A Problem-based Learning Approach to Civil Engineering Drawing

Civil engineering drawing courses need to relate to the students expectations, and discipline and maintain their interest. The main objectives of the drawing course in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University are: to teach students the main drawing techniques; to enable students to read and transmit the details on these drawings into understandable information and instructions; to develop the visualization skills of students; and to teach them to present their ideas using drawings. These aims are not uncommon, the main innovation in teaching this material was the introduction of a problem-based learning approach in the progressive assessment. A problem was set and the students asked to solve it progressively. The course was built around a particular civil engineering structure; a house. This allowed many of the students to relate the drawing to their experience and expectations. The house was used as a basis for the development of ideas and the presentation of these ideas using a large number of drawing types. Students' reaction to the course was positive. Statements like “This course is real engineering” were common. Areas for further improvement in the approach are highlighted.     

Role-play Simulation at Monash

This paper describes the development of a type of ‘executive game’ the purpose of which is to give students of civil engineering some impression of the wider context of the design of a building project in which the client, architect, contractor, regulatory authorities, and community interest groups may all play a part. The students are divided into groups of six, with a ‘co-ordinator’ whose role is to provide impetus, resolve deadlocks, and give advice as needed. In a conventional structural design course, good results have been obtained by preparing students for the game with 3 hours of lectures and a set of notes regarding their roles. The use of practising engineers as coordinators has been found to be extremely valuable.     

An inclusive higher education? Gay and bisexual male teachers and the cultural politics of sexuality

Both the Dearing Report and the UK government's recent Green Paper on lifelong learning—The Learning Age—have made explicit references to an inclusive system of higher education and its contribution to a more inclusive society. This paper begins by examining the understandings of inclusivity displayed in The Learning Age and discusses the limitations of discourses that restrict the inclusion debate to matters of access. It argues that inclusivity rests on not only access but also the experience of higher education and it points to the need for both structural and cultural change. The paper then presents acase study of gay and bisexual male higher education teachers that draws on in-depth interview-based material from a UK study. It explores how inclusive higher education is with respect to gay and bisexual men and considers structural inequalities that remain, for example, in relation to equal opportunity policies and pension entitlements. The paper also considers the cultural practices of the gay and bisexual male teachers, for example, their engagement in cultural production through teaching and research and their attempts to wrestle control over identity construction in day-to-day interactions. The paper concludes by considering how a relational understanding of difference might offer possibilities for the diverse ‘voices’ of different groups to be reconciled with a collective view of what constitutes the ‘higher education community’ as a whole.