Two Complementary Active Learning Strategies in Soil Mechanics Courses: Students’ Perspectives

The traditional engineering educational strategies (lectures, laboratory experiences and homework), most of them teacher-centered, are not responding to the challenges of XXI century engineering education. Two main reasons are appointed in the literature to this inadequacy. First, they are not able to prepare the actual engineering students to engage in collaborative partnerships (essential skill to deal with real-life engineering problems). Second, they do not promote active learning and are contributing to a compartmentalized curriculum. Since 2007/2008, at the University of Aveiro, two complementary courses on Geotechnical subjects, Soil Mechanics I and II, have been redesigned by complementing traditional teaching with non-traditional learning models. Project Based Learning (PBL) was first introduced in 2007/2008 and later, in 2015/2016, another methodology, herein identified as Guided Exercises, was also introduced. In this paper, are presented, described and discussed the non-traditional learning strategies used over the years in the two courses. Moreover, are pointing out the aspects that make them complementary and contribute to the development of high order thinking and problem-solving skills essential for engineering practice. Students’ opinions and perceptions to these strategies are also referred.