Development of Instructional Modules to Create Aha Moments in Geotechnical Engineering Courses
Publication: Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 149, Issue 3
Abstract
This article introduces eight instructional modules designed to create aha moments for students and help them gain clear insights on how geotechnical engineering principles are applied in the real world. Each module consists of (1) an interactive class demonstration using a physical model, (2) a whiteboard-style animation that provides the background and significance, and (3) a lesson plan. Video recording of the physical demonstration and whiteboard-style animation are combined into a single multimedia file and uploaded to YouTube for public access. Survey results show that the instruction modules facilitate students’ learning and stimulate their interests in geotechnical engineering.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The primary author thanks the United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER) for the financial support of the development of Aha Moment Modules. The assistance from a Ph.D. Student (Liang Li) and four undergraduate students (Bobbie Fealy, Andres Richa, Emily Sanford, and Collin Sprang) in recording various demonstration activities and editing the whiteboard style animations is highly appreciated.
References
Air, J., E. Oakland, and C. Walters. 2015. The secrets behind the rise of video scribing. Bristol, UK: Sparkol Books.
ASCE. 2019. Civil engineering body of knowledge: Preparing the future civil engineer. 3rd ed. Reston, VA: ASCE.
ASCE. 2021. “Policy statement 417—Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.” Accessed July 15, 2022. https://www.asce.org/advocacy/policy-statements/ps417---justice-equity-diversity-and-inclusion.
Bloom, B. S., M. D. Englehart, E. J. Furst, W. H. Hill, and D. Krathwohl. 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives, the classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
Brophy, S. 2008. “First year engineering students’ initials ideas for solving complex problems.” In Proc., 2008 ASEE Annual Conf. and Exposition. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--4337.
Brown, S., A. Easley, D. Montfort, J. Adam, B. Van Wie, A. Olusola, C. Poor, C. Tobin, and A. Flatt. 2014. “Effectiveness of an interactive learning environment utilizing a physical model.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 140 (3): 04014001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000197.
Chia, T. C. 1996. “Common misconceptions in frictional force among university physics students.” Teach. Learn. 16 (2): 107–116.
Coduto, D. P., M. R. Yeung, and W. A. Kitch. 2011. Geotechnical engineering: Principles and practices. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson.
Craig, W. H. 1989. “Use of a centrifuge in geotechnical engineering education.” Geotech. Test. J. 12 (4): 288–291. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ10986J.
Crouch, C. H., A. P. Fagen, J. P. Callan, and E. Mazur. 2004. “Classroom demonstrations: Learning tools or entertainment?” Am. J. Phys. 72 (6): 835–838. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1707018.
Danek, A. H., T. Fraps, A. von Muller, B. Grothe, and M. Ollinger. 2013. “Aha! Experiences leave a mark: Facilitated recall of insight solutions.” Psychol. Res. 77 (5): 659–669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-012-0454-8.
Dewoolkar, M. M., T. Goddery, and D. Znidarcic. 2003. “Centrifuge modeling for undergraduate geotechnical engineering instruction.” Can. Geotech. J. 26 (2): 201–209. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ11327J.
Elton, D. J. 2001. Soils magic. Geotechnical Special Publication 114. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Elton, D. J. 2015. Grounded!: Amazing classroom demonstrations in soil mechanics. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Estes, A. C., R. W. Welch, and S. J. Ressler. 2005. “The ExCEEd teaching model.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 131 (4): 218–222. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2005)131:4(218).
Felder, R. M., and R. Brent. 2005. “Understanding student differences.” J. Eng. Educ. 94 (1): 57–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00829.x.
Gick, M. L., and R. S. Lockhart. 1995. “Cognitive and affective components of insight.” In The nature of insight, edited by R. J. Sternberg and J. E. Davidson, 197–228. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gilbert, B. P., H. Guan, H. Qin, and S. Drew. 2013. “In-class and recorded physical demonstrations in enhancing student understanding of structural mechanics courses.” In Proc., 24th Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE) Conf. Barton, Australia: AAEE.
