Spreadsheets Development and Use as a Tool or Obstacle Enhancing Competencies, in the Structural Engineering Learning

Luis Horacio Hernandez Carrasco; Miguel X. Rodriguez-Paz; Saul E. Crespo

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Architectural Engineering Division (ARCHE) Technical Session 2
Tagged Division: Architectural Engineering Division (ARCHE)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47990

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Paper Authors

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Luis Horacio Hernandez Carrasco Tecnologico de Monterrey

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Civil Engineer
Master degree in Structural Engineering
Master in Business Administration
Full time professor at (Tec de Monterrey) ITESM
Professional Registered Engineer in Structural Design

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biography

Miguel X. Rodriguez-Paz Tecnologico de Monterrey orcid.org/0000-0002-9975-9847

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Prof. RodrÃguez-Paz got his B.Sc. In Civil Engineering from Tecnologico de Oaxaca in 1993. He studied a M.Sc. In Structural Engineering at Tecnologico de Monterrey and got his Ph.D. from the University of Wales at Swansea in 2003 where he did research on

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Saul E. Crespo Tecnologico de Monterrey orcid.org/0000-0001-5093-0108

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Bachelor in Civil Engineering with a Master of Science in Structural Engineering and PhD candidate in Structural Engineering. From April 2011 to July 2017 he served as Senior Researcher of the "Structural Health Monitoring" group of the Mexican Institute of Transportation, directing and collaborating in monitoring and structural prognosis projects applied to special highway bridges, transportation infrastructure, historical monuments and structural systems. He has developed research projects in the area of structural deterioration of reinforced concrete bridges and in the development of damage detection techniques in structural systems based on Non Destructive Evaluation. He actively collaborated in the creation and development of the Monitoring Center for Intelligent Bridges and Structures, leading the analysis and structural evaluation of the systems. In the academic field, he has worked as a professor in the Civil Engineering career, in the area of structural engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) Campus Querétaro. He has directed research projects for undergraduate and master's degree students. He has authored several technical publications of the Mexican Institute of Transportation, extensive publications in congresses, international and national symposiums, as well as in scientific journals. From 2017 to 2020 he served as Director of the Civil Engineering program at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Querétaro and as professor of the Structural Engineering area at the institution and since November 2020 he leads the Department of Sustainable Technologies and Civil Engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Querétaro.

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Abstract

Spreadsheets development and use as a tool or obstacle enhancing competencies, in the structural engineering learning.

In the teaching-learning process related to advanced topics of structural design, it is a widespread practice to develop spreadsheets (SS) to simplify the numerical routines involved in the calculation of the different elements that conform a structure, following the guidelines of codes applicable in each region or country. This reduces significantly the time used in the numerical routine of the calculations and gives a time gain for more specialized processes such as distribution and location of structural elements, applicable load systems and structure analysis and the final evaluation of mechanical elements applied on every structural element such as slabs, beams and girders, columns, foundations, etc.

The objective of this paper is to present the learning results by means of evaluations and applied polls to students of different courses of structural design in different areas, for Civil Engineering and Architecture majors.

A. The evaluations will be applied through traditional exams and quizzes, with design situations where the students are allowed to use SS and other design situations where they are not allowed to use these SS. With the results, we can build a comparative scheme to be studied and analyzed. B. The polls will be applied on-line using Google Forms, where they will be asked perception questions related to performance and learning comparing the possibility of use SS versus the restrictions on their use. Examples of these questions are: a) Did you develop and program your own SS or use SS developed by others? b) How deeply do you know the way the routines work inside the SS? c) In the change of routine scenario, are you able to modify the SS process to apply change of variables, formulas, and concepts?

The design process of structural elements is ruled by codes and handbooks that set specific processes and requirements to evaluate properties and characteristics that provide strength and stiffness, these processes might involve highly elaborated numerical routines, so it is quite common the use of spreadsheets developed to facilitate these procedures. The common status is that the professor guides the students in the development and programming of their own SS in order that they know the input data and the output values and the results of modifying each value of the input data in every step of the process, nevertheless, there are a lot of external sources available to obtain SS developed by others as a freeware. The use of these SS developed and programmed by others, frequently have restricted access to the code and it is not possible to establish the inside calculation process or generate process modifications when they are needed due to code or regulatory changes. They are only a mechanization of the process without the possibility of interpretation or modification applying a personal criterion.

