Integrated Web-based Data Acquisition System in Civil Engineering Laboratories

摘要

A hands-on laboratory education has been considered a necessary part of teaching assignments in undergraduate engineering education. Since the 1980's, many changes have been made to the classroom teaching due to the advancement of personal computers. In recent years, the usage of web-based technology has brought even more potential to improve teaching, especially in various laboratory environments. In the Civil Engineering department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), one of our departmental educational objectives requires students to be able to conduct laboratory experiments and to critically analyze and interpret data pertinent to civil engineering applications. A series of four laboratory courses were set up from the sophomore year to the senior year to achieve this objective. It is also our wish that through these four laboratory courses students will also learn how to properly compose either an internal or external laboratory report that to be presented to its intended audience.