Many traditional engineering schools are struggling to balance the calls to provide an innovative engineering education that meet the demands of graduates and their employers with the constraints and momentum of their existing curriculum. In this paper we present the conceptual design behind a framework that integrates existing discipline-specific…

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach in which students gather and apply theoretical knowledge to solve design problems. In this study, we examined how critical DBL dimensions (project characteristics, design elements, the teacher's role, assessment, and social context) are applied by teachers in the redesign of DBL projects.…

Described is a professional development program at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. Discussed are the teaching of the relationship of civil engineering to society and ethics, issues about the style of this type of course, and summative evaluation. Recommendations are provided. (CW)