Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal.

Ranking systems are readily available and offer a simplistic way to differentiate among universities. However, end-users are not informed about the criteria and methods used to develop the ranking systems. Whereas ranking systems are used by prospective students, their lack of reliability and transparency outweigh their benefits. There are a few…

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…

Traditionally, civil engineering infrastructures have been represented through two-dimensional (2D) drawings, which can lead to interpretation errors and jeopardize engineers' understanding of complex projects. However, with the development of building information modeling (BIM) methodology, civil engineering projects can now be virtually modeled…

The intersection of modeling and STEM practices offers a promising avenue for creating an integrated STEM curriculum. However, research on designing modeling-based STEM (m-STEM) curricula is limited, particularly concerning how the curriculum affects the learning of students with different spatial abilities. This study developed a four-round…

The demand for the Dongfeng Highway connecting Dongshi and Fengyuan, Taiwan, originates from a 7.3 ML earthquake disaster affecting residents' medical treatment and material transportation. The Dongfeng Highway route selection was identified as the socioscientific issues (SSI) and the Decision Factors Table and SageModeler (two representational…

Creativity is an important characteristic for civil engineering professionals and students when facing innovation challenges associated with construction engineering projects. Previous studies have not examined the temporary group context when conducting research on creativity. Drawing on the social cognitive theory and the actor-partner…

In this article, we present the results of the administration of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the understanding that civil engineering students have of the "antiderivative." The questionnaire was simultaneously administered to samples of Mexican and Colombian students. For the analysis of the answers, we used some theoretical and…

We present a teaching methodology to answer the question 'How can we link teaching with research in our engineering courses?' Due to the combination of hybrid Problem Based Learning with Research Tutored/Oriented Teaching, the methodology enables the students to acquire the skills of 'problem solving', 'working in teams', 'analytic', 'written…

Using the technology acceptance model (TAM) as its theoretical foundation, this study intends to explore the use of Travelling Beam devices in road engineerings in Taiwan and offer suggestions based on its findings to encourage industry willingness for device deployment resulting in improving road pavement smoothness in Taiwan. The study subjects…

Integrative model of special translation training considers the understanding of a foreign text as the key stage of the given activity, which is to large extent stipulated by characteristics of both the source text sender and the translation text recipient. Interdisciplinary approach permitted to involve maximum number of determining factors to…

Since 2007/2008 project-based learning models have been used to deliver two fundamental courses on Geotechnics in University of Aveiro, Portugal. These models have evolved and have encompassed either cooperative or collaborative teamwork. Using data collected in five editions of each course (Soil Mechanics I and Soil Mechanics II), the different…

Recent studies suggest that the number of students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees has been generally decreasing. An extensive body of research cites the lack of motivation and engagement in the learning process as a major underlying reason of this decline. It has been discussed that if properly…

A partially unusual behaviour was found among 14 sophomore students of civil engineering who took a pre test for a free fall laboratory session, in the context of a general mechanics course. An analysis contemplating mathematics models and physics models consistency was made. In all cases, the students presented evidence favoring a correct free…

We report the results of a pilot study aimed at developing, implementing, and assessing an educational module that integrates remote major research instrumentation into undergraduate classes. Specifically, this study employs Internet Web-based technologies to allow for real-time video monitoring and execution of cutting-edge experiments. The…