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This research focuses on the survey and study of building architecture built in approximately 1932-1992, in Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand with the three research objectives: (1) to study modern architecture buildings in Nakhon Nayok that reach the criteria of modern building value for conservation and lifelong learning, (2) to create a roster of modern buildings in Nakhon Nayok by studying the distinctive features of architecture and its historical, social, economic, educational, and other valuable significances; and (3) to create a valuable buildings database according to modern architecture criteria, to be uploaded to the micro-phishing system, and to publish modern architecture conservation database in digital and photographic files as the database of Nakhon Nayok. The main features of the buildings are consistent with the nature of modern architecture that shows the structure importance, and the use of technology of various materials which shows the advance construction technology in those days. The buildings are as simple as a box. They are useful, respond to the public, worth to society and culture, and contain of historical significance. From the survey and study in Nakhon Nayok, it was found that there were 43 buildings reaching the criteria of modern building value for conservation and were saved in the database in accordance with the micro-phishing model. The details of 43 modern buildings are presented in a digital file format and photo database of modern buildings in Nakhon Nayok to propagate the modern architecture conservation database as a lifelong learning resource for the benefit of interested people.

Vocational teachers in building and construction in upper secondary school deal with complex situations of an organisational, vocational, and social kind. Recent research has shown that the teacher is the single most important factor for students' learning in school. Teacher-student relationships and the teacher's repertoire of teaching practices can be more important for the student's learning than class size, the classroom environment, and the student's socio-economic background. Beyond passing the journeyman's test, we know little about the craft knowledge and working life experiences vocational teachers in the building and construction trades have acquired over many years in the construction industry, and thus, what knowledge and experiences they bring into the vocational teacher role. Learning in working life often takes place as an integrated part of work, and it is difficult to observe how learning happens. Craft knowledge is often tacit and personal. In this narrative, phenomenologically inspired study, learning is investigated as a bodily, internal process that simultaneously depends on the interaction with the material and social environment. Through narrative interviews with eleven vocational teachers in plumbing and carpentry, this study explores the teachers' backgrounds as vocational students and apprentices, and their extensive experience as craftsmen on different construction sites. The analysis shows that the building site drives craft-related actions and situations that generate a strong craft identity, professional working life experiences, and personal growth. Craftsmen at the construction site work under constant pressure in a social, physically, and mentally demanding work environment and consecutively solve problems. As professional craftsmen in the complex working environment, the teachers also acquired social and organisational expertise, which they intuitively transferred to their role as vocational teachers.

Purpose: The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of the world's energy consumption, 30% of raw material use, 25% of solid waste, 25% of water use, 12% of land use and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, environmental improvement and decarbonization are becoming increasingly critical objectives for the construction industry. Sustainable construction can be achieved through several practices, including: considering life-cycle assessment, circular construction, resource efficiency and waste management and providing eco-efficient materials, reducing energy demands and consumption and incorporating low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources. To achieve sustainable construction goals, it is critical to educate the future workforce about decarbonization, circular construction and how to overcome the challenges involved in transitioning to sustainable construction. This study aims to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction and the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula. Design/methodology/approach: This study surveyed 120 undergraduate and graduate students at one of the largest minority-serving institutions in the USA to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction as well as the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula. The authors conducted several statistical measures to assess the consistency, reliability and adequacy of the sample size, including the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, the normality test to evaluate the appropriateness of using an ordered probit regression analysis and a multicollinearity test to observe the correlation between independent variables. The data was analyzed using ordered probit regression analysis to investigate the need for a curriculum that serves in educating students about decarbonization and circular construction. Findings: The results of this research highlight the gaps in students' knowledge pertaining to sustainable practices and the importance of providing future construction workforce with such knowledge to tackle global inevitable challenges. Originality/value: The findings of this study contribute to sustainable construction bodies of knowledge by advocating for a reformed curriculum to prepare the future workforce and adopt less carbonized, more circular approaches within the engineering and construction industry.

