ABSTRACT
The eminent remark about top universities listing is that about 60% of them are located in the G8 countries with GDP of more than 60% of the world total. This reality affirms that economic growth is strictly tied to social and cultural development, which is linked to the intellectual and scientific development presented by higher education. This also reveals that the answer to the concern of reforming engineering education is YES. One pillar to achieve this reform is our teaching paradigms, which must change to fit needs and modes of today’s students; they are not inspired at all via passive learning. Active learning must be the path for today’s generation of ubiquitous-learning. Different innovative teaching techniques for high-level structural engineering courses have been embraced by the author and turned out to be extremely fulfilling. Among these paradigms are blended learning and flipped classes, which extend the utilization of technology in classes. Other new techniques such as student-generated examinations, student-generated classes, design competitions and project-based learning are reflection of student-centered education. Here, the said innovative paradigms, which were recently applied by the authors will be presented.
