(59g) Expanding Sustainable Engineering Curricula Via Existing Frameworks to Meet the Needs of Students

Sustainable Engineering Education Development (SEED) is a new program at the university that integrates concepts of sustainability into engineering curricula. We work with the university's Sustainability Office to develop assessment strategies for sustainability education campus-wide. The Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Initiative provides the framework and learning outcomes for the program's goal to expand the instruction of sustainability concepts to every engineering discipline.

The EOP Initiative and Framework have already provided an excellent foundation we intend to use for assessment. The EOP Resources webpage contains 93 core and advanced learning outcomes to help move knowledge forward. A matrix has been constructed to track the implementation of these outcomes in completed and upcoming courses. This matrix will also aid ABET accreditation efforts and incorporate global considerations via the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Making these connections will allow students to see the global significance of their education and decisions. In addition to these sources, the National Academies Press has published a report entitled “New Directions for Chemical Engineering,” in which they detail recommendations for research, improved educational tools, training, and leadership. Our educational plan includes at least five recommendations that focus on advancing training and leadership by combining each team member's experiences in education and research.

To complement the quantitative evaluation, the Sustainability Office and Department of Chemical Engineering will qualitatively assess the impact of EOP instruction on students in representative EOP-infused courses; resources already exist for these assessments. These assessments utilize focus groups of students and a group of faculty. Focus group questions for students and faculty have been developed and focus groups are nearly complete. Student focus groups will center on what they have learned and how they use that information in their degree as well as outside of coursework. Faculty focus groups will concentrate on barriers to instruction in attempts to identify apprehension of adding content to existing course. Implementation of concepts of sustainability in new courses will also be addressed; a new elective will be taught in the summer of 2024 entitled “Introduction to Sustainable Engineering.”