NDLI: Designing-In Sustainability by Linking Engineering Curricula With K-12 Science Projects

Content Provider	The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection
Author	William, Z. Bernstein Ramani, Arjun Ruan, Xiulin Ramanujan, Devarajan Ramani, Karthik
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	In light of society’s increasing awareness with regards to the health of the environment, many engineering firms are hiring recent engineering graduates with project- (or course-) based experience in environmental sustainability. Currently engineering schools at the collegiate level have addressed this need by modifying their curricula by including additional coursework on sustainability related subjects. The next step of adaptation calls for a holistic treatment of sustainability concepts by integrating them within traditional coursework. Engineering schools have not yet addressed the best way to accomplish this integration due to the concerns stemming from the increase in cognitive load and scheduling pressure. Additionally, it has been shown that K-12 curricula also lack exposure to sustainable thinking. As a result, incoming freshmen are not aware of the inherent correlations between engineering principles, e.g. heat transfer, and environmental sustainability. To prepare the next generation of innovative thinkers to solve these complex, interdisciplinary issues, engineering principles must be contextualized in terms of sustainable design at both the K-12 and undergraduate levels. To meet this need, the authors developed a general framework for introducing sustainable design thinking into K-12 student projects. A pilot case is presented to illustrate a particular student’s (listed as a co-author) growth through a newly gained understanding of environmental sustainability through experimentation. The project specifically addresses various insulation materials for residential buildings by judging their individual environmental advantages and economic feasibility. The main outcome of this project is the extensive redesign of an existing undergraduate heat and mass transfer lab experiment.
Sponsorship	Design Engineering Division Computers and Information in Engineering Division
Starting Page	305
Ending Page	312
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9780791845066
DOI	10.1115/DETC2012-70461
Volume Number	Volume 7: 9th International Conference on Design Education; 24th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology
Conference Proceedings	ASME 2012 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
Language	English
Publisher Date	2012-08-12
Publisher Place	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	K-12 science projects Project based learning Environmental sustainability Engineering education Design Sustainability
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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