The Paradigm Shift of Coursework Development Through Industry Partnership: An Account of the Development of a Course in Structural Engineering Masonry Building Design

Academic partnering with industry is a paradigm shift that has taken many forms.The more recent discussions in this partnering paradigm shift concern the influence on the curriculum by the partnership.By partnering with industry during course development, up-to-date, and direct information on the current market place can be incorporated into the curriculum.Information that is typically gained through an internship can be gained by all students in the classroom.For engineering students of the built environment (e.g.civil, structural, or architectural), a recent partnership with industry identified a shortcoming in the traditional or typical structural engineering program.Typical structural programs usually offer students only two design courses -steel and reinforced concrete.However, the partnership identified the fact that when considering the built environment the majority of new construction is for structures around three stories or less.Such buildings tend to favor timber/masonry as the economical choice.And the consulting structural engineering profession has indicated a strong benefit for the student entering the market place who have had these preferred materials design courses.Industry has also indicated that students who have a more applied science and/or hands-on learning experience (robust) adapt quicker to work place environment.Considering the market place input from the partnership and wanting to offer students a more robust course offering, an engineering course in masonry design was developed with direct input from a professional industry association.Emphasis was placed on current industry practices -testing, quality of construction, and theory to code application.In addition, a mechanism was put in place for market place assessment over a 5 year span.This paper gives an account of partnering in course development.