Problem-based approach to teaching transportation engineering

Transportation engineering is taught in the junior year as a required course for all civil engineering students. The course provides an introduction to various aspects of transportation engineering. The course, which is traditionally a lecture course, was redesigned to ensure the active participation of every student so they understand the physical elements of transportation design. Throughout the course, the faculty conducted a simulating and engaging exercise during class of requiring students in teams of two to solve practical problems immediately after covering the relevant theory. Such an activity considerably increased the level of interest and provided a greater satisfaction of tackling the problem, rather than just following set example problems. The global learners remained engaged as they could visualise the relevance of the theory being taught in class, and the more sequential learners after the initial struggle followed the problems through the explanation in class and the solution provided at the end of class. The course outline, with a week-by-week breakdown of activities, and the typical hand outs, is presented in this article. The student evaluations and course outcomes are also presented and discussed in the article.