Civil Engineering Course Research Articles

Occupational safety and health in construction industry management (OSHCIM) implementation – Academician’s perspectives

The high incidents number of injuries and fatality rates in the construction industry are generally due to hazards on site. Early intervention of hazards could lead to safer construction processes. The Safety by Design (SbD) is a process that identifies hazard and assesses risks early in the project design stage, in comparison to during the construction stage. A study in Spain shows that there is still lack of emphasis on the SbD concept in higher education although the concept had been implemented for quite some time. The lack of tertiary education regarding SbD could lead to insufficient knowledge for the effective implementation of SbD by future professionals. As for the Malaysian construction industry, SbD will be soon implemented as the Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) – OSHCIM. Therefore, this paper sought to review the perception of academician regarding OSHCIM implementation. The quantitative strategy is adopted, and a set of questionnaires are distributed among academicians involved in educating architecture, civil engineering, quantity surveying, mechanical and electrical engineering courses in Malaysia’s Institute of Higher Learning. The research indicates that most of the academicians appear to agree that sufficient knowledge and the right attitude is essential for the successful implementation of SbD education in university. It seems that all academicians from different background have higher attitude mean score compared to their knowledge mean score. Even though some of the academicians might not be familiar with the concept, most of the academician was not against it and had a positive attitude towards it.

Basic design and execution of a hydro-sanitary installation of a Mobile Educational Unit for residential bathrooms

With the increasing enrollment of students in the regular higher education makes it necessary a deep reflection about education, mainly on what refers to attractive methodologies for these students. It is still notorious that higher education has as its main objective to promote for these students the perception of similar professional life, and also prepares for the workday, considering the obstacles that they may experience. Thereby, it is evident what was exposed above became a challenge for some institutions, once the methodology applied in the course uses only theories, and are not presented in a practical way. In order to create a didactic and dynamic materials to assist in practical activities in the course of Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM), the present work has the objective the measurement of a hydrosanitary installation and the construction of a movable didactic panel, which simulates residential bathroom installations. The project has been dimensioned in accordance with current Brazillian standards for cold water, hot water, sewer and electrical installations. Thus, the mobile educational unit will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about the hydrosanitary installations to UFVJM students in the Mucuri campus, and the entire community in the region.

Benefits of Optional Research Papers: Writing to Learn in an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Course

Benefits of Optional Research Papers: Writing to Learn in an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Course

Teaching Approaches to Select Economical Pipe Diameters in Pumping Systems

AbstractPumping systems are a topic of great relevance in the teaching of civil and environmental engineering courses related to urban water infrastructure. One key component of this teaching is th...

Escritório modelo de engenharia civil: relato de experiência na Amazônia oriental

Este artigo sintetiza o relato de experiência da implantação de um Escritório Modelo de Engenharia Civil em uma universidade no interior da Amazônia. Os fluxos migratórios incentivados por políticas públicas, como também, os espontâneos, dentre várias consequências positivas e negativas para as urbes amazônidas, acarretaram em um uso e ocupação do solo desordenado e com elevados índices de autoconstruções e habitações precárias na região. Nesse sentido, os Escritório Modelos de Engenharia se apresentam como uma possibilidade de fornecer serviços técnicos especializados, para populações com hipossuficiência econômica, por meio dos recursos técnicos e científicos disponíveis nas Universidades. Além disso, a prática desenvolvida pelos discentes participantes de um Escritório Modelo, pode configurar o exercício de aprendizagem com método ativo, conforme solicita as Diretrizes para os cursos de Engenharia, aprovadas em 2019. Com base no relato de experiência, esse artigo apresenta a possibilidade de o Escritório Modelo figurar como uma ferramenta que permita institucionalizar a aprendizagem baseada em projetos, que é um método ativo de aprendizagem, em um curso de Engenharia Civil. Através da técnica de grupo focal de análise, sintetizando as informações por meio de método etnográfico, é possível confirmar a hipótese de o Escritório Modelo figurar como meio condutor para a implantação de metodologias ativas de aprendizagem, sendo um recurso adicional para o ensino de temas transversais no curso de Engenharia Civil, como Educação Ambiental, Cidadania, Gênero e Diversidade, Acessibilidade e Direitos Humanos.

