The Impact of Implementing Sustainability Concepts in Improving Student Learning Outcomes in Transportation Engineering Courses

This paper describes an intervention to enhance students’ learning through involving students in brainstorming activities with regard to sustainability concepts and their implications and counter measures in transportation engineering. The paper discusses the process of incorporating the intervention into a transportation course as well as the impact of this intervention on students’ learning outcomes. To evaluate and compare students’ learning as a result of the intervention, the Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) survey instrument was used. The survey instrument includes five constructs: higher-order cognitive skills, self-efficacy, ease of learning subject matter, teamwork, and communication skills. A survey on pre-assessment and post-assessment of student learning outcomes was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on enhancing students’ learning outcomes. The results show that the implementation of the intervention significantly improves higher order cognitive domain of learning, self-efficacy, teamwork, and communication skills. Educators involving students in brainstorming activities related to sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation proved to be an effective teaching and learning strategy.