already with the mentality to search for the desired information and, therefore, the whole course becomes a pool of information that the students use as a tool to solve their problem. Upon completion, each team has to submit a technical report, written in a professional manner, including all necessary details, reasoning for choosing the selected foundation type, the design approach used as well as the designs of the suggested foundations. The students’ work is evaluated based on (a) logic and sequence of the design steps, (b) adequacy of foundation system selected, (c) appropriate methods used for evaluation and design, (d) correctness of designs presented and (e) the professionality of the submitted report. Student Responses The project/game was assigned to two consecutive ‘Foundation Design’ courses at Manhattan College during Fall 2017 and Fall 2018, where a total of 43 students participated. To evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested educational approach on student learning and engagement, students were asked to respond to a survey after the completion of the project. Based on their responses, the great majority believes that the suggested design project contributed to their learning and helped them grow as engineers by improving their critical thinking and problem solving. Although they liked the self-driven aspect of the project, they were divided between being indifferent and leaning in favor of having the design steps given to them in advance. A possible reason for this is that (undergraduate) students are used to following guidelines and procedures, but they are not used to self-driven assignments or open-ended questions. Therefore, not having the steps to solve the project may cause insecurity and anxiety, especially for weaker students. This was also confirmed by the response to whether they ‘would prefer if projects in other courses were also self-driven,’ where about half replied positively, while 36 percent were indifferent and16 percent were against this idea. Finally, the students were asked to evaluate whether the game aspect of the project made it more entertaining for them. Although it would be expected that the students would strongly be in favor of the game, only 45 percent responded positively with another 30 percent being neutral about it. Surprisingly, a significant amount (25 percent) was against the ‘game.’ Based on the student comments, this is attributed to the fact that the competitive aspect of the project exerted more stress on them than enjoyment. Overall, students responded that they found the project challenging and unique and that it helped them think like engineers. They liked working in teams, and the extra points gave them additional motivation to follow the lectures meticulously and to be precise on the design steps. However, some students commented that the competitive feature was somewhat stressful, and that some of them found it difficult to distinguish which part of the design procedure was considered a ‘step.’ This is expected, as there is no clear definition of a ‘design step’ and it is up to the instructor to divide the design procedure into steps and to determine the number of steps. To bypass the frustration this may cause to the students, the instructor could give more constructive feedback when students request confirmation 104 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2020 steps as one, etc.), and to also ask them to make a list with the steps they have identified correctly up to that point. Conclusions on their assumed steps (i.e., explain if they have suggested two A new educational module was presented as an alternative method to teach foundation design to civil engineering college students. The suggested module consisted of a hypothetical case that was given to the students at the beginning of the semester and comprised the core element of the course. The goal was to form teams and complete the project by gathering all required information presented in the lectures throughout the semester. To incorporate a fun aspect, the project was in the form of a game where the students competed with each other on completing the project faster and more efficiently, having bonus points as a reward. The objective of the suggested module was to help students take an initiative in their learning, promote their critical thinking, enhance their problem-solving skills and build team spirit, while having fun by playing a game. Its effectiveness on students’ learning was evaluated indirectly by the students themselves through a survey. The results revealed that students appreciated the self- driven aspect of the project, feeling that this project made them think more like engineers, while keeping them engaged throughout the semester. Although, the game side of the project was expected to be more entertaining and enjoyable for the students, quite a few found that to be rather stressful. DFI 2020 Awards: Call for Entries Awards 2019 DFI annually showcases and celebrates the achievements and contributions of individuals, teams and companies in the deep foundations industry. We encourage you to submit your work and nominate your colleagues for recognition. Submissions for the 2020 Outstanding Project Award, Distinguished Service Award and C. William Bermingham Innovation Award are due by April 15, 2020. Information and nomination forms are available at www.dfi.org under ‘Awards.’
