Etiqueta: postgraduate education

Percepción de los estudiantes de postgrado en ingeniería civil respecto a la docencia semipresencial durante la pandemia

Este estudio examina la percepción que tienen los estudiantes de postgrado de ingeniería civil de la Universitat Politècnica de València sobre las sesiones virtuales y presenciales. Para ello, se utilizó un cuestionario de nueve ítems en escala Likert. Respondieron a la encuesta 51 alumnos, que representan más del 77% de los matriculados. Corresponden a alumnos de dos másteres relacionados con la ingeniería civil en modalidad semipresencial (enseñanza virtual y presencial simultáneamente). Son el Máster Universitario en Ingeniería del Hormigón y el Máster Universitario en Planificación y Gestión en Ingeniería Civil. El resultado principal muestra que algo menos del 69% de los encuestados está muy de acuerdo o algo de acuerdo con la siguiente afirmación: “Con la información que tengo ahora, volvería a matricularme en este máster en modalidad semipresencial“. Solo algo más del 7,8% estaría muy en desacuerdo o algo en desacuerdo con la siguiente afirmación: “En ausencia de una pandemia, me gustaría que este máster se ofreciera en modalidad semipresencial en el futuro“. Del análisis multivariante de la encuesta se desprende que la formación semipresencial ha llegado para quedarse incluso después de que se resuelva el problema de la pandemia. A ello contribuye el hecho de que una gran proporción de los estudiantes son de origen latinoamericano, y esta modalidad mixta facilita su acceso a los estudios de posgrado. Estos resultados implican una futura revisión en profundidad de la forma en que se imparte la formación de máster.

ABSTRACT

This study examines the perception that postgraduate civil engineering students at the Universitat Politècnica de València have about virtual and face-to-face sessions. For this purpose, a nine-item Likert-scale questionnaire was used. Fifty-one students, representing more than 77% of those enrolled, answered the survey. They correspond to students of two master’s degrees related to civil engineering in blended learning (virtual and face-to-face teaching simultaneously). The main result shows that slightly less than 69% of the respondents strongly agree or somewhat agree with the following statement: “With the information, I have now, I would enroll again in this master’s degree in blended mode.” Only slightly more than 7.8% would strongly disagree or somewhat disagree with the following statement: “In the absence of a pandemic, I would like this master’s degree to be offered in a blended mode in the future.” From the multivariate analysis of the survey, it is clear that blended learning is here to stay even after the pandemic problem is resolved. Contributing to this is that a large proportion of the students are of Latin American origin, and this mixed modality facilitates their access to graduate studies. These results imply a future in-depth review of how master’s education is delivered.

Keywords: 

Civil engineering, virtual teaching, COVID-19, Likert-scale, postgraduate education.

Reference:

YEPES, V.; YEPES-BELLVER, L.; BRUN-IZQUIERDO, A.  (2022). Civil engineering postgraduate students’ perception on synchronous virtual versus face-to-face teaching during COVID-19. 16th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED 2022), 7th-8th March 2022, pp. 587-595, Valencia, Spain. ISBN: 978-84-09-37758-9

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Técnicas de decisión multicriterio en la ingeniería civil. Estudio comparativo aplicado a la sostenibilidad de las estructuras

Figura. Modelo de estructura para una vivienda unifamiliar

Tradicionalmente, las carreras técnicas se han centrado en promover la funcionalidad y la durabilidad de los diseños orientando las capacidades de sus estudiantes hacia la optimización de los aspectos económicos. Los desafíos que han surgido recientemente en relación con el futuro del sector de la construcción y las nuevas ciudades requieren un cambio de paradigma en la enseñanza convencional de la ingeniería civil y la arquitectura. Las nuevas tendencias tendencias se han detectado en los programas de educación superior a través de la introducción de nuevos conceptos como el diseño sostenible. Según la UNESCO, “la educación para el desarrollo sostenible promueve competencias como el pensamiento crítico y la toma de decisiones de forma colaborativa”. En el curso de postgrado “Modelos predictivos y optimización de estructuras de hormigón”, impartido en el Máster Universitario de Ingeniería del Hormigón de la Universitat Politècnica de València, se instruye a los alumnos en metodologías de investigación que permiten evaluar la sostenibilidad a través de diferentes criterios múltiples técnicas de decisión en la selección de la mejor tipología estructural considerando aspectos económicos ambiental y social. En este trabajo se realiza un estudio comparativo y la aplicación de las diferentes herramientas impartidas en la asignatura para la toma de decisiones con criterios múltiples, a saber, SAW, COPRAS, TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE, MIVES así como AHP para las ponderaciones. La evaluación ofrece una visión transversal, con las características, fortalezas y debilidades de estas técnicas multicriterio técnicas multicriterio que se utilizan habitualmente en el ámbito de la sostenibilidad, aplicadas en este caso entre tres alternativas de diseño para la estructura de una vivienda unifamiliar.

