Incorporating Woodwork Fabrication into the Integrated Teaching and Learning of Civil Engineering Students
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 144, Issue 4
Abstract
As an alternative to the traditional structural analysis adopting computer-aided modeling and evaluation, this pedagogical research provides an integrated teaching and learning approach by mapping cognitive domains in a newly launched course, Woodwork Fabrication and Analysis, for second-year students. The course incorporates ancient Chinese woodworking tradition into the integrated learning activities involving engineering graphics, mechanics of materials, hands-on fabrication, and structural modeling/analysis. Comparing the traditional and new courses in terms of their effectiveness in enhancing student learning of structural engineering subjects, both courses are designed to achieve consistent learning outcomes (e.g., to develop structural analysis skills). This study demonstrates student work in engineering drawing and structural analysis reflecting their critical thinking and active learning in the new course. Students from both the traditional and new courses were surveyed about their overall satisfaction with their selected course, their perceptions of the course effectiveness in enhancing civil engineering–related skills, and their expectations of the effect of the course on their further study and work. With the student sample from the traditional course as the control group, the comparative study reveals that the integrated teaching and learning approach in the new course could lead to higher overall student satisfaction and more-positive perceptions of the course effectiveness in enhancing structural analysis–related skills. This pedagogical study will serve as a reference for other civil engineering educators in adopting integrated teaching and learning in lower-year undergraduate education.
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Data Availability Statement
Data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support from Department of Education of Zhejiang Province (Contract No. jg20160260) in conducting this pedagogical study. The authors also acknowledge the support from the Writing Retreat Fund provided by the University of Brighton.
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Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 144 • Issue 4 • October 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 3, 2018
Accepted: Feb 21, 2018
Published online: May 25, 2018
Published in print: Oct 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Oct 25, 2018
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