This study aims at creating an integrated design of a building material laboratory for Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) in higher education of vocational and academic programs to support the effective and efficient learning processes. Development of a building materials laboratory design in the form of a 2-story floor plan with a capacity of 20 students. This research belongs to development research using the ADDIE model. The research design was prepared through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) consisting of 10 respondents involving (1) the coordinator of the TEI building materials lab; (2) the construction industry; and (3) the architecture expert. The collecting data using a questionnaire with an assessment of 2 aspects, namely the completeness of communicating spatial drawings. Data analysis using descriptive statistics to assess the feasibility of the layout drawings of the building materials laboratory was assessed by 2 building planning experts. Data analysis using descriptive statistics to assess the feasibility of the layout drawings of the building materials laboratory was assessed by 2 building planning experts. The results of the feasibility assessment of building materials laboratory drawings obtained 80.4% in the very feasible category. The research results revealed that (1) the practice course contents of building materials in the TEIs of Vocational and Academic program were testing sand, gravel, cement, bricks, light bricks, paving blocks, wood, concrete reinforcing steel, light steel, and concrete technology; (2) the 2-story laboratory floor plan that was developed has a total area of 387 m[superscript 2], all of which are integrated into one area.

This paper reports on a service-learning component introduced in an upper-level undergraduate geology course. Students identified rock types used by a local countertop manufacturing company and made fliers describing their mode of formation. Students then completed a final rock identification exam. To assess the effect of participating in the service-learning on students' rockidentification abilities, an Independent Samples t-test was used to compare scores of students that completed the course to those from previous semesters who did not participate in service-learning. Students who participated in service-learning achieved higher final rock identification exam test scores (M = 91.71, SD = 1.59) in comparison to those who did not take part in any service-learning activity (M = 80.36, SD = 1.88), t (19) = 4.59, p < 0.05. Service-learning projects that involve local geology related industries, thus, can facilitate knowledge sharing between the University and the community.

Intuition is the first way humans get knowledge. A worker in making a traditional West Java house works using his experience to be able to determine how many building materials are needed to become a house. The roof of the house is one part that is quite complicated to determine the amount of wood needed. Workers using intuition based on experience that has been experienced greatly determine the accuracy of the measure. Through this research, the researcher hopes that the method of determining the amount of wood used to make the roof (suhunan) of houses in West Java has added scientific value because it is related to existing mathematical concepts. The subjects of this study were workers who made traditional houses in West Java Regency. This study uses a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach. This study aims to describe an in-depth study of how to determine the amount of wood used to make traditional houses and its relation to mathematical concepts. The results showed that the workers who made the traditional houses started outing for the first time by calculating the number of wood chips needed to make the KAP intact to make the roof from it, they were easier to determine the amount of wood needed.

This article explores an intellectual disconnection in architectural education about the conception of wood as a building material. It explores initiatives to develop in future architects a deeper consciousness of the complex ecology of timber, promoting its sustainable use in the building industry. It explores six case studies drawn from architectural education to explore the ways in which the properties that make timber sustainable are explored through research and design, and how this deep understanding is transferred to students through hands-on applications.

This paper presents the experience of a group of Construction and Building Materials lecturers following the introduction of a new contest-based gamification activity aimed at improving interest and learning outcomes in the course. Students' motivation is of key importance in utilizing educational activities for study and learning in the subject. Evaluation is essential and, therefore, the proposed action makes it possible to earn an extra point in the continuous evaluation that contributes to passing the subject. The outcomes obtained in the first academic year in which this learning contest was implemented allow us to conclude that the activity had positive effects on motivation and the learning process, as well as on the number of students passing the subject. The students' opinion about the activity was very positive.

As the most widely used manufactured material on the planet, concrete provides an excellent and underused context for chemistry practical activities. Although concrete's importance as a building material cannot be overstated, the traditional preparation of concrete is associated with enormous greenhouse gas emissions as well as unsustainable use of limited resources. Concrete consists of four components: cement, water, sand, and coarse aggregate, and the investigation of more sustainable alternatives to each component of concrete is an active area of research. In this activity, students prepare and test traditional concrete and compare its strength to some of the alternatives using a guided inquiry-based experimental method. This allows the students to participate in an important research field and potentially prepares future industry leaders to appreciate low carbon materials. The activity has so far been used at the secondary school level within professional development of 50 teachers, in training of 60 preservice teachers, and in two schools with 55 students. Feedback indicates that teachers and students value seeing direct links between their school science activities and sustainability.

Bridges are a popular topic in this journal, because they are a very visual display of static and dynamic physical principles. In this paper, we provide an intuitive derivation of the equations associated with suspension bridge cables and load-bearing arches, which is of pedagogical interest in illustrating the consequences of Newton's laws for familiar and visually striking objects.

