Reinforced soil with geosynthetics - hands-on learning (PBL) using sand and paper
Margarida Pinho-Lopes Pinho-Lopes1
1 University of SOuthampton
Resumo
To assist the teaching and learning activities on reinforced soil with geosynthetics a problem-based approach was used, which included hands-on activities. The problem was developed for an elective module on Application of Geosynthetics in Civil Engineering (AGCE), delivered in the fifth year of the Integrated Masters in Civil Engineering, University of Aveiro, Portugal. This module has been delivered using different models: "traditional" teaching, project-based learning and problem-based learning models. For the problem-based learning (PBL) approach, for each topic the students were given a problem brief to be dealt with in teams, without having any previous information on the topic. To be able to tackle them, students had to identify their learning needs, collecting relevant information, assessing their applicability to the problem being studied. The contact hours were used as workshops for the teams of students, with the lecturer acting as a facilitator. One of the strategies used in these sessions to facilitate the work was to use questioning, to promote critical thinking and the ability of students to build an argument. Most students had attended two Soil Mechanics modules (at the 3rd year of their programme) with project-based learning model (including either cooperative or collaborative teamwork), described by Pinho-Lopes and Macedo (2015). In these modules the use of computing and software to tackle geotechnical problems has been implemented, as well as some laboratory testing, reported by Pinho-Lopes (2012b). These included creating spreadsheets from scratch, validating and testing them and using commercial software packages (GeoStudio) with typical geotechnical software. Besides the corresponding specific skills, these learning models allowed students to develop soft, transferable skills, as well as competences which facilitated their approach to PBL. The hands-on activity to be reported in the proposed paper was inspired by the GeoChallenge, sponsored by the Geo-Institute of ASCE (American Society o
Palavras-chave: hands-on; active learning; PBL; geosynthetics; reinforced soil; questionnaires