Teaching Left Brain Concepts

with Right Brain Approach

Nick Hudyma PhD PE
Civil Engineering
COCSE
Topics to be covered
! Left Brain versus Right Brain
! About Me
! Right Brained Methods for Left Brain
Courses
! Concluding Remarks
Left Brain versus Right Brain
"
Left Brain versus Right Brain
! Keywords
! Personality Traits
! Learning and Thinking Styles
! Professions
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Keywords
#$%& ()*+!
Analysis
Logic
Lists
Numbers
Words
Sequences
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Keywords
#$%& ()*+!
Analysis
Logic
Lists
Numbers
Words
Sequences
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Personality Traits
! Prefer classical music
! Dog lovers
! Almost never absent
minded
! Like to tell stories but
not act them out
! Organized
#$%& ()*+!
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Personality Traits
! Prefer classical music
! Dog lovers
! Almost never absent
minded
! Like to tell stories but
not act them out
! Organized
! Prefer rock music
! Cat lovers
! Occasionally absent
minded
! Enjoy creative story
telling
#$%& ()*+!
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Learning and Thinking Styles
! Prefer verbal instructions
! Attentive during long verbal explanations
! Prefer well structured assignments over
open ended ones
! Read for specific details and facts
#$%& ()*+! , #$*)
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Learning and Thinking Styles
! Need total quiet to read or study
! Can think better sitting down
! Usually remember things specifically
studied
! Usually do things in a planned orderly way
#$%& ()*+! , ./+!0
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Learning and Thinking Styles
! Prefer visual instructions with examples
! Become restless during long verbal
explanations
! Prefer to learn through free exploration
! Solve problems intuitively
! Read for main details
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Learning and Thinking Styles
! Think better when lying down
! Can listen to music or TV while studying
! Skilled in showing relationships between
ideas
! Prefer summarizing over outlining
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Professions
! Engineering
! Sciences
! Financial
! Lawyer
! Actor / Actress
! Artist
! Craftsperson
! Athlete
#$%& ()*+!
About Me
About Me
! My Background
! What I do
! Why am I telling you about Left Brain /
Right Brain
About Me
My Background
! Yes, I am an engineer
About Me
My Background
! Yes, I am an engineer
! BSc Geological Engineering
! MS Civil Engineering (Geotechnical)
! PhD Engineering (Geotechnical)
! Registered Professional Engineer
About Me
What I do
! Laboratory characterization of
geological and construction materials
! Deformation of granular soils
! Faulting and clay smear formation
! Mitigation of expansive soils
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
! Why would an engineer be telling YOU
about Right Brain thinking and learning?
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
! Why would an engineer be telling YOU
about Right Brain thinking and learning?
! I am a little bit different than typical
engineers
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
Typical Engineers
office
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
My office
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
A typical engineers view of granular mechanics
0
ijkl l
i k
c u
X X

| |

=
|

\ .
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
A typical engineers view of granular mechanics
0
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To solve this equation, use the following perturbation:
( ) ( )
0 0 ( ) ( )
, , ... u u X x u X x

+ +
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
Which leads to:
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
0
2
0 1
1
0 1
0
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
, ,
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, , , ... ...
k
ijkl l ijkl
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k k
ijkl
i l l
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ijkl
i l l
u
c u c X x X x
X X x x
u u
c X x X x X x
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u u
c X x X x X x
X X x

| | | |

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| |


+ +
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\ .

