Civil Engineering Disciplines Research Articles

Issues in Geotechnical Engineering Education

This paper summarizes discussions held at the 1990 National Forum on Education and Continuing Development of Civil Engineering concerning geotechnical engineering education. We can attract better students by improving the public's perception and image of civil engineers. We believe more emphasis should be placed on classroom teaching. We also believe that if we put a premium on teaching, we will get excellence in teaching. However, priorities must be revised to help achieve this goal. In recognition of the ever‐changing need of our profession and the broad nature of the problems of the society we serve, we must provide a background for our civil engineers to work in a multidisciplinary world. This includes a broad‐based education with a well‐founded understanding of basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences, and traditional disciplines of civil engineering. The current flexibility in the master's program must be retained. Today, the entry‐level degree to the profession of geotechnical engineer...

THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

ABSTRACT The use of the computer and in particular the micro‐computer, by the student provides the opportunity for a significant review of the syllabus and the way in which it is taught. The commercial use of the computer should make us re‐evaluate the content of certain syllabuses, particularly those dominated by mathematical modelling. Structural Analysis, in the disciplines of Civil and Structural Engineering is a particular case in point since virtually all of the professional numerical analysis of structures is now carried out by a computer. If this is the case, we must seriously ask ourselves why we are teaching the students to carry out lengthy calculations which will never be used in practice. The computer may be the engine of change for the syllabus content but it offers in return facilities for learning, particularly in formative assessment, unavailable before. The student may use the computer to test various ideas about the way a structure works under various loading conditions and thereby acquire an understanding of structural behaviour which may not be available in the design office.