Innovative Teaching Methods In The Civil Engineering Curriculum At The Pennsylvania State University

This paper describes several innovative teaching methods that the author has implemented in four courses in order to increase student involvement in the lessons. These methods include questioning techniques, physical demonstrations, team-oriented in-class exercises using toolkits developed by the author, and lesson presentation techniques. The methods have been significantly inspired by the T E teaching model, which was developed at the USMA and at whose NSF-sponsored short course the author attended. Student data both before and after the implementation are included along with faculty assessments. Comments from other assistant professors who have implemented various aspects of the model are also included as are the author's anecdotes. In the three semesters of implementation, the author has observed improved student performance as measured by written exams in addition to positive student and peer evaluations.