Abstract:

Regarding the global design of buildings, despite that nowadays their appearance is very important, their adequate structural design is essential. For that reason, it is necessary that the Arquitecture degree students are trained to acquire different skills related to the structural design of a building. Between the different types of structures, those made using reinforced concrete are very usual in Europe, especially in Spain.

On the other hand, many important changes in the learning and teaching methodologies have been introduced due to the new scenario created by the Bologna Declaration and the European Higher Education Area. The Architecture degrees have not been exempt from these important changes, which have affected the planning of their subjects. In the present new methodologies, the paper of the students in the learning and teaching process is fundamental, and the final objective is to prepare them for the globalized labour market, in which the students can carry out a high amount of different tasks during their professional career.

In this work, it is described a problem-based learning proposal for initiating the Arquitecture degree students in the design of reinforced concrete elements and structures. This proposal has been based on the experience and the results obtained during several academic years in the theoretical and practical classes of the subject “Structures 3” of 4th course of Arquitecture degree at University of Alicante (Spain). This subject has a total of 6 ECTS.

In general terms, the proposal consists in the progressive learning of how reinforced concrete structures perform through the process of designing a beam and a column. During this process the students will learn concepts like durability, ultimate and serviceability limit states, idealisation of the structure and characteristics of materials.

Keywords:

Arquitecture, structures, reinforced concrete, European Higher Education Area, problem-based learning.