A Case Study on Using a Mini Project in Structural Material Testing to Address ABET Student Outcomes

Lekshmi Sasidharan; Tariq Sweidan; Abigail Mayhan; Pratik Ghimire; Suman Kumar Mitra

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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: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL) Technical Session - Effective Teaching 4
Tagged Division: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46419

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Paper Authors

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Lekshmi Sasidharan University of Arkansas orcid.org/0000-0002-0788-6030

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Dr Lekshmi Sasidharan is a teaching assistant professor in the Civil Engineering department at University of Arkansas. Dr Sasidharan is very much interested in working on ideas to improve the student retention and student success.

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Abstract

This is a case study manuscript exploring the potential of a mini-project centered around a civil engineering course to satisfy several of the student outcomes outlined by ABET. The mini-project was developed to help students meet specific objectives based on Bloom's taxonomy. Students were expected to utilize the materials learned in the Structural materials lecture and lab to come up with a plan to test the effect of a pozzolan/supplementary cementitious material (SCM) on the properties of concrete. The student groups worked on five different mixes, investigating the effect of two different pozzolans: fly ash and silica fume. The first mix was a control group consisting of concrete with typical ingredients (Test A), while the other four mixes were Test B, Test C, Test D, and Test E. Test B consisted of mix in Test A +fly ash (1/3rd the weight of cement in the mix), Test C involved replacing 1/3rd of the weight of cement in Test A with an equivalent weight of fly ash, Test D consisted of mix in Test A +silica fume (1/3rd the weight of cement in the mix), and Test E involved replacing 1/3rd of the weight of cement in Test A with an equivalent weight of silica fume. The addition of pozzolan affects the properties of fresh and hardened concrete such as temperature, workability, density, air content, compressive strength etc. Therefore, students conducted experiments for testing these parameters and cast and cured concrete cylinders to test the compressive strength of hardened concrete at the end of 1, 7 and 28 days, and the results were presented using tables and bar charts that compared the properties of fresh and hardened concrete in the five tests. The mini-project enabled student groups to learn about the experimental design process, explore different types of pozzolans, apply the knowledge gained from lectures and previous labs to conduct the experiments, use the collected data to develop visual representations, make informed decisions based on engineering judgment and develop a good team spirit. A survey was conducted to gather information on the effect of the mini-project on different factors related to student learning and is also included in the manuscript. The findings of the survey indicate that the mini-project was effective in addressing many of the ABET student outcomes.

Citation
Format

Sasidharan, L., & Sweidan, T., & Mayhan, A., & Ghimire, P., & Mitra, S. K. (2024, June), A Case Study on Using a Mini Project in Structural Material Testing to Address ABET Student Outcomes Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46419

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -       This is a case study manuscript exploring the potential of a mini-project centered around a civil engineering course to satisfy several of the student outcomes outlined by ABET. The mini-project was developed to help students meet specific objectives based on Bloom&#39;s taxonomy.  Students were expected to utilize the materials learned in the Structural materials lecture and lab to come up with a plan to test the effect of a pozzolan/supplementary cementitious material (SCM) on the properties of concrete. The student groups worked on five different mixes, investigating the effect of two different pozzolans: fly ash and silica fume. The first mix was a control group consisting of concrete with typical ingredients (Test A), while the other four mixes were Test B, Test C, Test D, and Test E. Test B consisted of mix in Test A +fly ash (1/3rd the weight of cement in the mix), Test C involved replacing 1/3rd of the weight of cement in Test A with an equivalent weight of fly ash, Test D consisted of mix in Test A +silica fume (1/3rd the weight of cement in the mix), and Test E involved replacing 1/3rd of the weight of cement in Test A with an equivalent weight of silica fume.  
The addition of pozzolan affects the properties of fresh and hardened concrete such as temperature, workability, density, air content, compressive strength etc. Therefore, students conducted experiments for testing these parameters and cast and cured concrete cylinders to test the compressive strength of hardened concrete at the end of 1, 7 and 28 days, and the results were presented using tables and bar charts that compared the properties of fresh and hardened concrete in the five tests. 
The mini-project enabled student groups to learn about the experimental design process, explore different types of pozzolans, apply the knowledge gained from lectures and previous labs to conduct the experiments, use the collected data to develop visual representations, make informed decisions based on engineering judgment and develop a good team spirit. A survey was conducted to gather information on the effect of the mini-project on different factors related to student learning and is also included in the manuscript. The findings of the survey indicate that the mini-project was effective in addressing many of the ABET student outcomes.

AU  - Lekshmi Sasidharan
AU  - Tariq Sweidan
AU  - Abigail Mayhan
AU  - Pratik Ghimire
AU  - Suman Kumar Mitra
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A Case Study on Using a Mini Project in Structural Material Testing to Address ABET Student Outcomes
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46419
ER  -