Civil And Environmental Engineering Research Articles

A corpus-based comparison of linguistic markers of stance and genre in the academic writing of novice and advanced engineering learners

AbstractStance-taking in academic writing plays a crucial role in enabling tertiary academic writers to express their positions about their topics and other voices. Based on a corpus linguistic analysis of academic reports by civil and environmental engineering (CEE) undergraduate students and student papers in the Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers (MICUSP), this article investigates the use of stance markers in the genres of persuasive and argumentative writing as well as analytical explanatory writing. This study compares the stance markers used by L2 engineering students (Hong Kong University) and native engineering students (U.S. University) to investigate the genre-specific lexical stance patterns used by academic writers. This study found that stance within the CEE reports and MICUSP was expressed through approximative hedges and boosters, code glosses, and adversative and contrast connections, pointing to a specific developmental trajectory as academic writers. Non-native engineering students were found to use a significantly smaller number of approximative, self-mention, and evidential verb hedges. In addition, they tend to use a more significant number of modal hedges compared to native English speakers. The CEE students’ reports also tended to be characterized by the underuse of boosters, contrastive connectors, emphasis, and counter-expectancy markers. However, the study found no significant difference in the use of exemplification markers between the CEE and MICUSP. The findings of this study support the construction of the academic stance as a process of delimiting one’s perspective. This is achieved by deploying selected stance features to account for other scholarly perspectives.

The 6th International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (CENVIRON) 2023 Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) present the proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (CENVIRON) 2023, hosted in conjunction with The Global Trends in Engineering, Science & Technology Congress 2023 (GTEST2023). This edition’s theme, “Enhancing Liveability and Sustainability through Green Technology,” highlights our dedication to investigating cutting-edge solutions that promote a more liveable and sustainable society. The hybrid conference, held on September 4 – 5th, 2023, at the Sabah Room, World Trade Centre (WTC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, gathered academicians, researchers, and practitioners from around the world together. We honourably welcome our keynote and invited speakers Associate Professor Dr. Filippo Giustozzi, RMIT University, Australia and Professor Dr. Sumate Chaiprapat, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.CENVIRON’s principal goal is to provide an effective forum for the sharing of knowledge, research findings, and technology breakthrough. This conference is critical in encouraging collaboration and creativity within the community as we traverse the ever-changing landscape of sustainability in civil and environmental engineering subjects aligned to SDG 6, 11, 12 and 17. The primary subjects addressed in this conference include, the:1. Environmental Sustainability and Green Practices,2. Water Management and Quality,3. Environmental Health and Safety,4. Urban Ecology, Transportation, and Pollution ControlWe would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the individuals and organisations who made this event possible. Prof. Dato’ Ts. Dr. Zaliman Sauli, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), and Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Zulzikrami Azner Abidin, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, and the Research Management Centre UniMAP’s team deserve our warmest gratitude for their outstanding support and coordination. We also thank our valued co-organizers from Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Universitas Muhammadiyah Aceh, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their combined efforts.Without the kind sponsorship of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Master Jaya Green Technology, Mega Jati Academy Sdn. Bhd. and Pentas Flora Sdn. Bhd., this conference would not have been possible. Their financial assistance has significantly facilitated the expansion of CENVIRON, enabling us to provide a prestigious and comfortable venue for vital discussions and the exchange of knowledge.The conference’s geographical scope was not restricted to the physical venue alone. On September 5, 2023, we expanded our reach to the Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Library, Universiti Malaysia Perlis Main Campus, Perlis, Malaysia, in addition to the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This dual-location strategy sought to increase participant accessibility and participation. The conference used a hybrid strategy that included both physical and online sessions. The 11 attendees in person had a rich programme with two parallel sessions, while the 53 participants who joined remotely via the Google Meet platform had nine parallel sessions. Each presentation, including the Q&A, was allotted 20 minutes, guaranteeing a lively and participatory atmosphere.Participants, both actual and virtual, contributed enthusiastically to the various sessions hosted on the Google Meet platform. The chairpersons’ and co-hosts’ joint efforts over nine various links facilitated smooth sessions and vibrant debates. We urge you to explore the wealth of knowledge offered in these proceedings, which demonstrates the community’s dedication to furthering Earth and Environmental Science. We hope that the ideas offered during the 6th CENVIRON will spark additional study, collaboration, and technical breakthroughs for the benefit of our global community.List of Executive Committee, Organizing and Technical Committee are available in the pdf.