In the current day and age, innovation is the fodder that keeps companies and institutions running, and universities play an important role. During the crisis and in the post-crisis period, financial support for research and development have undergone significant changes especially at universities. The aim of this research is to conduct a patent focus analysis of the public and state universities in the Czech Republic and to analyze the development in patenting focus structure and to identify perspective and suitable research area. Hierarchical clustering was chosen for its clustering overview clarity and due to the relatively small sample size. Ward's method was chosen as the clustering algorithm with squared Euclidean distance as the system of measurement. Each cluster was characterized by five dominant IPC subsections to describe the patent focus. The patent focus segmentation of 115 public and state universities identified five main groups: medical/pharmacological, material, organic, construction and mixed measuring and material processing. Universities today are centers of knowledge. In addition, they support the innovation that spurs economic activity in a society. Universities have the potential to spur industrial activity with innovation and then pass information on to private firms.

Materials are elements that configure our built environment and are key components in design and engineering education. This research aims to understand learners' sensorial perception of materials as stimuli and what constitutes the most appropriate communication channel for learning about their characteristics without losing information in accordance with their VAK learning styles--visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Seventy-five people participated in this workshop. Using evaluation tools in a test format, they evaluated all the sensory properties of the following materials: Alusion™, PolarMoss, and Silkworms. These three materials were presented in various interaction formats, called channels: a text plus image--C1, video--C2, and a physical sample plus audio--C3. Two types of experiments were carried out: mixed per person--interaction with the three materials in a different channel each time in random order--and blocked per person--interaction with the same material in the three channels, in an order of C1-C3. The data obtained was analysed using mixed models with the channel as a fixed factor and the individuals and material as the random factors. The most relevant results indicate significant differences between channels in accordance with the sensory property, normally C2 and C3. The level of responses between the two experiments is similar, therefore showing that the order C1-C2-C3 does not affect perception. Although the three learning styles--visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic--coexist in the participants, the vast majority agree that they prefer C3 as easier to evaluate, more entertaining and the best way to learn.

Purpose: Doctoral candidates possess specialized knowledge that could support sustainability transitions. Doctoral education, however, often focusses on discipline-specific topics and working methods, making it difficult to "see the bigger picture". This summer school on wood construction gathered doctoral candidates from different fields to explore how solutions to complex sustainability issues could be found by working together across disciplines and by engaging multiple stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to report the pedagogical approaches taken and to understand whether these fostered the candidates' ability to develop systemic solutions and professional competency. Design/methodology/approach: Twenty doctoral candidates from various backgrounds participated in a two-week summer school organized by a consortium of four universities. Interdisciplinary groups worked on real-life challenges using a systemic approach to co-create tangible solutions. To support the creation of socio-technical innovations, stakeholders and experts from different fields were involved. The participants completed two questionnaires during the summer school to help elucidate their learning experiences. Findings: The doctoral candidates showed strong willingness to cooperate across disciplines, though they found it important to connect this learning experience to their research. The candidates reported that the experience enhanced their ability to work in a multidisciplinary capacity. The experience identified a solid basis for interdisciplinary learning principles that could be replicated. Originality/value: The summer school focussed on an innovative learning experience based on a systems thinking approach and the development of interdisciplinary capacity in the research-business ecosystem.

Archimedes' principle is one of the foundation subjects in physics. Normally the principle is exemplified by reference to floating boats. However, Archimedes' principle also applies to objects embedded in waterlogged ground, which can lead to the surprising result of an object weighing several tons being lifted. A practical example is presented of a 22 ton concrete water tank being lifted out of waterlogged ground. Fuel tanks embedded in the ground can be crushed by groundwater. Ground water buoyancy can be a serious problem when a large excavation for the foundation of a high-rise building is left empty before building commences. A qualitative classroom demonstration of groundwater buoyancy is described that involves immersing plastic cups in sand and adding water to observe the cups rising out of the sand. Additionally, a quantitative demonstration is described in which an empty beaker is floated on a water-filled container placed on an electronic balance placed on a scissor table. A plank of wood placed across the top of the beaker holds it in place while the scissor table is used to raise the water level around the beaker simulating rising groundwater. In view of the challenges of climate change and increasing frequency and severity of flooding, knowledge of groundwater buoyancy is useful for students.

