2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The incorporation of video-based digital media projects into engineering education provides a means to enhance student engagement, practice student communication skills, and reinforce conceptual understanding of complex topics. This paper explores the integration of video-based assignments—such as explanatory YouTube-style content—as a pedagogical tool in an undergraduate civil engineering course. Through these assignments, students were encouraged to distill complex technical concepts into accessible video formats. As a result, these projects fostered deeper learning of the focus topics, improved the students' ability to communicate engineering principles to diverse audiences, and offered the opportunity to discuss responsible AI use, reputable scientific sources, and proper citation of references in the classroom.

This paper presents a case study from 3 different civil engineering courses in which a digital media project was implemented. The study includes 1.) the pedagogical logistics involved in using video creation as a learning tool, 2.) examples of rubrics that can be used to grade these types of assignments, and 3.) how these rubrics could also be used to assess ABET outcomes. The findings from this study support the conclusion that digital media integration in the classroom not only enhances technical communication but also promotes active learning and retention of core concepts.