The Use of Digital Resources in Civil Engineering Education: Enhancing
Student Learning and Achieving Accreditation Criteria
S. Nash, B.A. McCabe, J. Goggins and M.G. Healy
College of Engineering & Informatics, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Abstract
The use of digital resources in higher education has risen significantly over the last
ten years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The challenge for
educational instructors is in determining how to utilise digital resources effectively;
the basis for this should not be their availability alone, but rather their ability to
enhance the student learning experience and achieve desired learning outcomes.
This paper describes the successful widespread integration of digital resources in
the undergraduate teaching of civil engineering at the National University of Ireland,
Galway. Various types of digital resources, including animations, videos, design
software and case studies, are utilised. The recently completed Engineering building
is itself a digital resource. Designed as a living laboratory, the building’s structure,
energy systems and internal environment are heavily instrumented and the
structural, environmental and energy datasets are used as teaching tools.
The higher education teaching of Engineering differs significantly from that of other
disciplines, such as the Arts or Humanities, in that engineering degrees are typically
subject to a strict accreditation process by the national professional engineering
body. In Ireland, this body (Engineers Ireland) prescribe six programme outcomes for
Level 8 engineering degree programmes. The learning outcomes of individual course
modules must therefore map onto one or more of these prescribed programme
outcomes. The aim of this paper is to elucidate how digital resources have been
used successfully by academic staff in the teaching of civil engineering subjects to
help achieve professional accreditation criteria whilst also providing a more engaging
student learning experience.
Cite as:
Nash, S.N., McCabe, B.A., Goggins, J.M. and Healy, M.G. (2012) The use of digital
resources in civil engineering education: enhancing student learning and achieving
accreditation criteria, Chapter 2 in The Digital Learning Revolution in Ireland: Case
Studies from the National Learning Resources Service, pp. 9-32.
Student Learning and Achieving Accreditation Criteria
S. Nash, B.A. McCabe, J. Goggins and M.G. Healy
College of Engineering & Informatics, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Abstract
The use of digital resources in higher education has risen significantly over the last
ten years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The challenge for
educational instructors is in determining how to utilise digital resources effectively;
the basis for this should not be their availability alone, but rather their ability to
enhance the student learning experience and achieve desired learning outcomes.
This paper describes the successful widespread integration of digital resources in
the undergraduate teaching of civil engineering at the National University of Ireland,
Galway. Various types of digital resources, including animations, videos, design
software and case studies, are utilised. The recently completed Engineering building
is itself a digital resource. Designed as a living laboratory, the building’s structure,
energy systems and internal environment are heavily instrumented and the
structural, environmental and energy datasets are used as teaching tools.
The higher education teaching of Engineering differs significantly from that of other
disciplines, such as the Arts or Humanities, in that engineering degrees are typically
subject to a strict accreditation process by the national professional engineering
body. In Ireland, this body (Engineers Ireland) prescribe six programme outcomes for
Level 8 engineering degree programmes. The learning outcomes of individual course
modules must therefore map onto one or more of these prescribed programme
outcomes. The aim of this paper is to elucidate how digital resources have been
used successfully by academic staff in the teaching of civil engineering subjects to
help achieve professional accreditation criteria whilst also providing a more engaging
student learning experience.
Cite as:
Nash, S.N., McCabe, B.A., Goggins, J.M. and Healy, M.G. (2012) The use of digital
resources in civil engineering education: enhancing student learning and achieving
accreditation criteria, Chapter 2 in The Digital Learning Revolution in Ireland: Case
Studies from the National Learning Resources Service, pp. 9-32.