Teaching Practice on Adopting Engineering Cases to Building Seamless Connection between Basic Knowledge and Professional —Engineering Geology of a Basic Course of Civil Engineering

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Polytechnic Student’s Readiness Towards Project Based Employment

Project Based Employment (PBE) is the current trend in employment that is gaining momentum. The growing need for PBE has led to the need for employees with high knowledge and skills as well as good attitude. The aim of this study is to identify the readiness of polytechnic students towards PBE in two Conventional Polytechnic from the southern zone states. This study employed a survey method. A total of 361 students comprised of first, second and third year from Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering courses from Politeknik Melaka and Politeknik Port Dickson were selected as study samples. The instrument of this study is a questionnaire with the alpha value .919. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS software version 21.0. Descriptive analysis in the form of mean score was used to identify the readiness of polytechnic students towards PBE. The findings show that polytechnic student`s readiness is in high level in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude towards PBE. From the knowledge aspect, polytechnic students know that PBE can provide employers with skilled and knowledgeable employees. Meanwhile, from the employability skills aspect, it shows that polytechnic students have the ability to interact well when working in groups. From the technical skills aspect, polytechnic students can complete their practical work by using the right equipment corresponding with the current PBE demands. From the attitude aspect, polytechnic students are always trying to develop themselves in the field they are involved in. In conclusion, polytechnic students are ready to face PBE in the future and they have initiative to improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes to the higher level to align with current industry demand. Overall, the results of this research have been able to help graduates and other educational institutions to improve and enhance the quality of students in line with the country's demand.

Realidad aumentada en la enseñanza de hormigón reforzado: percepción de los alumnos

Para el ingeniero de estructuras, la habilidad de visualización espacial es especialmente importante para la comprensión del posicionamiento correcto de los elementos estructurales en un diseño. Así, para mejorar la habilidad de visualización espacial del alumno, en esa investigación fue propuesto el desarrollo de actividades utilizándose una aplicación para dispositivos móviles con los recursos de la Realidad Aumentada (RA). Las actividades fueron planeadas para la asignatura Hormigón Reforzado en el octavo semestre del curso de Ingeniería Civil de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Minas Gerais en Brasil. Dieciocho alumnos matriculados en esa asignatura en el primero semestre de 2019 hicieron las actividades propuestas. Fueron elaboradas cuatro actividades utilizándose los recursos de RA para la aplicación Sketchfab. El instrumento elegido para la evaluación de la percepción del estudiante fue un cuestionario basado en el modelo de aceptación de tecnología TAM (Technology Acceptation Model), que fue adaptado en este estudio. Observándose las respuestas de los alumnos sobre la utilidad y facilidad e intención de uso de los recursos, concluyese que la RA es un recurso importante para mejorar la habilidad de visualización espacial de ellos pues facilitan la visualización de los detalles de las estructuras y hacen el aprendizaje más divertido.

Tests of pervious concrete as learning tool Comparative Study About: Evolution of the Trait, Methods and Complementary Analysis

The execution of pervious concrete pavements has been used over the years as a pedagogical resource in the Civil Engineering course at UNEMAT - Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, campus of Tangará da Serra – MT – Brazil. With the purpose of aggregating scientific knowledge to the academics, providing advances in the technique used in the production of pervious concrete, as well to the development of the University's physical space. In this article, some of these studies will be presented in order to discuss the scientific observations made by academics in the development of practices and to evaluate the evolution in the methodologies of trait and execution. The characteristic that allow water infiltration has made porous concrete chosen to remedy problems due to the accumulation of water at several points on campus. In addition, another necessity was to promote the interconnection between classroom blocks. The works were evaluated taking into account the reports developed by the academics during the activities. In this analysis, the advancement of the techniques employed even when the students did not have the appropriate equipment. It was possible to observe modifications in the techniques of staining the concrete and the level of difficulty of the drainage process involved. The results were discussed in view of both the evolution of the technique of preparation of the pervious concrete pavement by the academics, as well as the practice as a didactic and social resource. Recently, besides the permeability, the thermal properties of porous concrete have also begun to be explored. Would the pervious concrete pavements has betters thermal performance than the conventional ones? In the state of Mato Grosso for presenting high annual average temperatures if, the pervious pavements contributes to a lower heat retention compared to the conventional one, this would show an excellent alternative for the substitution of the conventional pavements, prioritizing the thermal comfort of the academic community. Because of that, a comparative analysis was performed between the temperature values recorded in the porous pavements, in the conventional and green areas of the campus. The methodology of this research consisted in performance of temperature measurements with an infrared thermometer, the measurements was for 20 days distributed in four months, four times per day (8 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m.). The rainy season in the region caused some variations in the results, since conventional concrete, when moist, takes longer to lose this moisture and absorb heat. The colors chosen in the painting also influenced results, because, in the pavements that the pervious concrete was not painted, showed lower temperatures than the conventional. The development of activities related to the analysis and production of pervious concrete contribute to the academic training of students of the Civil Engineering course on two fronts: obtaining technical knowledge and capacity for teamwork, exploring all the basic procedures of the routine of a real work.

