Date of Award

December 2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil Engineering

Committee Member

Wayne A. Sarasua

Committee Member

Jennifer Ogle

Committee Member

Bradley Putman

Abstract

As part of an initiative funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to completely transform the Civil Engineering undergraduate program at Clemson University, a required course in geomatics is being revamped to better prepare students for a capstone-like course sequence that begins in the sophomore year. As part of this research, a survey of nearly every Civil Engineering undergraduate program in the country was done to determine the extent that a geomatics and/or surveying course are required or available to their students. The research found that while many schools have chosen to no longer require or even teach surveying as part of their Civil Engineering curriculum, Clemson expanded the coverage of the surveying course to include other spatial data topics such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Digital Terrain Modeling (DTM) more than twenty years ago. This thesis describes how Clemson’s required geomatics course is continuing to evolve to fit into Clemson’s curriculum transformation. Of particular importance will be how this course is requisite to a sophomore-level project-based “Springer” course that includes a design charrette with stakeholder involvement. The thesis will also include an analysis of data collected through a SALG (Student Assessment of Learning Gains) survey. By assessing the extent to which students achieve learning outcomes throughout the course, and studying which topics students find most practical and engaging, the thesis constructs a robust geomatics course that maximizes both the usefulness of the material and the enjoyment of the students’ experiences. This thesis will help readers understand why geomatics should be an essential element of the next generation of Civil Engineering curriculum.

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