2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Effective Practices and Lessons Learned in Managing and Sustaining Curriculum and Cultural Change at CEEatGT

Presented at Curricular & Course Design

A research-intensive school of Civil and Environmental Engineering embarked on a change journey some years ago to enhance early engagement in the profession and major, augment retention and improve engineering efficacy in the undergraduate program. The initiative aims to enhance the sense of belonging of the students to the profession, school, and major, as well as to graduate more holistic engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. Subsequently garnering external funding, the initiative applies interactive learning and entrepreneurially minded learning (EML) pedagogies - such as problem-based learning (PBL), team development, story-driven learning (SDL), and, value sensitive design (VSD) as well as computational skills development - to engage students early and keep them engaged throughout their undergraduate journey. This paper discusses effective practices, challenges and lessons learned along the way with the objective of supporting other change journeys in undergraduate engineering education. A wide range of practices were identified to be effective including developing the initiative around one or more real, compelling problem(s), engaging stakeholders on a continuing basis to communicate motives for change; managing tensions and sharing successes; investing in faculty and staff development to support the desired changes; asking students to share their stories with the broader community highlighting benefits from the initiative; institutionalizing the change objectives in formal plans, programs, policies, and positions within the school, and formally evaluating the impacts of the change(s), and sharing and rewarding successes. This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on effective practices for change in undergraduate engineering curricula and programs.

Authors

Dr. Adjo A Amekudzi-Kennedy Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Professor Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy's research, teaching and professional activities focus on civil infrastructure decision making to promote sustainable development. She studies complex real-world systems and develops decision support systems to support infrastructure for sustainable communities. Amekudzi-Kennedy is also involved in the study, design and advancement of engineering and leadership teaching-and-learning environments to promote student success.
Dr. Donald Webster http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3397-9222 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Donald Webster, Ph.D., P.E. is the Karen & John Huff School Chair and Professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Webster earned a B.S. from the University of California, Davis (1989), and M.S. (1991) and Ph.D. (1994) degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in September 1997 after completing a postdoctoral research appointment at Stanford University and holding a non-tenure-track faculty position at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Webster’s research expertise lies in environmental fluid mechanics focused on the influence of fluid motion and turbulence on biological systems. His contributions have been in three arenas: 1) illuminating the fluid mechanics processes related to sensory biology and biomechanics; 2) developing advanced experimental techniques and facilities; and 3) translating research results into bio-inspired design. In recognition of these contributions, Dr. Webster is a Sustaining Fellow of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He has won numerous awards including the Felton Jenkins, Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award, Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology Award, the Eichholz Faculty Teaching Award, and the British Petroleum Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr. Ellen Zerbe http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-6212-9542 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Ellen Zerbe is a Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech. She earned her PhD from Penn State University and B.S.M.E. from Grove City College.
Dr. Susan E Burns P.E. Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Susan E. Burns, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE is the Georgia Power Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Programs in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Burns earned a Bachelor Degree
Dr. Michael Hunter Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Julia Melkers http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5045-4068 Arizona State University [biography]

Julia Melkers is ASU Foundation Professor of Public Policy and Management in the School of Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Organization Research and Design (CORD). Her research portfolio addresses the careers, research capacity and outcomes of academic scientific and other knowledge-based professions. Her work has been funding by the U.S. NSF, NIH and several foundations. Dr. Melkers has extensive experience of more than two decades in advising and evaluating large interdisciplinary scientific teams. She is the U.S. co-editor of the Journal of Research Evaluation (Oxford University Publishers). She holds an honorary visiting appointment at INGENIO [CSIC], University Polytechnic Valencia, Spain, and she participated in the Fulbright Specialist Program in Latvia. Prior to joining ASU, she was Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Research on Careers in Science Lab at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Terry Blum Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Kevin Haas Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Associate Chair of Undergraduate Programs, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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undergraduate