Development Of Hands On Experimentation Experience For Civil Engineering Design Courses At San Francisco State University

This project will describe the revision of structural design courses, such as Reinforced Concrete Structures and Steel Structures, at San Francisco State University’s School of Engineering, a major undergraduate degree granting institution. Development of hands-on experience for design courses originated with and was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation to set up an integrated undergraduate structural engineering laboratory. It aims to help students maximizing learning through hands-on experimentation, which will allow them to experimentally verify the theoretical and conceptual content of design courses. The goal is to motivate students to develop an understanding of why design specifications are written to avoid detrimental structural behaviors, through witnessing and verifying possible failure modes of structures. Implementation of a testing frame will significantly improve our undergraduate civil engineering curriculum, encourage student interaction, induce more commitment to learning, foster student curiosity, cultivate student creativity and bridge student connectivity between theoretical concepts and hands-on experience. School of Engineering at San Francisco State University Located in one of the most diverse, creative and globally connected regions of our nation, San Francisco State University has grown over the past 40 years to become a nationally and internationally renowned, comprehensive public institution. Of SFSU’s total enrollment of around 29,200 students in 2004, about 60% are female and 40% are male. As is typical of comprehensive urban institutions, a large percentage of SFSU students work full or part time while pursuing their education. Many are re-entry students, returning to college after an extended absence, either to complete their original degree program or to obtain education and training in another field. Reflecting the ethnically diverse composition of the urban area in which it is located, SFSU serves a significant number of minority students. Of those who declared their ethnicity in 200203, students of color comprise 63% of the undergraduate student body. By ethnicity, the student body is 37% White; 24% Asian; 14% Latino; 12% Filipino and Pacific Islander; 7% African American; 6% other and 0.8% Native American. Consequently, SFSU has been designated as a minority-serving institution by the US Department of Education. The civil engineering program at SFSU offers four emphases: Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering. The rigorous curriculum of the core program consists of 19 required engineering and 10 required science courses. Additionally, students must complete 6 engineering elective courses from one of the four emphasis areas. Page 11476.2 Our advising and graduation audit system ensures that our students are proficient in required science courses: mathematics (through differential equations), probability and statistics, calculusbased physics and general chemistry. The following table illustrates the range of skills that students learn in these subjects and their applications within the civil engineering program. Subject Topics Civil Engineering Courses Mathematics (Math 226, 227, 228, 245) Graphs, differentiation, integration, analytic geometry, vectors, sequences, series, differential equations, and matrix algebra Engr 102: Statics Engr 300: Engineering Experimentation Engr 309: Mechanics of Solids Engr 308: Computer Methods in Engineering Engr 335: Surveying and Highway Design Engr 430: Soil Mechanics Calculus-based Physics (Phys 220, 222, 230, 232, 240, 242) Mechanics with lab, electricity and magnetism with lab, wave motion, optics and thermodynamics with lab. Engr 102: Statics Engr 201: Dynamics Engr 309: Mechanics of Solids Engr 323: Structural Analysis Engr 430: Soil Mechanics Probability and statistics (Engr 300) Common methods of probability and statistics. Statistics applied in interpreting laboratory test results. Engr 300: Engineering Experimentation Engr 308: Computer Methods in Engineering Engr 430: Soil Mechanics Chemistry (Chem 115) Atomic structure, periodicity, properties of molecules (structure, bonding geometry, polarity), elementary thermodynamics, elementary organic chemistry, with lab. Engr 430: Soil Mechanics Engr 434: Principle of Environmental Engineering Engr 435: Environmental Engineering Design Civil Engineering Curriculum In order to demonstrate their proficiency in a particular area, students must meet the following learning outcome criteria: (1) the ability to present information clearly in both oral and written formats; (2) the ability to analyze and design systems, components or processes relevant to their field of specialty; (3) the ability to design and conduct experiments and/or field investigations, and to analyze and interpret data in their field of specialty; and (4) the ability to use modern engineering tools, software