There is a growing need for engineers to be effective communicators, yet professional skills often are underdeveloped by college-level engineering curricula and undervalued by engineering students. To improve communication skills, we integrated a technical communication block of instruction into a civil engineering (CE) computer applications…

An undergraduate degree in engineering requires students to not only be proficient in engineering knowledge but also acquire comprehensive skills such as independent learning ability, strong communication skills, social knowledge, and innovative thinking. Therefore, problem-based learning (PBL), which is a student-centered approach, is getting…

To respond to construction industry-specific requirements for civil engineers, university teachers need to provide opportunities for students to develop their generic and professional skills. This article describes the use of a novel intervention of project-based learning -- PjBL with the consultative approach -- to teach Lean Construction and the…

Recruitment, retention, and preparation of students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are critical to meeting the global challenges of the 21st century. Gamification--game playing concepts used in another activity--has been postulated as an active teaching strategy that engages students, encourages a sense of community,…

This paper presents the implementation of a learning methodology following a student-centred approach. The methodology is based on the use of project based and cooperative learning and mainly consists of commissioning students to prepare a presentation on a topic of their subject. Students work in groups, and later must deliver a real lecture to…

This case study from the Civil and Environmental Engineering department of a UK university presents an educational design that uses team-based learning (TBL) to prepare students prior to undertaking a group project. Our aim is to show how the established TBL approach can be used in a novel way as a precursor to a group project to improve the…

In today's industry, employers are looking for civil engineering graduates who have acquired not only substantial technical and scientific knowledge, but who also have good life-long learning skills such as problem-solving, creativity and communication skills. Therefore, it is necessary to leave behind the pedagogical approaches exclusively…

This paper reports on a project in which students designed, constructed and tested a model of an existing early warning system with simulation of debris flow in a context of a landslide. Students also assessed rural community members' knowledge of this system and subsequently taught them to estimate the time needed for evacuation of the community…

This paper describes the use of project-based learning to teach design skills to civil engineering students at University College Dublin (UCD). The paper first considers the development of problem-based leaning (PBL) as a tool in higher education. The general issues to be considered in the design of the curriculum for a PBL module are reviewed.…

This paper describes the use of undergraduate materials multidisciplinary research projects as a means of addressing the growing industrial demand for graduates experienced in working in multidisciplinary teams. It includes a detailed description of a project in which a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineering and civil engineering students…

An instructional approach used in a civil engineering curriculum at Queens University of Belfast (Northern Ireland) incorporates development of communication skills into active learning assignments. A "learning from disasters" exercise and two mock public inquiries illustrate the use and benefits of the technique. (Author/MSE)