Development of communication competency for civil engineering students

This study is specifically aimed at: (i) assessing the communication competencies of engineering students; (ii) identifying important communication skills needed for engineering students; and (iii) ensuring the types of effective teaching and learning activities to develop communication skills of engineering students. The implementation of the study refers to this quantitative-descriptive approach presenting a survey which includes the main activities, namely literature study, primary data collection and analyse, conclusions and recommendations formulation. Analysis is carried out based on information obtained from respondents. Furthermore, data processing is done by using descriptive methods that provide simple and understandable data presentation for the reader by describing or giving information about a data or situation or phenomenon. The survey findings indicate the adequacy of communication training from a curriculum that integrates communication in various core civil engineering courses. The results of the study also showed that team work and oral presentations were the most important factors for civil engineering students and for their future career development. They also place the greatest emphasis on teaching and learning activities that aim to prepare them to take part in the industrial world later.

A aquisição de habilidades didático-pedagógicas de professores do ensino superior

O objetivo deste artigo foi identificar as atividades que mais contribuem para a aquisição de habilidades didático-pedagógicas de professores dos cursos de graduação em Engenharia Civil, de Computação, Elétrica, Eletrônica e Mecânica em três campi de uma universidade pública do sul do Brasil. A metodologia de pesquisa utilizada foi o delineamento misto sequencial explanatório, no qual foram coletados dados quantitativos e, em seguida, para o aprofundamento destes resultados, foram realizadas entrevistas com professores. Os principais resultados mostram que a experiência adquirida no dia a dia consiste na principal fonte de contribuição para a aquisição de habilidades didático-pedagógicas, apesar de a legislação brasileira prever que a preparação para a docência no ensino superior se efetive em cursos Stricto Sensu.

The Relationship between Affectivity and Self-efficacy for the Learning of Mathematical Contents

The causal attributions and dimensions and the academic self-efficacy permeated by the affectivity are fundamental for the school achievement of the undergraduate student. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between affectivity and academic self-efficacy of 115 students (39 from the Computer Science course, 41 from the Civil Engineering course and 35 from the Electrical Engineering course of the Federal University of Mato Grosso). A questionnaire with 10 questions was made using the Likert scale, where the first two questions assessed the interference of the previous contents on the learning of mathematical contents, three evaluated the level of student's academic self-efficacy, the other two assessed some origins of the beliefs of the student's academic self-efficacy, the last question evaluated the relationship between effort and academic self-efficacy, and questions 4 and 5, the focus of this research, directly assessed the relationship between affectivity and academic self-efficacy. The results pointed to a protagonist role of affectivity in relation to academic self-efficacy and a confirmation that the effort continues to be the highlight for students' belief in academic self-efficacy.

