2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Celebrating 20 Years of the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop

Presented at Educational & Professional Issues of Strategic Importance to the Civil Engineering Profession and ASCE

Many new engineering faculty members have attained extensive technical knowledge of civil engineering through attainment of a Ph.D. degree and the years of formal education preceding it. They are hired by universities and asked to enter the classroom without any formal training on how to teach. The result is often a trial and error approach where students suffer the consequences. Studies have listed poor teaching as a cause for many students to leave math, science and engineering programs.

In response to the clear need for faculty training, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) developed and funded the ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Teaching Workshop which is celebrating its twentieth year of existence. For the past two decades, 38 ExCEEd Teaching Workshops (ETW) have been held at the United States Military Academy, the University of Arkansas, Northern Arizona University, University of Texas at Tyler, University of Colorado, and Florida Gulf Coast University. The program has 912 graduates from over 252 different U.S. and international colleges and universities. The ExCEEd effort has transformed from one that relied on the grass roots support of its participants to one that is supported and embraced by department heads and deans. This paper summarizes the content of the ETW, assesses its effectiveness, highlights changes in the program as a result of the assessment, and outlines the future direction of the program.

The ETW is a highly intensive, hands-on, five-day workshop consisting of seminars, demonstration classes, and small group labs. The seminars provide information and orientation to the subject of teaching and include practical exercises and small-group activities. ExCEEd faculty members teach three demonstration classes where the 24 workshop participants role-play as students. Most of the workshop consists of small group labs consisting of two faculty members and four workshop participants who will each teach and receive a comprehensive teaching assessment of three classes.

In the end-of-workshop assessment, participants provide their numerical ratings and written comments on the value and content of the major activities. In addition, the ASCE Committee on Faculty Development is conducting a survey of all participants over the past 20 years to gain a broader perspective of the contribution made by the ETW to their teaching and path to tenure. Participants cite substantial improvements in their class organization, presentation skill, and rapport with students as a result of ETW. The paper will present the highlights of this assessment data.

COORDINATING NOTE: This abstract is submitted at the specific invitation and request of Tom Lenox, the coordinator of the ASCE Liaison Committee’s session(s) for the CE Division of ASEE in 2018. It should be considered for inclusion in the sessions on “Educational & Professional Issues of Strategic Importance to the Civil Engineering Profession – and ASCE.” that the ASCE Liaison Committee is organizing.

Authors

Dr. Allen C. Estes California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo [biography]

Allen C. Estes is a Professor and Head for the Architectural Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Until January 2007, Dr. Estes was the Director of the Civil Engineering Program at the United States Militar
Dr. Stephen J. Ressler P.E. United States Military Academy [biography]

Stephen Ressler, P.E., Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus from the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. He earned a B.S. degree from USMA in 1979, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University in 1989, and a Ph.D. from Lehigh in 1991. As an active duty Army officer, he served for 34 years in a variety of military engineering assignments around the world. He served as a member of the USMA faculty for 21 years, including six years as Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. He retired as a Brigadier General in 2013. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia, a Distinguished Member of ASCE, and a Fellow of ASEE.
Dr. Camilla M. Saviz P.E. University of the Pacific [biography]

Camilla Saviz is Professor and Chair of Civil Engineering at University of the Pacific. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, an M.B.A. from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis. She joined Pacific in 1999 and is a registered Professional Engineer in California.
Dr. Brock E. Barry United States Military Academy [biography]

Dr. Brock E. Barry, P.E. is the Director of the Civil Engineering Division and Professor of Engineering Education in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.
Ms. Carol L. Considine Old Dominion University [biography]

Carol Considine is the Assistant Dean for Outreach for the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University (ODU) and an Associate Professor of Engineering Technology. She has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. She has fifteen years of industrial experience as an estimator and project manager and is a LEED AP BD+C. She served as chair of the Private Infrastructure Chair for the Hampton Roads Intergovernmental Pilot Project and is a member of the Resiliency Collaborative at ODU. Her research interests include engineering education, industry collaboration, sustainability and resiliency.
Mr. Dion Coward American Society of Civil Engineers [biography]

Dion K. Coward is the Manager of Educational Activities at the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Dr. Norman D. Dennis Jr. P.E. University of Arkansas [biography]

Norman D. Dennis, Jr., is a University Professor of Civil Engineering serving as the Senior Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Before joining the U of A faculty in 1996, he served in the US Army as
Dr. Scott R. Hamilton P.E. York College of Pennsylvania [biography]