When a tool with these capacities and reach possibilities is available, the advantages are immediate in time saving in the developments of the numerical process and a precision level error free in the numerical process, but we lose the analysis capacity by using the output values without any further analysis of the physical meaning or interaction with other structural elements. We become only data users instead of structural designers.

When a student develops their own SS, they are in the possibility of modifying the programmed routines when it becomes necessary. If they use SS developed by others, the modification of the routine process turns to be complex because they do not know the base of the programming used in the first place.

We will evaluate if the use of these tools is a knowledge and learning support tool developing structural design competencies, or if it is a tool to make numerical routines easier but losing analysis capacity and abilities and the mathematical and physical meaning of each data in the structural behavior of every element.

Citation
Format

Hernandez Carrasco, L. H., & Rodriguez-Paz, M. X., & Crespo, S. E. (2024, June), Spreadsheets Development and Use as a Tool or Obstacle Enhancing Competencies, in the Structural Engineering Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47990

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Spreadsheets development and use as a tool or obstacle enhancing competencies, in the structural engineering learning.

In the teaching-learning process related to advanced topics of structural design, it is a widespread practice to develop spreadsheets (SS) to simplify the numerical routines involved in the calculation of the different elements that conform a structure, following the guidelines of codes applicable in each region or country. This reduces significantly the time used in the numerical routine of the calculations and gives a time gain for more specialized processes such as distribution and location of structural elements, applicable load systems and structure analysis and the final evaluation of mechanical elements applied on every structural element such as slabs, beams and girders, columns, foundations, etc.

The objective of this paper is to present the learning results by means of evaluations and applied polls to students of different courses of structural design in different areas, for Civil Engineering and Architecture majors.

A.	The evaluations will be applied through traditional exams and quizzes, with design situations where the students are allowed to use SS and other design situations where they are not allowed to use these SS. With the results, we can build a comparative scheme to be studied and analyzed.
B.	The polls will be applied on-line using Google Forms, where they will be asked perception questions related to performance and learning comparing the possibility of use SS versus the restrictions on their use. Examples of these questions are:
a)	Did you develop and program your own SS or use SS developed by others?
b)	How deeply do you know the way the routines work inside the SS?
c)	In the change of routine scenario, are you able to modify the SS process to apply change of variables, formulas, and concepts?

The design process of structural elements is ruled by codes and handbooks that set specific processes and requirements to evaluate properties and characteristics that provide strength and stiffness, these processes might involve highly elaborated numerical routines, so it is quite common the use of spreadsheets developed to facilitate these procedures. The common status is that the professor guides the students in the development and programming of their own SS in order that they know the input data and the output values and the results of modifying each value of the input data in every step of the process, nevertheless, there are a lot of external sources available to obtain SS developed by others as a freeware. The use of these SS developed and programmed by others, frequently have restricted access to the code and it is not possible to establish the inside calculation process or generate process modifications when they are needed due to code or regulatory changes. They are only a mechanization of the process without the possibility of interpretation or modification applying a personal criterion.

When a tool with these capacities and reach possibilities is available, the advantages are immediate in time saving in the developments of the numerical process and a precision level error free in the numerical process, but we lose the analysis capacity by using the output values without any further analysis of the physical meaning or interaction with other structural elements. We become only data users instead of structural designers.

When a student develops their own SS, they are in the possibility of modifying the programmed routines when it becomes necessary. If they use SS developed by others, the modification of the routine process turns to be complex because they do not know the base of the programming used in the first place.

We will evaluate if the use of these tools is a knowledge and learning support tool developing structural design competencies, or if it is a tool to make numerical routines easier but losing analysis capacity and abilities and the mathematical and physical meaning of each data in the structural behavior of every element.


AU  - Luis Horacio Hernandez Carrasco
AU  - Miguel X. Rodriguez-Paz
AU  - Saul E. Crespo
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Spreadsheets Development and Use as a Tool or Obstacle Enhancing Competencies, in the Structural Engineering Learning
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47990
ER  -