Civil Engineering : Project Based Learning

Method: Project work and Report writing

The department has made it a mandatory requirement for every student to design and conduct a project, right from the fifth semester onwards which is beyond the regular curriculum for the semester. This helps the student to have a hands-on approach to the engineering design process and utilize the theoretical aspects they have learnt to develop prototypes and design experiments on what they have learnt. During the fifth semester, the students conduct a mini-project that focuses on the fundamental software design aspects of computer Science and Engineering. A project group consisting of a maximum of four members under the guidance of a faculty member explores a scientific principle related to their area of interest. The learning process is given more weightage during the assessment and not the results obtained. 

Students in their sixth semester are encouraged to do a project which will help them to learn new technical skills with guidance from an allotted faculty member. They are encouraged to explore a problem and develop a simple prototype or working model that can solve it. This introduces them to the concept of the Engineering design process method. 

The group of students is also mentored by their allotted guides in preparing a well-structured report. To assist this process, the institution has published a scientific format in which each project group is required to submit the report. This practice helps the students to understand and improve their scientific writing skills. The prepared report is archived in both soft and hard copy and is made available in the department library for peer reference. 

Some of the Photo graphs of students doing the experimental work.

 

In the project Based learning students are participating with effectively. As a effect of this students are increasing their confidence. Also, they get knowledge about own how to test the material and how to take test on the material and how to use different machines. Most important students increase their capacity to work in team. 

Impact:

By participating in a project-based learning model, students are able to construct their own knowledge and reflect upon their learning projects, resulting in increased motivation and self-efficacy.