Marvin E. Criswell

Framework of Knowledge for Master’s-Level Structural Engineering Education

For at least the last decade, engineering, civil engineering, along with structural engineering as a profession within civil engineering, have stated and continue to recognize an emerging need for raising the bar of the preparedness of young engineers seeking to become practicing professional engineers. The present consensus of the civil engineering profession is that the increasing need for broad and in-depth knowledge should require the typical young structural engineers to have a master’s degree or equivalent. This paper focuses on the preparedness of master’s-level graduates in the structural engineering area within the civil engineering field. It follows much of the methodology used in the ASCE body of knowledge determination for civil engineering and builds on this ASCE study to address the portion of the young engineer’s preparation beyond the undergraduate program for one specialty area of civil engineering. The objective of this research was to create a framework of knowledge for the young engineer which identifies and quantifies the needs of the profession by an assessment of the expected level of achievement in each of a number of structural engineering topics using Bloom’s taxonomy. This study applied a modified Delphi method to obtain the critical information from members of the structural engineering profession. The results provide a framework of knowledge that will be useful to several groups seeking to better ensure the preparedness of the future young structural engineers at the master’s level.

Framework of Knowledge for Masters Level Structural Engineering Education in the U.S.

The reported study addresses the preparedness of the Masters-Level structural engineering graduate to enter the structural engineering profession. A framework of knowledge is presented which is based on the profession’s assessment of needs and their expectation of how these needs can be achieved by a combination of graduate-level academic work, early years in professional employment, and through lifelong learning activities. This study used a modified Delphi method utilizing e-mail-based surveys in three rounds involving 33 participants, most chosen to represent practice and with some from the academic and professional society communities. This paper presents some of the principal results of this study. The outcomes of the study are expected to provide very useful preliminary information for the structural engineering community and to help guide possible future activities by this and other professional communities in conducting similar studies addressing the framework of knowledge for their specific profession.