Board 42: WIP: Reflections on teaching an engineering course through murder mysteries
- Conference
- Location
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Baltimore , Maryland
- Publication Date
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June 25, 2023
- Start Date
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June 25, 2023
- End Date
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June 28, 2023
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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15
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--42751
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/42751
- Download Count
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165
Paper Authors
Krishna Kumar University of Texas at Austin
Krishna Kumar is an Assistant Professor in Civil, Architecture, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Krishna completed his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2015 on multi-scale multiphase modeling of granular flows and was supervised by Professor Kenichi Soga. Krishna's research interest spans high-performance computing, numerical modeling, and explainable AI of natural hazards. He has developed massively parallel micro-/macro-scale numerical methods: Graph Network Simulator, Material Point Method, Lattice Boltzmann - Discrete Element coupling, and Lattice Element method. Krishna was awarded C. S. Desai Award for the best paper on constitutive modeling of geologic materials by the Indian Geotechnical Society. Krishna is Higher Education Fellow in the UK and is passionate about teaching and developing teaching strategies that improve equity and participation among students.
Abstract
The paper reflects on my teaching of a third-year required undergraduate course, “Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering,” through murder mysteries, i.e., forensic case studies-based learning. The murder mysteries involves first introducing an engineering failure relevant to the topic; then the students identify potential reasons for failure and rank them; we then cooperatively explore the different reasons and the students proceed from the known to the unknown and, in doing so, develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles (abstract concepts) they later encounter. This forensic-based teaching solves the most glaring problem in the traditional method: introducing abstract concepts before presenting concrete examples in the real world. The conventional process inhibits student learning as abstract concepts remain vague and unclear. By introducing an engaging, relevant forensic case study upfront, we capture students’ attention and interest and allow them to experience the process of doing real-world engineering. Overall, the course rating improved considerably, achieving the highest in the last twenty years - a rating of 4.9 out of 5.0, well above the average course rating of 3.8 during the same period. The paper describes the background, methodology, and challenges in developing an engineering course and my reflections on teaching the course through murder mysteries.
Kumar, K. (2023, June), Board 42: WIP: Reflections on teaching an engineering course through murder mysteries Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42751
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