Summary: |
Today, we live in the world where the information and communication technologies are developing faster than ever before. We receive information and learn from a variety of sources. However, such learning is rarely related to the official programmes of higher education. Lecturers must compete with, for example, Discovery channel, games and/or other audio/video/internet media. That is why many students today have great expectations which even the well prepared and quality books cannot satisfy. Besides, it is difficultto attract their attention when the lessons are not dynamic and the lectured subject is not illustrated as it couldbe, considering all the technologies available.This paper describes a possible approach for teaching the basics of earthquake engineering through the use ofanimations (simulations) and active participation of the students. It could be a great addition to classicalteaching methods in civil and earthquake engineering. Besides, the idea and the development of the prototypeof the learning tool are described. That type of media gives the lecturer the opportunity to animate students, togive them the possibility to dig deeper into the discussed subject, and to learn through experimenting (‘playing’)with carefully prepared examples. |