There is little doubt that student motivation is essential in providing a beneficial learning experience. One way to produce such motivation is to stimulate it through suitable assessment methods. This paper shares the experience acquired by the authors, who are university lecturers in Civil Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, both through their assessment methods and feedback received via the modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) platform. During the last eight years the authors have progressively included increasingly dynamic methods in their teaching and assessment, with highly satisfactory results being obtained. The last three academic years have seen a test through co-assessment being added. In addition, during the last two an assessment exercise has been implemented through use of the aforementioned Moodle. Each test has a weight of 5% in the final mark for the module. After sitting the respective Moodle test, the students filled in a questionnaire that sought their views not only on the teaching methods but also on the degree of motivation they felt from such methods. As expected, the results showed that the students considered the internet-based Moodle platform to be useful. However, the most notable finding was that the majority indicated that alternative teaching and assessment methods (such as, among others, cooperative learning) were those that were most beneficial to their learning experience. Over 70% of the students thought that the use of the Moodle platform and other teaching and assessment techniques had motivated them with an average, high or significantly high intensity. In particular, the students highlighted the use of cooperative learning with 86% feeling that it helped them to learn.

Technology and Engineering Education (T&EE) includes "engineering design challenges" to establish a connection to designing and problem-solving indicative of being an Engineer. Engineering design challenges involving bridges (or towers) have been a common feature of the discipline. These bridge design challenges ask students to design a bridge frequently using straws, popsicle sticks, or pasta; have constraints including amount of material used and length; and a basic process of build and then test to failure. Often prior to building a bridge, information is covered about the type/styles of bridges/trusses, general information about forces like tension and compression, and results of forces like bending and failure. Instruction related to bridge design almost never includes information about solving concurrent or nonconcurrent coplanar force systems, using methods to determine distributions of applied forces among truss members, or using methods to accurately predict the applied force that will result in truss failure. To establish a balance between practical and theoretical learning, this article intends to present truss design using the Method of Sections to design and predict the amount of weight causing truss failure.

Purpose: Aiming to find out how to incorporate green building into the architectural curriculum, this study aims to explore the psychological path for cultivating architectural students' awareness and motivation to learn the green design concepts and related technologies. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a global review of relevant architectural courses in universities, a set of green building learning behaviors was proposed and a survey was conducted in architectural schools in South China to verify the "value-belief-norm" theory through the lens of green building learning behaviors. The psychological path that affects students' green building learning behaviors was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings: The results showed that biospheric and altruistic values could directly affect students' motivation to learn green building, while personal norms served as the mediating condition for personal values and beliefs, and ultimately improved motivation. Practical implications: The study suggests that the cultivation of environmental awareness and a sense of the ecological crisis should be developed through foundation courses, by establishing an ecological architecture curriculum, to more effectively guide students to learn and practice green building. Originality/value: This study, for the first time, applied the "value-belief-norm" theory, which was developed to explain the psychological path for pro-environmental behaviors, to green building learning behaviors of architectural students.

Engineers and Architects require effective communication and interdisciplinary team working to be successful throughout their career which, is often overlooked during formal undergraduate education. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the novel design and evaluation of a module on communication and interdisciplinary team working in the combined teaching of undergraduate Engineering and Architecture students. An Interdisciplinary Problem-Based Learning (IPBL) approach is used and the theoretical construct for this work is the application of dialogical theory to the shared habitus between engineers and architects. The constructivist theory of learning was employed in the design and delivery of this module. It is an action research pedagogical intervention to support the improvement in the teaching and learning of communications and teamwork between architects and engineers. Feedback shows students identified improvement in their communication and teamwork skills at the end of the module.

School bathrooms are liminal spaces where notions about intimacy and one's public persona are configured and where issues such as sex and gender are centrally experienced and proved. These learnings are partially scripted by architectural design and pedagogical rules but not fully captured by them. In this article, I intend to historicise these configurations through an analysis of the trajectories of school bathrooms in Argentina from 1880 to 1930. Grounding on sensorial and material histories of schooling and on architectural and cultural histories, I follow the thread of toilets through school plans, state regulations, photographs, architectural treatises and pedagogical reports. I claim that issues such as the height of doors, the quality of floor and wall materials, the preference for squat or flush-down toilets, or the presence or absence of windows and mirrors, became contested arenas and that they can be projected as fragments of a kaleidoscope, as proposed by Sigfried Giedion, and not as a unified narrative of progress. I conclude that educational research would benefit from paying attention to apparently insignificant elements whose refraction visibilises not the history of purity and civilisation but that of impure hybrids that contained different possibilities.