Factors affecting student readiness towards OBE implementation in engineering education: Evidence from a developing country

Engineering universities in the South Asian region have been investigating the efficacy of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in preparing their students to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Evaluating students' motivations towards OBE is crucial for its successful implementation into engineering degree programs. This research aims to explore students' readiness towards OBE implementation at one of the prominent engineering universities in Bangladesh. To achieve this aim, an instrument was developed to comprehensively measure students' readiness towards the implementation of OBE. The survey instrument with a 7-point scale, measuring six constructs of the proposed model, such as (a) Students' awareness, (b) Teachers' commitment, (c) Institutional support, (d) Perceived easiness, (e) Students' motivation, and (f) Self-efficacy, was developed and administered to a pilot sample of sixty-eight participants (N = 68) from two engineering domains: Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). The final data was collected from a cohort of Three Hundred and Seventy participants (N = 370), distributed across four engineering domains. A structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of the Smart-PLS software was conducted to determine the construct validity of the measurement model and to evaluate the model fit. Results from the analysis indicate no significant positive effect of teachers' commitment (TC) on students' readiness (SR). However, the results reveal a significant positive effect of students' awareness (SA) and perceived easiness (PE) on students’ readiness (SR). Results also reveal no significant moderating role of institutional support (IS) on the relation between the exogenous variables (IS, SA, PE) and the endogenous variable (SR). The research recommends Institutional Support as essential for instructors and students to implement outcome-based education (OBE) in engineering education.

Understanding Research Data Practices of Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate Students

Research data management is essential for high-quality reproducible research, yet relatively little is known about how research data management is practiced by graduate students in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Prior research suggests that faculty in CEE delegate research data management to graduate students, prompting this investigation into how graduate students practice data management. This study uses semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis to explore how CEE graduate students work with data and practice data management in their research, as well as what resources and support would meet their needs. Many respondents touched on data collection, data management, disseminating research outputs, and collaboration and learning in their interviews. Several themes emerged from the interviews: data quality as a concern, as many CEE graduate students rely on secondary data for research; a gap between values and enacted practices; a connection between disseminating data and reproducibility; and a reliance on peer and self-directed learning for data management education. Based on these themes, the study recommends strategies for librarians and others on campus to better support CEE graduate student research data practices.

Strategies for Improving Diversity and Inclusion in an Engineering Department

AbstractThe Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at Rowan University is part of a growing and expanding college at Rowan University. The overwhelming majority of CEE students are wh...

Decision Support for Civil Engineering Students: Analysis of Alumni Career Paths

Undergraduate students in engineering face many important decisions in the final 2 years of their degree program. These decisions can have an impact on long-term career choices, such as specialization area, career role of interest, and whether to apply to graduate school. Unfortunately, uninformed decisions can lead to missed opportunities, as well as the student potentially leaving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education due to choosing a specialization that is not well aligned with their interests. This survey-based study assists students by analyzing the personality types, demographics, and career paths of 567 alumni that have earned an undergraduate degree in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) and are no longer enrolled in a university. Study findings include the fact that certain demographics, personality types, and job preferences are significant predictors of the final outcome of an alumni’s career when choosing between the different technical areas within CEE and professional roles. Family history of having an engineer in the immediate family did not prove to be a significant factor in these decisions. In addition, little significance was found between the data captured in the survey of whether or not someone would go on to earn a graduate degree in CEE. Given where significant relationships were found, it is recommended that future studies focus on testing additional personality types (e.g., is enthusiastic) and job traits (e.g., likes a desk job) to provide even greater distinctions between the technical areas and roles.

Emotional Intelligence and Undergraduate Engineering Students

Engineers in construction and manufacturing are expected to be able to work with and lead diverse, multidisciplinary teams. Engineering students entering the workforce must be not only technically competent, but also possess skills in working with other people. These traits are frequently lacking with newly graduated engineering students due to the highly technical focus of their curriculum. The opportunity to develop Emotional Intelligence skills is limited. This research proposed that Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) undergraduate students may possess a higher level of Emotional Intelligence than Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) undergraduate students. The research also proposed that if differences were observed, that causal influences could be identified. Undergraduate engineering students at The Citadel completed The TalentSmart Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® along with demographic data and a variety of questions regarding their undergraduate experience. This research included freshman and senior students in Civil and Environmental (CEE) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at The Citadel. These surveys suggested that undergraduate engineering students increase their EI score as they advance from Freshman to Senior year. The surveys also suggest that Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Majors do not advance in their EI scores from Freshman to Senior year as well as Civil and Environmental (CEE) majors. A positive connection was established between work experience and the impact on higher levels of EI. A positive correlation for growth in EI score was also demonstrated for students who attended high schools with smaller graduating classes. Based on the results of this research, the paper proposes CEE and ECE faculty place increased emphasis on encouraging students to pursue summer jobs, internships, and similar extracurricular programs. Both CEE and ECE faculty should evaluate their curriculum with an eye towards inculcating learning opportunities for EI into course work. Additionally, faculty and admission officials should give at least equal consideration to admitting students who graduate from smaller schools that may offer less college prep courses that may appeal to admissions officials

Applied instrumentation for civil engineering at the American University of Beirut

This article describes the development of a course on Applied Instrumentation for Civil Engineering students at the American University of Beirut. It is an elective course for civil and environmental engineering students and for electrical and computer engineering students. Discussions with faculty members in the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department motivated the course and it was possible in part by support from the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society’s (IMS) Faculty Course Development Award.

