One-credit courses in the Lyles School give students a taste of the profession

Sometimes the best way to gain a taste for something is to sample a little bit of everything — and the Lyles School of Civil Engineering now allows Purdue students to do exactly that.

In fall 2018, the school began offering a series of one-credit courses as part of the College of Engineering’s "Stackable Ones" modular course plan.

Stackable classes are one-credit-hour courses focusing on an area of study that can be "stacked" to create a custom curriculum. For example, the college provides a series of one-credit courses in the field of data science.

"'Stackable Ones' provide a refreshing degree of flexibility to engineering curricula," says Mung Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering. "This effort in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering is an important experiment for our students."

In the Lyles School, stackable classes are one-credit courses focusing on different specialties within the field of civil engineering.

Cary Troy, associate professor of civil engineering and co-coordinator of the project, says the idea behind the one-credit classes is to provide a kind of smorgasbord of civil engineering specialties for anyone to try — be they first-year engineering students, students who have already chosen their discipline or students majoring in something outside of engineering.

"We want to provide students with an overview of all the different areas that civil engineers address every day," Troy says.

The Lyles School started off with two one-credit offerings: the Engineering of Water, an environmental, hydraulics and hydrology class, and Smart Mobility, a transportation class. Both courses were taught by multiple Purdue Civil Engineering faculty. Classes centered on in-class projects.

Troy says that the stackable classes are a unique opportunity to experience junior- and senior-level civil engineering topics, affording students the chance to directly interact with faculty.

"It's a great way to get newer students involved in what is typically higher-level material without being overwhelming," he says. "They get to participate in simulated research activities and experience real-world applications in civil engineering."

Examples of in-class projects include taking water samples from a creek, constructing a rudimentary water distribution system, using a driving simulator and participating in connected vehicle demonstrations.

Students intrigued

Civil engineering major Meg Hunter participated in the Smart Mobility class and was impressed with the wide variety of subjects covered in a single semester.

"It was great to see and participate in something new every week," Hunter says. "I'm actually a huge nerd when it comes to mass transportation, so to see what's in store for the future of civil engineering was great."

Ethan Edwards, a civil engineering sophomore, attended the Engineering of Water class and said it was easily one of the best classes he has taken at Purdue.

"The professor-student interaction we had was great," he says. "I chose the class because I have an interest in environmental engineering and water quality, and this class really showed me what could be in store should I choose to pursue it as a career."

Future offerings

Jon Fricker, civil engineering professor and project co-coordinator, says he sees great potential for expansion in these types of classes and was impressed by the extent of faculty interest after just one semester.

"What's so great about our new stackable courses program is that there is so much room for it to grow," Fricker says. "When we approached the CE faculty about the one-credit classes, we received 10  recommendations in pretty short order."

Fricker believes that the appeal to students and faculty is that the classes have a fun, relaxed atmosphere, while also highlighting the unique aspects of civil engineering.

"It's a great chance to show off what our faculty members are up to and how civil engineering touches every part of society," he says. "It's an eye-opening experience for most, and the material is presented in a way that keeps students constantly engaged with activities and demonstrations."

Fricker adds that the professors themselves have learned quite a bit from the fall semester and have already come up with tweaks and improvements for next year.

For spring 2019, the Lyles School added a third one-credit course to its rotation, a materials course on 3D printing. Fricker and Troy are planning to offer the Mobility and Water courses again in the 2019-20 school year.

Transportation research engineer Mathew Jijo Kulathintekizhakethil explains to students in the Smart Mobility class how connected vehicles collect and transmit data.