Scott Hamilton is the Coordinator for the new Civil Engineering Program at York College of Pennsylvania. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has both a MS and PhD in civil engineering and a MS in engineering management from Stanford University as well as a BS from the United States Military Academy, West Point. He is a retired US Army Corps of Engineers officer who has had assignments in the US, Germany, Korea, and Afghanistan. During his military career he spent over 10 years on the faculty at the US Military Academy at West Point teaching civil engineering. He has also served as the Director, Graduate Professional Development at Northeastern University’s College of Engineering.
Dr. David S. Hurwitz http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8450-6516 Oregon State University [biography]

Dr. David Hurwitz is an Associate Professor of Transportation Engineering, Director of the OSU Driving and Bicycling Simulator Laboratory, and Associate Director of the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Oregon State University. Dr. Hurwitz conducts research in transportation engineering, in the areas of transportation safety, human factors, traffic control devices, and engineering education.
Dr. Tanya Kunberger P.E. http://orcid.org/https://0009-0003-9407-7753 Florida Gulf Coast University [biography]

Dr. Kunberger is Division Chair for Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown.
Dr. Thomas A. Lenox American Society of Civil Engineers (Retired) [biography]

Thomas A. Lenox, Ph.D., Dist.M.ASCE, F.ASEE is Executive Vice President (Emeritus) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy (USMA), Master of Science degree in Theore
Dr. Tonya Lynn Nilsson P.E. Santa Clara University [biography]

Tonya Nilsson is a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Santa Clara University (SCU), where she is also one of six Faculty Associates in their Collaborative for Teaching Innovation. Prior to joining SCU, Tonya was an Associate Professor at CSU - Chico.
Ms. Leslie Nolen CAE American Society of Civil Engineers [biography]

Leslie Nolen, CAE, serves as director, educational activities for the American Society of Civil Engineers. She brings nearly 20 years of association management experience to her work with ASCE's Committee on Education on issues of importance to the undergraduate and graduate level education of civil engineers.
Mr. James J. O'Brien Jr. American Society of Civil Engineers [biography]

JIM O’BRIEN

Jim O’Brien has over 44 years of experience as a leader, team builder, and manager in diverse professional and academic environments. During his 26-year military career in the US Army Corps of Engineers, he commanded combat engineer units and served 13 years on the teaching faculties of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the US Army’s Command & General Staff College, and the University of Notre Dame.

Now retired from the US Army, Jim currently serves as the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Managing Director of Leader Development. Here, he serves as the staff leader to “raise the bar” on civil engineering formal education and experience prior to licensure. Jim joins others in the sustainability community seeking to change the CE Profession to make all civil work sustainable. He continues other opportunities in teaching university teachers to be better teachers through ASCE’s ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Teaching Workshop and in ABET accreditation of engineering programs. In addition to Leader Development, his portfolio also includes Educational Activities, Professional Activities, Raise the Bar, and Sustainability Departments.

Jim is also an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University where he teaches leadership and leading change in the Applied Information Technology MS graduate program.

Jim is a lifelong learner, seeking to continually improve and reinvent himself. His passions include leadership, mentoring, professionalism, personal responsibility, non-verbal communication, and teaching effectiveness. He strives to always “Be Intentional”--that is, to do everything for a reason.
Dr. Robert James O'Neill Florida Gulf Coast University [biography]

Dr. ROBERT (BOB) J. O’NEILL is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University. He received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy in 1975, an M.S. in Structural Engineering and an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from Stanford University in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Kansas State University in 1993. Prior to his coming to FGCU he was a Professor of Engineering at Roger Williams University and an Associate Professor and Director of the Civil Engineering Analysis Group at the United States Military Academy. Dr. O’ Neill is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has been active at the national level with ASCE’s Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT), Committee on Faculty Development (CFD) and Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) initiative. Dr. O’Neill is a licensed Professional Engineer in California, Florida, Nevada and Virginia. He is a civil engineering program evaluator for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). He is an American Society of Civil Engineering Fellow (ASCE), a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
Dr. David A. Saftner University of Minnesota, Duluth [biography]

David Saftner is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy and MS and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Kelly Salyards P.E. Bucknell University [biography]

Dr. Salyards is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Bucknell University. She has BAE, MAE, and PhD degrees in Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. She joined Bucknell in 2007 and is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania. Her teaching interests range from fundamental engineering mechanics to structural design in both steel and concrete. She is currently serving on ASCE's Committee on Faculty Development.
Dr. Ronald W. Welch P.E. The Citadel [biography]

Ron Welch (P.E.) received his B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics from the United States Military Academy in 1982. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1990 and 1999, respectively. He taught at The United States Military Academy during his 25 year military career. After retiring form the military he has taught at the University of Texas at Tyler and The Citadel, where he was the Dean of Engineering for 10 years.

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