)

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+ + + +
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)
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
My view of granular mechanics:
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
! I am a Right Brained person in a Left
Brain dominated profession
About Me
What am I Doing Here?
! I am a Right Brained person in a Left
Brain dominated profession
! I am able to provide some insights in
educating Left Brainers
Right Brained Methods for
Left Brained Courses
Right Brained Methods for
Left Brained Courses
! My Teaching Philosophy
! Edutainment
! Hands On Experiments
! Explanations
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
My Teaching Philosophy
! My teaching philosophy comes from my
own learning experiences
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
My Teaching Philosophy
! My teaching philosophy comes from my
own learning experiences
! I was never the top student
! I always used creative methods for problem
solving
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Engineering education is dry and boring
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Engineering education is dry and boring
! I try to add some excitement to class by
incorporating edutainment
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Engineering education is dry and boring
! I try to add some excitement to class by
incorporating edutainment
! Fun way of learning
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Engineering education is dry and boring
! I try to add some excitement to class by
incorporating edutainment
! Fun way of learning
! Sesame Street
! Bill Nye the Science Guy
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Great but how to incorporate into the
curriculum?
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Great but how to incorporate into the
curriculum?
! Simple Hands On experiments that
incorporate engineering principles
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Edutainment
! Great but how to incorporate into the
curriculum?
! Simple Hands On experiments that
incorporate engineering principles
! Perform the experiment
! Tell me what is happening
! Apply to engineering
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Hands On Experiments
! Shake it up Baby
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Hands On Experiments
! Shake it up Baby
! Squeeze Me, Tease Me
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Hands On Experiments
! Shake it up Baby
! Squeeze Me, Tease Me
! Quit Digging Around for the Brazil Nuts!
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Experiments Shake it up Baby
! Stir the sand so there is no water on the surface
! Place the rock core on the sand
! Tap the side of the container with your hand
! Describe what happens to the sand and rock core
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Experiments Squeeze & Tease
! Make sure there is a water column in the tube
! Squeeze the sides of the container
! Describe what happens to the water column and
sand
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Experiments Can of Nuts
! Shake the can of nuts
! What happens to the larger nuts?
! What happens to the small nuts?
! Why?
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! This experiment simulates the process
of LIQUIFACTION
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! This experiment simulates the process
of LIQUEFACTION
! This is very important in cases where
saturated sandy soils are subjected to
earthquakes
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! The tapping caused the soil particles to
loose contact with each other
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! The tapping caused the soil particles to
loose contact with each other
! Since the particles are not in contact
with each other, they can not support
the load of the building
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! The building sinks and/or tilts
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! The building sinks and/or tilts
! The tapping also cause the sands to be
vibrated into a denser state
! Water on the surface
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
! The building sank and/or tilted
! The tapping also cause the sands to be
vibrated into a denser state
! Water on the surface
! Does this REALLY happen?
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
Niigata, J apan (1964)
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Shake it Up
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Squeeze & Tease
! The sand in the squeeze bottle is
densely packed
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Squeeze & Tease
! The sand in the squeeze bottle is
densely packed
! In order to deform, the sand grains
must ride over one another
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Squeeze & Tease
! The sand in the squeeze bottle is
densely packed
! In order to deform, the sand grains
must ride over one another
! This causes in increase in space
between grains (dilation)
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! This experiment demonstrates
SEGREGATION
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! This experiment demonstrates
SEGREGATION
! The process is still not very well
understood
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! Larger nuts have greater momentum
which allow them to move further
upward within the vibrating can
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! Larger nuts have greater momentum
which allow them to move further
upward within the vibrating can
! Vibrations may set up circular currents
driven by friction with the wall to drag
the smaller nuts down
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! Is this important for civil engineering?
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! Is this important for civil engineering?
Vibrating concrete during placement
R.B. Methods for L.B. Courses
Explanation Can of Nuts
! Is this important for civil engineering?
Moving and grading soils
Concluding Remarks
Concluding Remarks
! In any course, there will be students
who learn using different techniques
Concluding Remarks
! In any course, there will be students
who learn using different techniques
! Left Brain
! Right Brain
! Combination of both
Concluding Remarks
! There is a place for Right Brained
learning techniques in Left Brained
courses
Concluding Remarks
! There is a place for Right Brained
learning techniques in Left Brained
courses
! Try to incorporate many different
learning techniques into your classroom
sessions