Incorporation of Writing into a Steel Design Course
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 128, Issue 2
Abstract
The University of Connecticut requires that, after completing the traditional freshmen English courses, students have writing assignments in courses that comprise their major. This paper explains how this requirement has been met in a senior-level, structural steel design course. Students are required to read articles on different types of steel buildings and bridges. They then write a response to specific questions. They also are required to perform “back-of-an-envelope” calculations on different structural components. The assignments enhance the subject matter by providing students with the opportunity to look at entire structures, whereas conventional design assignments generally involve the study of individual members and connections. These assignments provide a format for organizing and communicating information about load paths, framing approaches, different design alternatives, and how design influences and is influenced by construction practice.
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References
American Institute of Steel Construction. (1998). Manual of steel construction, load and resistance factor design, 2nd Ed., Chicago.
Bethlehem Steel. (1970). Bethlehem Steel Building case history number 1: the Boston Company Building, Boston, Massachusetts, Bethlehem, Pa.
Bethlehem Steel. (1972). Bethlehem Steel Building case history number 18: Churchill Academic Tower, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, Bethlehem, Pa.
Freeman, K., Faustman, C., Bloom, L., and Hoagland, T. (2000). Improving student writing in the agricultural sciences, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn.
Gute, W. L.(1974). “First vehicular cable-stayed bridges in the U.S.” Modern Steel Constr., 14(1), 10–15.
Tedesko, A.(1994). “Computer analysis no substitute for experience.” Civ. Eng., 64(2), 60.
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Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 9, 2000
Accepted: May 22, 2001
Published online: Apr 1, 2002
Published in print: Apr 2002
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