Civil and environmental engineering practice

This is a capstone unit drawing together the material taught in previous units. The objective is to utilise this knowledge to undertake a multi-disciplinary open ended design task for a specified civil engineering development, in groups, mirroring the expectations of working in professional practice. The design project will vary from year to year but will include aspects of structural, water, geomechanics, environmental engineering and transport design with an emphasis on sustainable design.

Problem-based learning - Teaching in the unit is problem based learning through the team design project, which runs for the whole semester and has a number of components which form the final project. The design problem is large, complex and challenging: designed to bring together the various generic and technical skills already learnt within your course. The emphasis is on application and integration. The final concept and final designs must satisfy the Client, otherwise it will result in either individual or group failure, just as it would in industry.

The tools used for teaching are a combination of hands-on activities, lectures and mentoring around the final objective of producing a completed project.

There are no right or wrong answers to many of the project questions. This does not imply that any answer is adequate. Some answers will be better than others as they achieve the criteria in a better way.

Teams must meet on a frequent basis and work coherently as a team if a successful design is to be developed and deadlines are to be met. Development of team and leadership skills is seen as a fundamental part of this unit and students will have the opportunity to lead different aspects of the project.

A project folder will record all team activities. Teams will have the opportunity to meet with their industry sourced team mentor each week to discuss progress and problems. Technical help will be available in the concept phase through specific technical lectures given by industry experts. In the detail design phase, technical mentors for each discipline will be available during class each week for each of the disciplines of water, structures, geomechanics, transport and environmental.

Due to the team-based nature of this unit, peer-based learning contributes significantly to achieving learning outcomes. There is no facility for the unit to be completed as an individual.

Peer assisted learning - Students will meet in this time with their team members and peers to work on their project while being supported by industry team mentors in concept design and technical mentors in detail design.

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours of independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.