Optimising Moodle quizzes for online assessments

BackgroundComputer-aided learning management systems (LMSs) are widely used in higher education and are viewed as beneficial when transitioning from conventional face-to-face teaching to fully online courses. While LMSs have unique tools for transferring and assessing knowledge, their ability to engage and assess learners needs further investigation. This paper focuses on a study examining the LMS “Moodle” to ascertain the effectiveness of “Moodle quizzes” to improve, assess and distinguish knowledge in a civil engineering course at an Australian university. The course has a database comprising 62 formative and 61 summative quiz questions with embedded text, images, audio and video. This study investigates the use of these quiz questions with four course cohorts and 169 students. The quizzes assessed competencies of students during various stages of a study period through automated marking. The suitability of questions to assess and distinguish student knowledge levels was determined using a psychometric analysis based on facility index (FI) and the discrimination index (DI) statistics embedded within the Moodle quizzes.ResultsThis study highlights strategies used to set and review quiz questions for formative and summative assessments. Results indicated that students were engaged and satisfied in the formative assessment because they viewed the interactive videos between 2 and 6 times and 65% of students attempted all the formative questions. The FI indicated student pass rate for the summative questions and DI indicated the difficulty of these questions, while the combination of FI and DI results separated students with different knowledge levels. Using these Moodle statistics provided information to make effective decisions on how to improve the summative quizzes.ConclusionThe multimodal quizzes were effective in teaching and assessing a theoretical engineering course and provided efficient methods to replace conventional assessments. The FI and DI indexes are useful statistical tools in redesigning appropriate sets of questions. Time-poor academics will benefit from using these easily attainable Moodle statistics to inform decisions while revising the quizzes and making assessments more autonomous.

Integrated Experiential Learning–Based Framework to Facilitate Project Planning in Civil Engineering and Construction Management Courses

The competence of leveraging Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology in the early project stages is critical to drive its efficacy throughout the project life cycle. However, a review of the literature indicated a lack of research into upskilling undergraduate students in civil engineering and construction management (CECM) majors, particularly with respect to such competencies as using BIM in design, planning, processing, managing, and communicating complex projects. To better facilitate the skills for undergraduate students, this study formulated an innovative framework using Kolb’s experiential learning (EL) with tailored BIM capstone course activities for project planning and implementations. This framework includes concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. It provides the necessary integration of EL, the BIM planning guide, and pedagogies of capstone courses. It helps instructors to monitor and control learning activities based on the BIM planning guide and to test hypotheses through experiments. The framework includes features of group work involvement, connection with practical information, and student-centered learning. Subsequent surveys of students and teachers provided further evidence of the framework merits, specifically in terms of the improved formation of student cognition of BIM-based project planning (90% improvement), in addition to enhanced capabilities in process mapping (70% improvement), software operation (80% improvement), and information exchange (100% improvement). The proposed framework sets an innovative pedagogical rationale to which university-based BIM education can refer and upskills undergraduate students, expanding their capabilities in information and communication technology in the context of EL.

Designing the Structural Model of TVET Lecturers’ Professionalism and Generic Skills Based on an Empirical Study in Malaysia

This study seeks to identify the level of general competency of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) lecturers of construction technology civil engineering (CTCE) of vocational college using the standard model of competency requirement based on grade of lecturer and years of teaching experience. The data were analyzed using the SPSS Version 20.0 software, which involved descriptive statistical method, mean, and standard deviation. Data collection for the assessment phase involves construction technology lecturers from 45 vocational colleges in all the states in Peninsular Malaysia. The respondents of the study were 304 lecturers who taught CTCE courses in vocational colleges from 14 states, namely Johor, Sarawak, and Federal Territory (Kuala Lumpur and Labuan). Finding shows that the professional general competency level of TVET CTCE vocational college lecturers based on years of teaching experience is high with satisfactory interpretation. It also shows that the level of professional competency of TVET CTCE lecturer of vocational college based on grade of the post is high, whereas the level of entrepreneurship skill competency as a whole is at moderate level. There was a slight decrease in the proficiency level profile of the CTCE lecturer who had more than 15 years of experience compared with those with teaching experience of 15 years or less. There found positive relationships between the dimensions of professionalism and the generic skills. The findings of the study will help the Ministry of Education in particular public or private institutions of higher learning in preparing TVET lecturers to become specialized, highly skilled, competent, and efficient in civil engineering courses in the attempt to strengthen the teaching profession, especially in technical and vocational education, which is in line with the aspirations of the 21st-century education.

