In subsequent courses, students will take on additional design tasks, but these subsequent projects have to build on and take account of the projects put in place earlier. Hence, the whole design project gradually becomes more challenging, more complex, and more integrated. Eventually the design tasks will run the gamut of civil engineering, including site planning and layout, water supply, storm water management, transportation systems, steel and concrete structures, and geotechnical works. The combined funding has provided the resources to see the project through to full development. In this case, participating faculty have learned that the structure of individual courses can and should be changed to accommodate the new goal of helping students develop their design skills more effectively.
Students still have to learn the basic content of technical knowledge.
However, in order to learn that as well as design skills, students have to learn how to pursue multiple levels of learning simultaneously. In fact, students have to learn some of the content on their own, out of class. One device for helping with additional learning has been an experimental use of multimedia modules , which are put on a course-specific web site. These multimedia modules contain lessons about technical content that students can access on their own anytime and anywhere. Development of the modules is being led by Kurt Gramoll, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and the Hughes Multimedia Chair.