This article presents the results of a case involving the application of project-based learning carried out with students in the Mechanical Engineering degree program at the University of Girona. The project, entitled "Design and construction of a wooden bridge", was conducted at the Polytechnic School in the third-year Structures course. This project required students to address, consider and solve different problems related to the resistance of materials, structural calculations, material optimization and structural design. The project also included the building of the bridge based on the calculations made, thus enabling the students to verify the suitability of the theoretical calculations as compared to real results. Furthermore, a competition was held to reward those teams who obtained the best ratio between the failure load and the weight of the bridge. The main conclusion observed from the implementation of only two editions of this project is the acquisition of the different proposed competences (both specific and cross-curricular) by the students. Finally, it was interesting to note that after completing the activity, the students were observed to be more motivated by the course content.

The relevance of the problem studied in the article is caused by the fact that now the process of reforming the housing and utilities sector in the Republic of Tatarstan continues. Its purpose is to increase the quality of service for public and to protect their legitimate rights and interests. That is why it is one of the aspects of social and economic policy. All mentioned above determines the necessity of implementing energy saving projects and evaluating their efficiency. The purpose of the article is quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of investment project in the field of energy saving with estimation of the risk of its implementation. The leading method to study this problem is the quantitative approach of evaluating the project risks, based on the analysis of sensitivity and project risks scenarios which are calculated by using discount method of its efficiency. Such methods provide the accuracy of the calculations. In the article we made evaluation of economic efficiency in housing and utility sector. We also detected the most critical factors for implementing the projects in the field of energy saving and made quantitative assessment of their influence. We also made the reasonable conclusions about the necessity of risk evaluation by using methods of sensitivity and scenario evaluation. Results of calculating the project efficiency in the field of energy saving and the results of analyzing sensitivity of the factors that influence the project can be useful when implementing similar project.

The study focused on construction waste reduction awareness as a step within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The method of collaborative action research was used with a questionnaire as an instrument. Data collected from 61 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, and t-test) and multiple regressions. Results revealed that there were graduates of different degree levels and non-graduates working at the construction sites, where 4.9% and 27.9% had PhD and Master degrees, respectively. Improper material storage was agreed to be the main cause of construction waste, while the most effective reduction measure was applying source reduction through the calculated procurement. Multiple regressions revealed that awareness was significantly positively predicted by gender, qualification and status. However, both cause and reduction of construction waste were noted to be human related, thereby necessitating a campaign against construction waste at various sites, with the aim of raising motivated and inspired change agents.

The choice to create or renovate museum buildings to green building standards is a growing trend for science museums. With access to green facilities comes the potential to extend informal science learning into the three-dimensional architectural environment. To examine how and if museums with green buildings interpret their buildings for the public, this study used photographs systematically taken by researchers in eight science museums across the United States. Results show that recycling, water, energy, green materials, and eco-landscaping were the top five green building themes interpreted by museums. Moreover, all museums use the passive strategy of educational signage to communicate green building themes, though several museums attempted to provide more active, hands-on learning opportunities. The analysis additionally uncovered a series of distinct strategic choices museums made concerning centralized versus decentralized displays, media types, passive versus active engagement, and targeting a range of visitor outcomes from green knowledge to behaviors. The potential for enhancing green building education in museums with certified green buildings is discussed.

In construction industries' projects, working in groups is a normal practice. Group work in a classroom is defined as students working collaboratively in a group so that everyone can participate on a collective task. The results from literature review indicate that group work is more effective method of learning as compared to individual work. However, only limited studies reported influence of group selection method on the learning of groups. To fill the gap in this area, the main objective of this study was to find out which selection method is the best to use and helps students to perform better in the course. Therefore, a total of three group selection methods, namely, random-selection by instructor, performance-based-selection by instructor and individual-selection by student were utilized. The target subjects used in the proposed study were students enrolled in two different lab-based construction management courses. The learning of each group was evaluated by calculating an average of scores received by all fellow members in the corresponding lab projects. Additionally, at the end of the semester, students were asked to complete a questionnaire. Data from all the questionnaires was also used for evaluating influence of group selection method on learning of students.

Can teachers of young children create stimulating and enriching outdoor environments that are also safe? This article highlights early childhood outdoor safety standards and presents a framework for creating quality and SAFE™ outdoor environments in early childhood programs that support children's interest and best practice. The outdoor environment is an extremely important place within early childhood programs. Early childhood professionals can use the information and resources to justify the significance of maximizing the outside environment. Creating these spaces is not a haphazard process, but rather should be based on a foundation that all children deserve a right to play in meaningful and purposeful environments. It is essential for early childhood educators to recognize that the outdoor space for children is important and there are endless possibilities for incorporating curriculum outside.