Sucesso escolar: representações sociais de universitários de baixa renda vinculados a cursos de alta seletividade

O artigo identifica as representações sociais de sucesso escolar de estudantes provenientes de escolas públicas, matriculados em cursos de alta seletividade da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). A pesquisa envolveu quatro estudantes vinculados aos cursos de Medicina, Engenharia Civil, Direito e Engenharia de Automação. Para a coleta de dados, utilizamos uma entrevista narrativa, por meio da qual obtivemos informações relativas à trajetória escolar dos investigados. Analisamos os dados utilizando a técnica de Análise de Conteúdo. Os resultados indicam representações sociais de sucesso escolar construídas com base no mérito próprio, intermediadas pela escola pública. O sucesso escolar não se reduz a resultados, mas se articula ao contexto e/ou às condições que o propiciam.

Elaboração de um programa para dimensionamento de lajes retangulares de concreto armado submetidas a um carregamento uniforme, com bordos apoiados, engastados ou livres, conforme a NBR 6118:2014

Ao longo dos anos, estamos vivenciando uma revolução na área da informática, onde o aumento da capacidade de armazenamento de dados e o desenvolvimento de sistemas computacionais são exemplos bons dessa evolução. Porém, o custo elevado de softwares desenvolvidos para o dimensionamento de estruturas de concreto armado, acarreta no distanciamento deles com os estudantes do curso de engenharia civil e a falta de vivência com os mesmos. Desta forma, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo automatizar e sistematizar através de uma rotina computacional, o dimensionamento de lajes maciças em concreto armado, em formato retangular, submetidas a um carregamento uniformemente distribuídos, podendo estarem apoiadas em bordos apoiados, engastados ou livres, de acordo com o proposto pela norma NBR 6118:2014. Para isto, se utilizou a linguagem de programação Visual Basic, desenvolvida para compilar aplicações orientadas a objeto, possibilitando a utilização do software em ambiente Windows através de uma interface gráfica muito prática e acessível. A partir dos dados de entrada introduzidos pelo usuário, o programa executa o dimensionamento de lajes usuais em edifícios de concreto armado com as características descritas.

Linking of the curriculum of School and College (A study with reference to Civil Engineering Course)

Linking of the curriculum of School and College (A study with reference to Civil Engineering Course)

Application of Micro Lecture in Teaching of Civil Engineering Drawing

Civil Engineering Drawing is a professional basic course of civil engineering in general colleges and universities. This course has many contents, which are abstract and complex, and it has high requirements for teaching methods. In order to guide students to carry out autonomous, personalized learning, to improve teaching effect, the article applies micro lecture method into the teaching of Civil Engineering Drawing. Firstly, the meanings and characteristics of micro lecture are discussed briefly. Then, combined with Civil Engineering Drawing characteristics, the feasibility of the application of micro lecture in teaching of Civil Engineering Drawing is analyzed. Lastly, the micro lecture structure of Civil Engineering Drawing are put forward, and micro lecture script combining with a specific knowledge point is designed. This research may have a certain guiding significance for the development of the Civil Engineering Drawing micro lecture resources, and further improvement of teaching level.

Getting Environmental Information from Construction Cost Databases: Applications in Brazilian Courses and Environmental Assessment

The traditional decision-making process in construction is still driven by factors such as cost and time, not adequately addressing indicators to control their environmental impacts. So, how to improve environmental communication to incorporate sustainable building practices. The incorporation of environmental indicators may enlarge the scope of construction management tools. In the case of cost databases, widely used in the construction sector, this action can contribute to the communication and dissemination of environmental practices. This paper mapped 24 indicators from construction cost databases to assess their ability to communicate and disseminate environmental information. The research comprised: (a) a review of the use of cost bases in the environmental study, (b) identification of the most cited bases in 27 Brazilian civil engineering courses, and (c) analysis of the selected databases through of the assessment matrix, it crosses cost data versus environmental information. CYPE, TCPO, and ORSE presented performance medium, and higher results than SINAPI, BDCCM, and BCCA. The tools presented low control over environmental information, such as water and energy consumption, machine circulation and pollution generation. However, it has been observed that when adding environmental indicators, these tools can contribute significantly to disseminate good practices in its wide user base.