and instrumentation through hands-on experience relevant to their field of specialty (SFSU, 2003). The major goal of the civil engineering curriculum is to give students a combination of theoretical background and hands-on practical knowledge. Instruction in structural engineering begins with Engineering Mechanics: Statics (Engr 102), then Engineering Dynamics (Engr 201). In Materials in Engineering (Engr 200), students learn fundamentals of material behavior, the concepts of stress, strain and failure. Instruction continues in Mechanics of Solids (Engr 309), P ge 11476.3 adding more depth to student understanding of statics, as well as introducing the analysis of deformations. Mechanics of Solids (Engr 309) also provides preliminary instruction in designing for strength. Finally, Structural Analysis (Engr 323) further develops student proficiency in structural engineering, by expanding on the concepts of analysis for reactions, internal forces, and deformations, and provides instruction in the determination of loads, structural stability and basic concepts of design. Detailed methods for achieving strength and serviceability are covered in subsequent design courses taken by students who wish to develop a career in structural engineering. Elective courses for students concentrating in structural engineering include: Steel Structures (Engr 426), Reinforced Concrete Structures (Engr 425), Wood Structures (Engr 427), Applied Stress Analysis (Engr 428), Foundation Engineering (Engr 431), Construction Engineering (Engr 439), Finite Element Methods (Engr 432) and Mechanical and Structural Vibrations (Engr 461). Most of these courses focus on basic design-oriented content to prepare students for practical experience. In their last semester, students enroll in a required two-course sequence, Senior Design Project (Engr 696/697), in which they: (1) engage in laboratory and field exercises and demonstrations; (2) discuss the selection of design projects, methods of research, engineering professional practice, ethics, and time management; (3) select, develop, schedule and complete an original design project; and (4) present the project orally and in writing. This advanced work is done with maximum independence under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Existing Laboratory Experience Our civil engineering graduates acquire the ability to conduct laboratory experiments and to critically analyze and interpret data in the areas of soil mechanics, solid mechanics, and fluid mechanics. This ability is acquired through two courses: Experimental Analysis (Engr 302) and Soil Mechanics (Engr 430). The students conduct these tests in groups, a process which promotes an understanding that experimentation often requires teamwork in project implementation and data collection. Each student writes a separate lab report, which explains the experimental activities, reports the raw data, presents the processed data, provides an analysis of the data and interprets the results. Students must compare their findings with a theoretical value and discuss the deviations. Both labs (Engr 302 and 430) comprise an open-ended project wherein students use their findings to design and build experiments for a specific purpose. What is Currently Missing from the Civil Engineering Curriculum? In order to be prepared to enter the civil engineering profession upon graduation, undergraduates must acquire: (1) depth of knowledge; (2) proficiency at engaging in teamwork; (3) experience in working with open-ended problems; and (4) a holistic approach to problems and to career development (Sabatini 1997). It is imperative to incorporate hands-on research into undergraduate teaching and curriculum development. Students learn best through hands-on experimentation, which allows them experientially to verify the theoretical and conceptual content of their courses (Jenkins, et. al, 2002). While our present structural engineering curriculum offers sufficient elective courses in design, it does not provide students with any hands-on experience to help them learn to visualize overall structural behavior and possible modes of structural failure due to external forces. The project aims to provide undergraduate P ge 11476.4 students with such experiences by incorporating integrated structural laboratory experiments into all structural design courses. In addition, this proposal will also provide students with hands-on research experience while taking their design project courses (Engr 696/697). The idea that undergraduates benefit from hands-on experience is widely known (Pauschke and Ingraffea, 1996). In developing this project, we have considered four models for incorporating such experiences into our curriculum: (1) providing a graduate research lab (Pessiki, Lu and Yen, 1994); (2) creating a lab which relies on computer simulation and small-scale models (Belarbi, et al., 1994); (3) offering multimedia-based instruction (Issa, et. al., 1999); and (4) building a fullscale testing frame for vario