life
  • To prepare graduates for numerous options including graduate or professional school as well as entering the civil engineering profession
  • To instill in civil engineering majors a sense of good citizenship, community service, and ethical responsibility

Assessment

Students are required to submit daily memos on class readings and a substantial written report on a case study found in the literature. Verbal discussion of class readings is a requirement throughout the course. Assessment is achieved through grading of weekly memo assignments, two exams, a final written report and oral presentation, and evaluation of student participation in classroom discussions.