Gruber, H. E. 1995. “Insight and affect in the history of science.” In The nature of insight, edited by R. J. Sternberg and J. E. Davidson, 197–228. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Herle, I., and S. Gesellmann. 2008. “Demonstration experiments in geotechnical education.” In Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Education and Training in Geo-Engineering Sciences: Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Geology, Rock Mechanics (ICETGES), 379–382. London: International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
Kim, N., M. T. W. McVay, and A. R. Srinivasa. 2017. “Impact of classroom demonstrations and surveys on higher-level learning paper.” In Proc., 2017 ASEE Annual Conf. and Exposition. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--28461.
Kizilcik, H. S., M. Aygun, E. Sahin, N. Onder-Celikkanli, O. Turk, T. Taskin, and B. Guneş. 2021. “Possible misconceptions about solid friction.” Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17 (2): 023107. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.023107.
Kraus, P. A. 1997. “Promoting active learning in lecture-based courses: Demonstrations, tutorials, and interactive tutorial lectures.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Washington.
Lowman, J. 1994. Mastering the techniques of teaching. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Metcalfe, J., and D. Wiebe. 1987. “Intuition in insight and noninsight problem solving.” Mem. Cognit. 15 (3): 238–246. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197722.
Milner-Bolotin, M., A. Kotlicki, and G. Rieger. 2007. “Can students learn from lecture demonstrations? The role and place of interactive lecture experiment in large introductory science coureces.” J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 36 (4): 45–49.
Mitchell, R. J. 1998. “The eleventh annual R.M. Hardy keynote address, 1997: Centrifugation in geoenvironmental practice and education.” Can. Geotech. J. 35 (4): 630–640. https://doi.org/10.1139/t98-029.
National Research Council. 2012. A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Roth, W. M., C. J. McRobbie, K. B. Lucas, and S. Boutonné. 1997. “Why may students fail to learn from demonstrations? A social practice perspective on learning in physics.” J. Res. Sci. Teach. 34 (5): 509–533. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199705)34:5%3C509::AID-TEA6%3E3.0.CO;2-U.
Schmucker, D. G. 1988. “Models, models, models: The use of physical models to enhance the structural engineering experience.” In Proc., 1988 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conf. and Exposition. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education.
Seo, H. 2018. “Soil Magic 2.0: Creation of a library of in-class demonstration activities to create ‘aha moments’ in geotechnical engineering classrooms.” Final report submitted to United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER). Accessed December 10, 2021. http://research.engr.oregonstate.edu/usucger/SpecialProjects/Seo%20-%20Aha%20Moments.pdf.
Szurmak, J., M. Laflamme, M. Thuna, M. Ahmed, and K. Dhillon. 2019. “A qualitative interview-based pilot study of discipline selection narratives by undergraduate science students: In search of ‘aha’ moments and ‘bottlenecks’.” In Discussions on University Science Teaching: Proc., Western Conf. on Science Education. Halifax, Canada: Dalhousie Univ.
Terzaghi, K. 1943. Theoretical soil mechanics. New York: Wiley.
Topolinski, S., and R. Reber. 2010. “Gaining insight into the ‘aha’ experience.” Curr. Directions Psychol. Sci. 19 (6): 402–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721410388803.
Vander Schaaf, R., and J. L. Klosky. 2005. “Classroom demonstrations in introductory mechanics.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 131 (2): 83–89. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2005)131:2(83).
Wartman, J. 2006. “Geotechnical physical modeling for education: Learning theory approach.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 132 (4): 288–296. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2006)132:4(288).
Zimmerer, C., T. Nelius, and S. Matthiesen. 2021. “Investigation on the aha-experience as an indicator of correct solutions in functional analysis in engineering design.” In Proc., Design Society (ICED21). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2021.456.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 21, 2022
Accepted: Nov 2, 2022
Published online: Feb 16, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jul 16, 2023
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Zia ur Rehman, Trends and Challenges of Technology-Enhanced Learning in Geotechnical Engineering Education, Sustainability, 10.3390/su15107972, 15, 10, (7972), (2023).