1. Understanding and Using Structural Concepts
Tianjian Ji, Adrian Bell & Partha Mandal
The University of Manchester
20 September 2012

2. Physical Models

3. Practical Examples

4. Website

5. What to do next? How to make better use of our website?
How to stimulate students to learn by themselves with a greater interest?
How to make the learning of structural concepts more effective?
How to share the resource with other educational institutions more effectively?

6. Confucius quote: “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember,
(551–479 BC)
“Tell me and I’ll forget,
show me and I may remember,
involve me and I’ll understand.”

7. Educating Engineers for the 21st Century – RAE 2007

8. Coursework To create a piece of coursework that can:
Enhance the sound understanding of relevant engineering fundamentals;
Develop the ability to apply them in an innovative way
Lead to solving practical problems;
through involving students in hands-on activities

9. Observations/Assumptions
Students have been taught structural concepts through several course units during their previous studies.
Students have different levels of understanding of structural concepts.
Students know little of the application of structural concepts in practice.

10. Coursework (1)
Read through all the contents in the website,
Quick revision of what you have learned before
Enhance your understanding through model demonstrations and practical examples
Generate your own ideas to complete the coursework
No submission for this part

11. Coursework (2) Study one of:
Design/sketch/use a physical model that can demonstrate one structural concept, or
Identify and describe one example, from either engineering practice or everyday life, in which one structural concept is used creatively,
Using your understanding of theory creatively into an application

12. Coursework (3)
Read the submissions provided by the other students and vote the best three.
Your coursework will be compiled into a ‘book’.
You can then learn from each other - further enhancing your understanding
An enjoyable learning experience
Vote for the best three, “X Factor” style.

13. Support to Students’ Learning
Four one-hour lectures, three for helping to make a start and one for a summary.
Cash prizes to the three best submissions.
Costs for covering materials used for making models.
Consultations to students’ ideas.

14. Lecture 1 Concepts for designing stiffer structures
How textbook contents link with engineering practice and how structural concepts can effectively used to deal with engineering problems.
How three structural concepts are abstracted from an equation taught in the first year.

15. Lecture 2 How and Why to Study Structural Concepts?
Give a global view of studying and understanding structural concepts through using a number of examples
Demonstrate the ways to investigate structural concepts and their applications

16. Lecture 3
Assignment of coursework and demonstration of previous students’ submissions
Explain the coursework
Provide a specification of the coursework
Show good examples conducted by previous students

17. Lecture 4 Summary of the coursework submissions
Give general feedback on the coursework submissions.
Illustrate good submissions
Announce the best three submissions voted by the students and give the prizes

18. Students’ Contributions
Many models have been made by students.
A web questionnaire and coursework questionnaire were designed by students
Feedback from the students improved the quality and contents of the website, and the ways of delivering structural concepts

19. The coursework encourages you to explain concepts in a simple manner

20. The coursework promotes the observation of structural concepts in everyday life

21. The coursework motivates a greater interest in the subject of structures

22. The coursework acts as a basis for revision of previously taught material

23. The contents of the booklet are interesting

24. The booklet provides you with an effective way of learning

25. Addis Abebaw: Energy Exchange and Equilibrium

26. John Burwell: Self Supporting Bridge

27. Mingxi Lu: Equilibrium Analysis of the Structures in “Angry Birds”

28. The Third Prize Tensegrity – Kurilpa Bridge

29. The Second Prize Playstation 3 CD Release Mechanism

30. The First Prize The Lazy Bridge – Partial Self-Balancing

31. Further Work
To make our existing website more a flexible learning and teaching resource for benefiting civil engineering students and lecturers in the UK and worldwide:
Provide coursework specifications
Provide good students’ submissions
Provide all lecture notes (PPT files)
A delivery seminar will be held at Manchester in May/June 2013

32. Acknowledgements For developing the website and contents
Education Trust, IStructE
University of Manchester
For updating the website and creating a student centred learning environment
Engineering Subject Centre at Loughborough
For making a more flexible learning resource
The Higher Education Academy