Reviving the mission of rock mechanics teaching in mining and civil engineering

Abstract

The subject of teaching rock mechanics is nearly completely absent from rock mechanics journals as well as from national and international symposia. At all ISRM Congresses, since 1964, there has never been a theme or even a session devoted to the teaching of rock mechanics. In the halls of academia, mining and civil engineering professors very seldom discuss the pedagogic issues associated with their main mission: education. The subjects prevailing in professional discussions are research, writing papers and attending meetings. The author performed a study involving mining and civil engineering undergraduate programs in the U.S.A. and Europe, and concluded that rock mechanics teaching is out of date with the educational issues of today, that the material taught is infrequently updated, that the teaching techniques have hardly changed, that little attention is paid to engineering design in rock mechanics while sophisticated computer analyses and laboratory testing predominate. Rock mechanics is seldom a required course at the undergraduate level and is mostly taught at a graduate level as an elective. It is thus not surprising that industry is not convinced of the value of rock mechanics in practice. Recommendations are made about what steps should be taken urgently to salvage the subject we care about so much and to bring renewed devotion to the teaching of rock mechanics.