Developing theory from practice: A case study in civil engineering airport design problem-based learning

In Spain, the students of the Master of Sciences (MSc) level in Civil Engineering have competencies in airport design, construction, conservation, and exploitation. Considering the need for improving the knowledge of these students in this area, the School of Civil Engineering of A Coruna implemented in the subject of Infrastructure of Roads and Airports (ICA) a brief workshop on airport design. This paper presents a case study in which problem-based learning techniques were applied in this airport design workshop. To promote the students' interaction and improve their social skills, the workshop activities were conducted as onsite tasks. The workshop starting point was an individual real case of airport runway design. Master classes, practical lessons, private tutoring, specific software, audio-visual material, and supporting documentation posted on the ICA Moodle site were used as teaching and learning resources. In particular, an analysis of the basic International Civil Aviation Organization standards on airport design was used by the students to solve their problem. In addition, for the design of the runway orientation, the ICA students used both the Federal Aviation Administration's WindRose computer online application and the traditional manual method. The results of both methods were critically compared. The high level of satisfaction indicated by the survey conducted at the end of the subject indicated the success of this teaching and learning methodology.