Development of Hands-On Activities to Attract High School Students to Geotechnical Engineering Field: Work in Progress

Geotechnical engineering subjects can be perceived by some students as difficult when proper teaching methods are not used. This may be due to the fact that soil and rocks are complex, heterogeneous materials, and geotechnical design involves significant uncertainties. Prior research works indicate that it is important to demonstrate the social relevance of the topic and its interesting applications. This study aims to develop diverse hands-on activities to attract high school students into the field of geotechnical engineering. The team developed a class module to introduce local high school students to the fundamental concept of and various applications in the field of geotechnical engineering. To further demonstrate geotechnical concepts, four in-class hands-on activities were designed, covering topics, such as coastal erosion, soil reinforcement, earth retaining wall, and soil liquefaction. These activities used simple materials that are easy to implement in a regular classroom setting. Survey questions were designed to collect feedback from students and teachers to help further improve these hands-on activities and class module. Through the development and implementation of such geotechnical engineering activities, this study aims to increase students’ interests in learning geotechnical engineering topics and attract more students into the field of geotechnical engineering.