LEARNING FROM FAILURES AS A TEACHING METHOD

The study of failures in actual structures is of fundamental importance in training students in the field of structural engineering as it allows professors and lecturers to train students in the fields of forensic engineering and failure diagnosis. It also helps students to improve the design of new structures through learning from others’ mistakes and so impinges on the ethical aspect. This paper describes a teaching method currently used at the Civil Engineering School (Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) and the Department of Construction Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia. The method is based on inspecting buildings in the city of Valencia in order to identify failure patterns. This activity has a significant impact on teaching, since the damage observed on-site is related to the theoretical concepts previously studied in the classroom. After visiting the buildings, the students are asked to write a short report on any damage observed, its causes and possible evolution in time. A discussion is later held between students and teachers in the classroom, with the emphasis on damage analysis and a critical review. Only buildings near the university are considered for the following reasons: a) the students are already familiar with them; and b) they are complex enough to present a wide range of damage types. In this way learning from failures assists academic staff in providing full practical training in the field of forensic engineering and the design of structures.