Referencia:

YEPES, V.; SÁNCHEZ-GARRIDO, A.J.; NAVARRO, I.J. (2021). Multi-criteria decision techniques in civil engineering education. Comparative study applied to the sustainability of structures. 15th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED 2021), 8th-9th March, 2021, pp. 2564-2573, Valencia, Spain. ISBN: 978-84-09-27666-0

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Técnicas de decisión multicriterio para la educación de ingenieros en sostenibilidad

ABSTRACT

In recent times, a great deal of interest has emerged from different sectors of society towards sustainability and sustainable product design. Decision makers are increasingly encouraged to take into consideration the economic, environmental and social dimensions of reality when dealing with problems. Sustainability is of particular importance in the field of civil engineering, where structures are designed that are long lasting and shall cause significant impacts over a long period of time, such as bridges or dams. Consequently, when addressing a structural design, civil engineers shall account for the three dimensions of sustainability, which usually show conflicting perspectives. Multi-criteria methods allow the inclusion of non-monetary aspects into the design process of infrastructure. In the postgraduate course ‘Predictive and optimisation models for concrete structures’, offered at the Masters in Concrete Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de València, civil engineering students are taught how to apply such tools within the framework of sustainable design of concrete structures. The present paper conducts a state-of-the-art review of the main multi-criteria decision making methodologies taught in the course in the context of sustainability. Articles are searched in recognized databases, such as SCOPUS and Web of Science. The most significant methods, such as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTRE), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) or Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) are systematically discussed, identifying the actual trends concerning the use of such methodologies in the field of civil engineering. The review provides a deep insight in the multi criteria techniques that are most frequently used when assessing sustainability of infrastructure designs.

KEYWORDS

Postgraduate education; multi-criteria decision making; sustainability; structural design; state of the art review

REFERENCE

NAVARRO, I.; MARTÍ, J.V.; YEPES, V. (2018). Multi-criteria decision making techniques in civil engineering education for sustainability. Proceedings of ICERI2018,the 11th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville (Spain), 12th-14th November 2018, pp. 9798-9807.  ISBN: 978-84-09-05948-5

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Las heurísticas en la educación en ingeniería. Aplicación a los sistemas de gestión sostenible de puentes

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with the postgraduate course ‘Predictive and optimisation models for concrete structures’, offered at the Masters in Concrete Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de València. Within this course, engineering students are introduced into different optimization algorithms, such as simulated annealing, neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc. of application in the automated design of concrete structures of any type. In recent times, such heuristic methods have turned out to be of great interest in the resolution of complex and actual engineering problems, such as the sustainable design and management of structures. This communication presents a case study where the ongoing research of the teaching body is applied so as to find the most sustainable management strategy for a particular bridge system consisting of 7 bridges whose lengths vary between 380 m and 1980 m. The optimization problem here aims to minimize both the economic and environmental life cycle impacts derived from the maintenance of the concrete decks of a bridge network by selecting the adequate maintenance intervals for every deck considering annual budgetary restrictions. A multi-objective simulated annealing algorithm is applied to find the set of Pareto optimal solutions for the presented engineering problem. The environmentally preferable maintenance strategy results in life cycle costs 4.9% greater than those related to the cost-optimal strategy, which in turn results in environmental impacts 5.6% greater than those from the environmentally optimized management option. Results are then compared to the optimal strategies considering a single bridge deck, showing that the optimality at the bridge level does not necessarily lead to a sustainable optimum at the network level. From this it follows that, when optimizing maintenance under budgetary restrictions, the network shall be analysed as a whole, and not as an aggregation of optimal strategies for each individual bridge. The case study presented here shows in a nutshell the close connection between the course curricula of the MSc course and the ongoing research of the teaching and research group.

KEYWORDS

Postgraduate education; applied research; heuristic algorithms; sustainable thinking; bridge management system

REFERENCE

NAVARRO, I.J.; YEPES, V.; MARTÍ, J.V. (2018). Heuristics in engineering education. A case study application to sustainable bridge management systems. Proceedings of ICERI2018,the 11th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville (Spain), 12th-14th November 2018, pp. 9788-9797.  ISBN: 978-84-09-05948-5

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