ASCE Vision 2025 and the Capstone Design Project

Abstract

During the past two centuries, civil engineers have been mindful of the need to anticipate the world of the future and redefine their profession (Watson 1988) and reshape its academic base (Brown 1985). The ASCE’s Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 (ASCE 2007), hereafter referred to as the Vision, and its call for civil engineers around the globe to embrace the same, are thus a continuation of a long tradition. The Vision is underpinned by five learning outcomes: (1) master builders, (2) stewards of natural environment, (3) innovators and integrators of ideas and technology, (4) managers of risk and uncertainty, and (5) leaders in shaping public policy. The clarity, logic and relevance of the Vision and its subsequent road map (ASCE 2009) appeal to reason and are worth striving for. Additionally, reflection on the Vision indicates that one of its important tenets is the need for evolution of the academic curriculum (Toole 2011). Furthermore, the need for design to be the central theme in civil engineering education has recently been emphasized (Kirschenman and Brenner 2011). From these perspectives, it is believed that the undergraduate civil engineering capstone design project—hereafter referred to as the capstone design project—should be the foremost aspect for review, because of its critical importance in developing skills such as knowledge synthesis, team work, self-constructed learning, and the art of written and oral communication [Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) 2011; ASCE 2008]. Whereas critical reviews of capstone design project are available—for example, Andersen (1992), Dutson et al. (1997), Padmanathan and Katti (2002), Paul (2005), and Barry et al. (2012) to name a few—none has not yet been carried out, to the best of the author’s knowledge, with specific reference to the learning outcomes of the Vision. Accordingly, the objective of this forum is to benchmark the capstone design project at the University of the West Indies (UWI) with reference to the Vision and identify the transformational needs of the curriculum by means of a survey of the UWI-trained practicing civil engineers in the Commonwealth Caribbean. This forum also highlights the corresponding need for research in scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and points out that the dichotomy of teaching and research, as unrelated functions in the academia (Boyer 1990; Hutchings et al. 2011), needs to be addressed concurrently lest it become an obstacle in progressing towards the Vision.