Masonry Education: Virtual Lab
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Masonry Education: Virtual Lab
Creating a Virtual Laboratory
 Laboratory
experiences provide students with a clearer understanding of masonry
construction, fundamental concepts of masonry design, familiarity
with current field test methods, and an introduction to troubleshooting
real-world problems. Few students are exposed to such testing procedures,
because many universities do not have laboratory space or equipment
for performing masonry testing.
A new project underway at the University of Wyoming, cosponsored
by PCA and other industry groups, will address the study of masonry
construction and testing. Other funding sources are RMMI and NCMA.
Introducing students to construction materials familiarizes them
with the properties of the materials and resulting systems. In learning
about the system’s strengths and applications, students become
familiar with these applications, a critical aspect of promoting
of them. This project creates a legacy of masonry teaching resources
for succeeding generations of educators and students.
 Entitled
“Enhancement of Masonry Curriculums through Virtual Laboratory
Experiments,” this project’s primary objective is to
create learning modules for masonry lab activities. These activities
will address the study of masonry construction and testing.
The completed modules will enable viewers to create a lab experience,
either by replicating the laboratory experiments at facilities where
space and time permit, or through using the virtual aspect of the
laboratory modules.
A series of masonry modules with accompanying labs will address
(real-world) construction and (field) testing. Resulting teaching
materials will include:
- PowerPoint presentations
to introduce a topic
- Video clips of discussion of testing
- Digital pictures and video clips of testing
- Material lists
- Sources for equipment
- Lab exercises
- Examples of sample lab reports for students to review
With an expected completion date in mid-2007, the material will
be accessible to masonry professors through The
Masonry Society (TMS) and/or Rocky
Mountain Masonry Institute (RMMI) and on CD format for distribution
at activities such as the Masonry Professors Workshop.
For additional information about the project, contact principal
investigator Jennifer Tanner
at the University of Wyoming.
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