Location
Arlington, Virginia
Date
15 Aug 2008, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Abstract
Case histories are invaluable components of civil engineering education in general and geotechnical engineering education in particular. They provide real world context for engineering methodologies studied in class, and serve as vehicles for discussing ancillary issues related to cost, communication, logistics, and many other factors. As commonly used in university courses, however, students encounter case histories as observers, and often on a fairly superficial level. Learning of concepts and methods, on the other hand, best takes place through active learning rather than through passive observation. To maximize their effectiveness as teaching tools, many case histories can be cast in a form that makes them suitable for active, hand-on learning. This paper gives an example of a case study teaching unit developed for an undergraduate geotechnical engineering course at Virginia Tech. The example explains how operations of the Hershey Chocolate corporation in Hershey PA were impacted by groundwater pumping from an underground mine about one and a half miles from the Hershey plant. In-line questions invite students to explore the case study. The learning objectives are centered on understanding interactions of geology, groundwater and anthropogenic influences, and are aimed at Achieving gaining understanding at a deep level.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Mauldon, Matthew and Brennan, Kristin, "Exploring Case Histories: Chocolatetown, PA" (2008). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 7.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/6icchge/session11/7
Exploring Case Histories: Chocolatetown, PA
Arlington, Virginia
Case histories are invaluable components of civil engineering education in general and geotechnical engineering education in particular. They provide real world context for engineering methodologies studied in class, and serve as vehicles for discussing ancillary issues related to cost, communication, logistics, and many other factors. As commonly used in university courses, however, students encounter case histories as observers, and often on a fairly superficial level. Learning of concepts and methods, on the other hand, best takes place through active learning rather than through passive observation. To maximize their effectiveness as teaching tools, many case histories can be cast in a form that makes them suitable for active, hand-on learning. This paper gives an example of a case study teaching unit developed for an undergraduate geotechnical engineering course at Virginia Tech. The example explains how operations of the Hershey Chocolate corporation in Hershey PA were impacted by groundwater pumping from an underground mine about one and a half miles from the Hershey plant. In-line questions invite students to explore the case study. The learning objectives are centered on understanding interactions of geology, groundwater and anthropogenic influences, and are aimed at Achieving gaining understanding at a deep level.