Inclusion of an Introduction to Infrastructure Course in a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum

AbstractCivil infrastructure refers to the built environment (sometimes referred to as public works) and consists of roads, bridges, buildings, dams, levees, drinking water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, power generation and transmission facilities, communications, solid waste facilities, hazardous waste facilities, and other sectors. Although there is a need to train engineers who have a holistic view of infrastructure, there is evidence that civil and environmental engineering (CEE) programs have not fully addressed this increasingly recognized need. One effective approach to address this educational gap is to incorporate a course related to infrastructure into the curriculum for first-year or second-year civil and environmental engineering students. Therefore, this study assesses the current status of teaching such courses in the United States and identifies the incentives for, and the barriers against, incorporating an introduction to infrastructure course into schools’ current...

Foreword to the Special Issue on Civil and Environmental Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar

This Special Issue in Near Surface Geophysics (NSG) on Civil and Environmental Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar is organized in the dual frame of the GI3.1 Session “Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar”, which is held yearly within the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), and the EU-funded COST Action TU1208 “Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar”.

Student Perceptions of Sustainability Education in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology

AbstractFor sustainable engineering to contribute to sustainability, curricular reforms are needed to train sustainability-conscious engineers. Examining student perceptions of sustainability education can provide insights for benchmarking the current quality of a curriculum and for identifying strategies for reforming a curriculum. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine student interest in, knowledge of, and experiences related to sustainability in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). A survey was developed and administered to students (n=153) enrolled in CEE capstone courses. The results indicated that although students are interested in sustainable development, there is potential for further enhancing sustainability learning. In addition, students reported that CEE courses strongly impacted their learning, which underscores the importance of curricular quality. Finally, although students were generally satisfied with CEE sustainability ed...

Managing the LEED Analysis for the New Civil and Environmental Engineering Complex at Mississippi State University

AbstractMississippi State University (MSU) represented by its Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department is currently in the design–development stage for the construction of a new CEE Complex (CEEC). The CEE is garnering a new focus on sustainability with special emphasis on environmentally responsible design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities. To promote the aforementioned goals of sustainability, the authors have mentored a group of 23 undergraduate junior students under the High-Performance Sustainable Construction class to provide a comprehensive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) analysis for the new CEEC. Based on the 2009 Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, this paper presents a detailed overview showing (1) which credits are attainable in light of the current available design documents; (2) which credits are not incorporated in the current design documents but are achievable with some modifications and amendments; and (3) whic...

Integrating Fundamental Science and Engineering Concepts into a Civil Engineering Sustainability Course

Integrating Fundamental Science and Engineering Concepts into a Civil Engineering Sustainability Course

The Socially Responsible Engineer: Assessing Student Attitudes of Roles and Responsibilities

BackgroundA state university's Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) programs initiated curricular reform efforts that incorporated systems thinking and service learning as part of a National Science Foundation Department Level Reform (DLR) grant.Purpose(Hypothesis)The purpose of this study was to examine changes in students' perceptions of engineers' social responsibilities and technical knowledge that were influenced by the programs' DLR curricula reforms. A secondary goal was to test the validity and reliability of a student attitude survey.Design/MethodA longitudinal, concurrent, mixed method study was implemented over a four‐year period. A survey was developed and administered to 125 graduating CEE seniors. Qualitative analyses included open‐ended survey responses and interviews with faculty, students, and focus groups.ResultsStudent attitudes declined during the first two years of implementation with students citing dissatisfaction with course changes. Yet, no statistically significant difference was found for students' self‐reported technical knowledge and social responsibilities by graduating class or major. Female students, however, showed a positive statistically significant difference in their self‐perceptions of increased technical knowledge and engineers' social responsibilities. Adoption of new language was noticeable for students in the Class of 2009, indicating that concepts of systems thinking and service learning were beginning to be assimilated. The student attitude survey was determined to be a valid and reliable instrument.ConclusionStudents caught in the middle of program reform are likely to resist change and express dissatisfaction. Assessments of student attitudes allowed implementers to evaluate their reform efforts' successes and shortcomings and enabled them to adapt and modify their strategies accordingly.