Geotechnical engineering educational modules demonstrating measurement and regulation of soil moisture

Abstract

With the rapidly changing needs of the construction industry and higher education, Conceive—Design—Implement—Operate (CDIO) educational framework is essential in delivering basics and practical aspects to undergraduate students. This study presents an attempt to explore the use of hardware and software applications for geotechnical engineering education. An example for development of hardware (Arduino UNO) and software applications (Mobile applications) for estimating soil moisture and its regulation is presented. The study provides a new learning environment, where students from civil engineering (major) can work hand to hand with that from electronics (minor) to develop applications for soil moisture measurement. A collaborative workshop is proposed and executed. The workshop includes basic concepts related to hardware (Time domain reflectometry [TDR] probe, Arduino UNO, and Water flow measurement) and software (LabVIEW and Android studio programming platforms) followed by project implementation in a group of 5–6 students. Satisfaction and comprehension were found to increase significantly for subjects (electronics and optics) to students of civil engineering background. The adopted tools represent economical means for application in conventional classrooms as well as laboratories for undergraduate students with a civil engineering background. This integration of the digital and physical world is an attempt at approaching soil mechanics mathematics from technology and arts from a scientific perspective. The examples presented in this study can be useful for developing open‐source laboratories within the framework of the undergraduate curriculum in civil engineering.

Trends and Challenges of Technology-Enhanced Learning in Geotechnical Engineering Education

“…These resources aid students in developing a deeper comprehension of the mathematical ideas underlying geotechnical engineering. Additionally, emerging technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are being used more frequently in GEE [23]. Students can experience virtual worlds that replicate real-world scenarios using AR and VR tools.…”

A Low-Cost Lightweight Deflectometer with an Arduino-Based Signal Interpretation Kit to Evaluate Soil Modulus

“…They offer a single-board microcontroller with programmable input/output peripherals, and they have been utilized in various monitoring applications due to their user-friendly operation, affordability, and moderate-to-high measurement accuracy [6][7][8]. The application of Arduino ® in geotechnical engineering is exemplified through the development of hardware and software solutions for estimating and regulating soil moisture, as demonstrated in the study of Garg et al [9]. Zaman et al [10] utilized geophone sensors and an Arduino ® microcontroller as the data acquisition center, which exemplifies an application of Arduino ® as a cost-effective approach to identify soil types and layers for preliminary geotechnical characterization.…”

Research on the Clustering Construction of Object Oriented Curriculum Based on OBE-CDIO Education Concept

“…Curriculum is the basic unit of teaching plan composed of several contents of one or several related disciplines according to a certain system structure; It is the main educational link to impart knowledge, cultivate ability and improve quality to students; It is the basic guarantee to realize the goal and specification of talent training and form the training characteristics [1]. Outcomes based education (OBE) is an educational model that organizes, implements and evaluates everything in the education system around the results that students should achieve when they graduate [2]. The achievement is not only the book knowledge acquired by students, but more importantly, the cultivation of students' ability and quality, including the grasp and understanding of the overall structure of knowledge, the ability to solve open problems from multiple angles, the ability to acquire creative thinking, the ability to analyze and synthesize information and the ability to continuously learn and adapt to development through completing more complicated tasks [3].…”