Introduction to
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Students need to download required files from the university portal
GOAL: This is an introduction course to all fields in civil/environmental engineering (CEE), including structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, construction management, ecological engineering, water resources engineering, etc. This course also focuses on environmental and social issues and the relationship between civil engineering and society. You will learn the following from this course: 1) Understanding of the work of each branch in CEE, 2) Hands-on experience in building bridges and simple highrise models to meet design goals, 3) Hands-on experience in managing a project using the Gantt Chart, and 4) Basic understanding of how human activities influence environmental issues.
COURSE LEVEL AND REQUIREMENTS: This is a freshman-level course. No prerequisite at all. Students should be able to access the university portal (iSchool). All grades and announcements will be available there. Students are responsible for keeping up to date with all announcements.
EVALUATION: 20% Bridge building project 10% High-rise building project 15% Presentation on bridge and high-rise projects 40% Quizzes 15% Attendance Bridge and high-rise projects: Each team of students will finish two bridges and one high-rise models based on the design goals. Tests will be performed to see how closely the design goals are met. Students will provide a presentation (10 minutes per team) to analyze their models. Peer grading will be utilized for the presentation. Quizzes: Graded quizzes are provided after each invited speech and documentary viewing.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: Week 1: Icebreaker, explanation of the syllabus Week 2: Bridge project (2 hrs), Documentary (Tower of Pisa, 1 hr) Week 3: Bridge project (2 hrs), Intro. to geotechnical eng. (1 hr) Week 4: Bridge project (2 hrs), Invited speech (1 hr) Week 5: Bridge project (2 hrs), Documentary (Taipei 101, 1 hr) Week 6: Bridge project (2 hrs), Intro. to structural eng. (1 hr) Week 7: Bridge project (2 hrs), Invited speech (1 hr) Week 8: Bridge project (2 hrs), Intro. to construction mgmt. (1 hr) Week 9: Test of bridge models (2 hrs), Rules of PMBOG (boardgame utilizing Gantt Chart, 1 hr) Week 10: PMBOG (2 hrs), Invited speech (1 hr) Week 11: Highrise project (2 hrs), Intro. to ecological eng. (1 hr) Week 12: Highrise project (2 hrs), Invited speech (1 hr) Week 13: Highrise project (2 hrs), Intro. to water resources eng. (1 hr) Week 14: Highrise project (2 hrs), invited speech (1 hr) Week 15: Test of highrise models (2 hrs), Documentary (1 hr) Week 16: Oral presentations