Structures Demonstration and Teaching Laboratory for Architectural Engineering Instruction

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Architectural Engineering and Architecture students are presently taught introductory, intermediate and advanced courses in analysis and design of structures without any experimental type of activity. Students have great difficulty in visualizing and thoroughly understanding fundamentals of structural element/system performance. In the case of Architecture students, a special effort has to be made to overcome aversion to the subject. Lack of experimental activities also deprives students of the knowledge on how to interface high-technology devices and structural analysis/theory. The Department of Architectural Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University is committed to revise the approach to the teaching of structural courses to both its students and Architecture majors by complementing traditional class-room teaching with experimental and computer modelling laboratory activities. The acquisition of the equipment in this project will allow the implementation of a Structures Demonstration and Teaching Laboratory (SDT Lab). The laboratory will feature experimental testing, data acquisition and simulation systems to conduct planned tests as well as students will improve both their creativity and synthetic thinking. Initially, three courses will be affected by the implementation of the laboratory in addition to individual students working on their senior project.