Date of Award

4-2000

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Civil and Construction Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Mohammed Haque

Second Advisor

Dr. Roman Rabieu

Third Advisor

Dr. Sai Ravichandran

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Dynamics involving reinforced concrete design are the first real engineering course encountered by the undergraduate construction engineering students. Quite often its associated rigorous theories makes it an uninteresting academic hurdle for many below mediocre students. However when the theory is exemplified with multimedia, interaction and visualization techniques, the conceptual understanding is enhanced. The teaching methodology presented in this thesis is based on presenting students with an individualized, interactive and guided learning environment. The main elements of this approach are: a means of assimilating the student's interactive learning knowledge and behavior (user model), representation of the instructor's guidance and assessment knowledge (tutor model), utilization of motivational techniques such as multimedia, animation (visual model) and navigation of designed model VRML (virtual reality modeling language) model. Although the presented approach is being applied to reinforced concrete design, it employs a generic architecture, which is discipline independent and may be adapted to any other similar domain which will certainly promote and enhance students' understanding.

Download

Share

COinS