A low-cost approach for rapidly creating demonstration models for hands-on learning

ABSTRACT

Demonstration models allow students to readily grasp theory and relate difficult concepts and equations to real life. However drawbacks of using these demonstration models are that they are can be costly to purchase from vendors or take a significant amount of time to build. These two limiting factors can pose a significant obstacle for adding demonstrations to the curriculum. This article presents an assignment to overcome these obstacles, which has resulted in 36 demonstration models being added to the curriculum. The article also presents the results of student performance on course objectives as a result of the developed models being used in the classroom. Overall, significant improvement in student learning outcomes, due to the addition of demonstration models, has been observed.

KEYWORDS:

• Demonstration models
• hands-on learning
• visualising theory
• student learning outcomes

Notes on contributors

Dr Kristoph-Dietrich Kinzli joined Colorado School of Mines as a Teaching Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in December 2016. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. He also holds an M.S. in fisheries biology from Colorado State University. Prior to joining Mines, Dr Kinzli was an associate professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr Kinzli is involved in the ASCE ExCEEd teaching workshop and is extremely interested in improving engineering education through active learning. His research interests include interactive teaching, open channel hydraulics, river mechanics, stream rehabilitation, groundwater, water resources, agricultural water use, fisheries biology, and ecological restoration.

Dr Tanya Kunberger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering in the U. A. Whitaker College of Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr Kunberger received her B.C.E. and certificate in Geochemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a minor in Soil Science from North Carolina State University. Her areas of specialisation are geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. Educational areas of interest are self-efficacy and persistence in engineering and development of an interest in STEM topics in K-12 students.

Dr Robert O’Neill is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University. He received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy in 1975, an M.S. in Structural Engineering and an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from Stanford University in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Kansas State University in 1993. Dr O’ Neill is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has been active at the national level with ASCE’s Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT), Committee on Faculty Development (CFD) and ExCEEd initiative. He is an ASCE Fellow, a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

Dr Ashraf Badir, P.E., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering in the U. A. Whitaker College of Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr Badir received his B.S. (1982) with honours in civil engineering and M.S. (1985) in structural engineering from Alexandria University, M.S. (1989) and Ph.D. (1992) from the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech). Dr Badir area of specialisation is in structural analysis. He is a member of the ASCE and the American Concrete Institute (ACI).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.