| Abstract: | A significant proportion of younger engineering educators engaged in teaching design oriented courses have little or no industrial experience. Thus, directions for merging professional experience with engineering science in class designs have become a chief concern in engineering educational forums. As one way to address this issue, students in a geotechnical course having both engineering science and design content presented their design projects to an audience of practicing geotechnical engineers. The results of this trial clearly revealed specific areas of a student design where professional judgment based on firsthand experience or other exposure is essential. The experiment also furnished an opportunity for industrial representatives to view the university's geotechnical curriculum and its preparation of students as future engineers. Above all, a dramatic improvement was noticed in the students' motivation to accomplish the class design projects in a successful and timely manner. |
