Abstract

Teaching innovations in earthquake engineering with special attention to Bloom's taxonomy is explored utilizing the versatility introduced by the hybrid simulation (HS) testing method. Such innovations focus on developing a variety of case studies with integrated earthquake and structural engineering concepts tailored for high school and first-year undergraduate students. The goal is to effectively guide students to understand the intricacies of real structural systems by visualizing their complex behavior when subjected to earthquake loading. A teaching activity involving theoretical and hands-on-experience components, in which a HS testing demonstration is used as a part of the activity, is described, and the results of this activity are presented. The experiences gathered from this activity and the developed HS experience at various laboratories are used to create new instructional case studies making use of HS. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.