Summary: |
"The paper will present the results of 10 years of experience with a CAD/CAL reinforced concrete design exercise at Delft University of Technology. The exercise was developed in 1988 and 1989, implemented in 1989 for a test and in 1990 for regular use. Over 1200 students have used it since then. Students were asked to size and detail components of a simple reinforced concrete building, consisting out of columns, slabs and continuous beams at a workstation of the university CAD-Training Centre. The computer checked the results, gave feedback on these results, and let the students correct them until found satisfactory.Although the exercise was quite successful in the beginning, the success decreased in time because equipment and software got out-fashioned compared to other hard- and software students could use. Another drawback of the program was the very strict checking criteria used, which often tempted the students to solve the problem by ‘trial and error’. This didactic unwanted situation was also reason to improve the program. In 1999 the workstations have been removed and the exercise could not be continued any more.From several options available for the development of a new exercise, like upgrading the program or developing a complete new program, it was decided to adapt a commercially available program. In joint venture with a Software consultant, Matrix Software bv, a complete new exercise is being developed, tested and implemented. The exercise is based on the existing commercial software from this company for the design of concrete structures. Another reason to select this program for the development of the exercise is that it is already being used for structural analysis at the university. The program has several new features compared with the first one. It tries to implement some engineering judgement, by asking the student for answers based on rules of thumb, before computer-calculations are started. Furthermore the computer will not tell whether something is right or wrong according the code but it will show the result, leaving the judgement to the student. Another improvement will be that the exercise will contain some exercise in estimating and parameter-studies, asking for the effects of increase and decrease of sizes on the costs of a structure. The student can get help from the computer on different levels. Counting the amount and level of help being required and the time consumed may be used for a judgement.The program will use Eurocode 2 and will be made available for users who are interested all through Europe.The paper will not only describe the program, but will deal with the technical and educational results of the first implementation in spring 2000." |