Research shows that students can significantly improve their understanding and retention of topics presented in an engineering course when discussions of theoretical and mathematical approaches are combined with active-learning exercises involving hands-on physical experiments. In this paper, the design and application of a beam testing system (BTS) to promote experiential learning in mechanics of materials are discussed. Students in the experimental group were given the opportunity to verify their analytical predictions on two separate projects by conducting experiments using the BTS, whereas those in the comparison group only performed the analysis part. Based on statistical analysis of the performance of the two student groups on a common exam problem, the experiential learning is found to have a positive but limited impact. Moreover, the students' responses to an anonymous survey indicate that the students in the experimental group generally had a higher degree of satisfaction with the class projects than those in the comparison group.

Polymer matrix composites (PMC), often referred to as fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), consist of fiber reinforcement (E-glass, S2-glass, aramid, carbon, or natural fibers) and polymer matrix/resin (polyester, vinyl ester, polyurethane, phenolic, and epoxies). Eglass/ polyester and E-glass/vinyl ester composites are extensively used in the marine, sports, transportation, military, and construction industries. These industries primarily use low-cost open molding processes, such as manual/spray lay-up. Polyester and vinyl ester resin systems produce styrene emissions. Because of the stringent EPA regulations on styrene emissions, composite manufacturers are interested in using low-cost closed molding processes, such as vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) and styrene-free resin systems such as non-foam and full-density polyurethanes (PUR). Polyurethanes are polymers created by addition of polyisocyanates and polyols. The polyol component in polyurerhane can be produced from soybean oil. This study demonstrates that with the proper addition of nanoparticles, mechanical properties of soy-based polyurethane can be enhanced. These nanomodified soy-based polyurethane/glass composites manufactured by using the low-cost VARTM process provide alternatives to traditional glass/polyester and glass/vinyl ester composites. These composites will be more environmental friendly for two reasons: (a) Polyurethane does not produce styrene emission, thereby, resulting in a safer work place and (b) Polyol is made from a renewable resource (soybean oil). (Contains 3 tables and 8 figures.)

This paper investigates iteration and fixation in design by mining digital footprints left by designers. High school students used computer-aided design software to create buildings in an urban area, with the goal of applying passive solar design techniques to ensure optimal solar gains of the buildings throughout a year. Students were required to complete three different designs. Fine-grained data including design actions, intermediate artifacts, and reflection notes were logged. Computational analytics programs were developed to mine the logs through three indicators: (a) frequency of the action of using energy analysis tools; (b) solar performance of the final designs; and (c) difference in solar performance between the prototype and final designs. Triangulating results from the indicators suggests three types of iteration--efficacious, inadequate and ineffective. Over half of the participants were detected as being efficacious iterative during the first design and becoming more and more fixated toward the end of the project, which resonates with previous findings on fixation effect among college students and professional designers. Overall the results demonstrate the power of applying computational analytics to investigate complex design processes. Findings from this work shed light on how to quantitatively assess and research student performance and processes during design projects.

The authors challenged their second grade students to design and build a small house for a Skylander toy character that would be economical, yet able to withstand "the elements of wind and rain." While this social studies (economics)/science/math integrated project was completed with second grade students, the lessons presented in this article can be adapted to fit various grade levels and allotted class time. Utilizing dimensions of the College, Career, and Civic Framework (C3 Framework), the Design, Build, and Test project presented students with opportunities to collaborate, make deliberate choices, consider the impact of their choices, and use critical thinking skills as they determined how to best use selected materials, analyze the outcomes, and provide thoughtful critique.

Some of the most sophisticated 20th-century technologies have been applied to build the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, the Three Gorges Dam Project (TGDP) of China. The author administered a study abroad course in China from May 27 to June 10, 2000, to study the massive project as it approached the halfway mark of its second and most critical stage, namely Phase II. This article sheds some light on this sizable project and summarizes information and observations gathered first-hand during this study abroad course on the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. In addition to a description of the main components of the project and the phases of its construction, a historical background and a timeline of the events that culminated in China's decision to build this dam are presented in this article. The article also points out the reasons why this sizable project is being built and discusses the results that are anticipated after its completion. Some of the challenges faced in the construction of the project are analyzed, together with how they were dealt with.