ABSTRACT
The paper describes the design and implementation of a master’s level elective module in civil engineering entitled Soil-Structure Interaction. The course was designed to incorporate the best features of Enquiry Based Learning (EBL), Boud (1985) and Kolmos et al. (2007) with the background technical content delivered through formal lectures. The class is scheduled 50% in a formal lecture space and 50% in the civil engineering project rooms located in the University College Dublin (UCD) Newstead building. The learning outcomes state that students should (i) be proficient in the design of foundation systems for unusual structures, (ii) choose suitable models and input parameters and (iii) be capable of incorporating improved models developed in the latest state of the art research in order to improve predictive reliability. It develops on theories of soil mechanics learned in core modules of 3rd year soil mechanics and the general design skills developed for civil engineers in 4th year design in Soils.
