AbstractPromoting Spatial Awareness in Civil Engineering Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education Author(s): Brian Smith Few would disagree that an understanding of location and measurement is fundamental to civil engineering. However, given recent pressure to “shrink” curricula, many civil engineering departments have eliminated surveying courses. Furthermore, the availability of fundamental GIS courses is far from universal within civil engineering. This leads to the problem that, in many cases, we are graduating civil engineers without the ability to describe or measure location. This presentation describes an innovative approach currently being used at the University of Virginia to incorporate basic surveying and GIS concepts within a course entitled “Civil Engineering Techniques.” While this is a broad, introductory course, it offers the ability to increase spatial awareness in an applied setting (construction and land development). In the presentation, the author will describe the following aspects of the course:
University of Virginia Civil Engineering Box 400742 Charlottesville, VA 22904 US Phone: 434-243-8585 E-mail: briansmith@virginia.edu |