Category: Education

Workshop: Planning for learning – IDBE, University of Cambridge

I was in Cambridge today to teach my first of four workshops this academic year on the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment Masters programme. Part of my…

Notes from ISEE 2018, UCL London

A very interesting couple of days at the 7th International Symposium of Engineering Education down at UCL. Here’s something I found interesting which I am sharing with colleagues…

12 Principles for Problem-based Learning for Engineers

When you get into it, PBL is a fundamental philosophical shift in the role of the instructor, and it is that realisation that has had such a personal impac...

My VR training epiphany

Last week I was down at Bridgwater and Taunton College to check out the tools Stefan Cecchini and his colleagues are going to be using to deliver a…

Being Bazalgette – a new work experience idea

Today at Think Up, Ed McCann and I had lunch with Mike Chrimes from the Institution of Civil Engineers. The main topic on the menu was how to…

Learning emergency first aid

Yesterday I went on the excellent St John’s Ambulance 1-day emergency first aid at work course. It was a real eye-opener: it made me realise just how many…

The Beginning of Engineering Knowledge Club

Almost nine months since we were awarded funding from UCL’s Teaching Innovation fund, Paul Greening and I kicked off ‘Engineering Knowledge Club‘. The idea is to encourage students…

Day 4 at the RDI Summer School

This Day 4 post is written somewhat after the fact, and that’s a good thing. An immediate post might have captured all the logistical comings and goings without…

From concrete courtyard to blooming garden – the story of the Big Dig

In December last year I wrote about day one of the Big Dig, M and my plan to transform our barren concrete courtyard into a thriving patch of urban greenery….

Taking inspiration from the Transcontinental Railroad

As I tweeted earlier this morning, today at Think Up I have been working on Build Camp, a concept for a week-long hands-on learning event designed to encourage…

Using construction site notebooks as a teaching tool

Today the Expedition-Imperial team met to plan their week at this year’s Constructionarium. The learning experience is intense on site at the Constructionarium, with students on their feet…

Last day of teaching at Edinburgh

Today I made my last teaching visit to Edinburgh for the term. I will go back once more in the spring time to evaluate the work that I…

The Return of Low Carb

Yesterday I was at the Big Rig facilitating the annual low-carbon skills challenge at the Big Rig. This is the fourth year in a row that Think Up…

Facilitating the Global Grand Challenges Student Day

Today Think Up facilitated the Global Grand Challenges Student Day at the Royal Academy of Engineering. The student day is a prelude to the main Global Grand Challenges…

Thames Cable Car Student Design Workshop

Today I have been working on content for a new creative design workshop for civil engineering students based on the Emirates Airline. The workshop is part of my…

Talking Sustainability in Bristol

I’m just back from the first of six workshops I will be facilitating at universities around the country about how to embed sustainability in undergraduate civil engineering courses….

Pursuing general knowledge – not such a trivial pursuit

The ability to design arguably sits at the top of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning, requiring as it does decent doses of creativity and evaluation. The foundations therefore of…

Chemistry, engineering and Abbey Road studios

My courting of the chemical engineering world continued today with a visit to the ChemEng department at Imperial. Today it got even better, because not only do chemical…

In praise of Fred Dibnah and Burt Munro

Most of my work this week has been around designing events that help engineering students develop problem-solving skills. My opposite number at a meeting today cited Fred Dibnah,…

Dipping into chemical engineering

For someone who has studied both chemistry and engineering, it is somewhat of a surprise that I have had so little exposure to the chemical engineering sector. I…

The Big Dig

This is not a post about the civil engineering megaproject to put a massive road underground in Boston. This is a post about spending a very satisfying day…