Active learning and autonomous learning: an educational experience

The obtained experience in the active and the autonomous learning tasks execution in the teaching of the subject: Reinforced Concrete Structures and Devices Construction, of the career of Technical Architecture by the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña (Politechnical University of Catalonia, UPC), is presented. This article gives continuity to the work performed in the scene of educational improvement developed in Barcelona, and framed inside the European Higher Education Area [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. It intends, therefore, to contribute with the current descriptive tendency in the learning condition applied in this subject.Peer Reviewe

Simulation and comparative analysis of waste in concrete slabs

Construction sector generates significant amounts of waste that affects the environment and obstructs a sustainable development. The horizontal structure (slabs and roofs) is one of the building elements, by its functional requirement (geometry and layout) and volume, who uses more raw material for its constitution (potential generators of waste) On the other hand, the choice of the system to use, is typically based on criteria such as the ease of construction, the economy availability or the technological feasibility; so, from a sustainable perspective, the generation of waste has not been considered or evaluated. This work compares and analyzes four different common elements used in slabs and the possible generation of waste produced for the construction and eventual demolition of them, in order to provide a new weighting criterion in the choice.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Simulation and comparative analysis of waste in concrete slabs

Construction sector generates significant amounts of waste that affects the environment and obsturcts a sustainable development. The horizontal structure (slabs and roofs) is one of the building elements, by its functional requirement (geometry and layout) and volume, who uses more raw material for its constitution (potential generators of waste) On the other hand, the choice of the system to use, is typically based on criteria such as the ease of construction, the economy availability or the tecnological feasibility; so, from a sustainable perspective, the generation of waste has not been considered or evaluated. This work compares and analyzes four different common elements used in slabs and the possible generation of waste produced for the construction and eventual demolition of them, in order to provide a new weighiting criterion in the choice.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Management and taking advantage of residues in construction. New educational contents inside the european space of higher education

A current tendency in construction is to have a cycle of life the most possible closed; acting in an optimal form with economy, and in a reasonable form with the environment. Using, in starting point, a first generation material which, after a transformation process, generates an input that once it exhausted its useful life, outcomes the creation of a waste material. If this waste material, after another transformation process, produces a different material (second generation material), and it is inserted again inside another input, the cycle of life of materials will be more efficient and harmonious with the environment. New trend in the study of the optimal cycle of life of materials, new specifications and environmental requests and the current economic impositions in the construction sector; cause the need to reuse, to design for beyond the common useful life and to apply new second generation materials inside the construction segment [1 ] This work presents the content of the subject Management and Taking Advantage of Residues in Construction (GARC, acronym in Spanish), given in the Construction Master of the Upper Technical School of Building (EPSEB, acronym in Spanish) [2, 3] of the University Technical of Catalonia (UPC, acronym in Spanish) [4] The subject is designed to satisfy the necessity to acquire the construction new professional profile, which has to assume competences such as: ecological-social commitment, environmental interest, intuition to research, sustainable inventiveness, etc. [5, 6, 7 ]Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Design and elastic behaviour influence of recycled RC buildings subjected to earthquakes

Experimental testing has been used, in different researches, to define reduction factors of physical and mechanical properties in recycled concrete, depending on the quantity of recycled material used to produce new concrete. These reduction factors were applied to design different five-storey buildings having recycled aggregates percentages in the RC of 0%, 15%, 30%, 60% and 100%. These structures, subjected to seismic load from an accelerogram database, were analysed elastically and designed according to the Mexico City Seismic Code. Models with different amount of recycled aggregates were compared with models with conventional concrete to evaluate the dimensional variation of columns and girders, the required longitudinal reinforcing steel, the maximum displacements and the moments and shear forces in elements. Results show that using recycled aggregates in percentages from 15% to 100%, produces increases, compared with conventional concrete buildings, in the structural elements dimensions (in percentages from 5% to 45%), reinforcing steel (20% to 60%), and the general response of the structure, in percentages of up to 14%.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Influence of the subestructure irregularity in highway bridge seismic behaviour

Most of preliminary evaluation methods to accomplish the seismic vulnerability of bridges consider as an evaluation parameter the substructure irregularity. This parameter is estimated by means of the difference in the length of piers or through the pier typology, but both evaluated by a subjective form. In this paper the evaluation of the influence of substructure irregularity is presented. First, a simple and regular bridge, with three piers of equal length and four spans, is considered as an original structure. Starting from this system, different irregular models were elaborated reducing or incrementing the length of the central or one of the external piers, in percentages of 25%, 50% and 75%. As a seismic action, a database of more than 50 earthquakes, registered in the Mexican Pacific Coast, the most seismic hazardous zone of México, were considered. The selected registers have magnitudes greater than six and important peak ground accelerations. By means of elastic analyses, the variation between regular and irregular maximum responses in displacements and internal forces are determined. Of the obtained responses, statistical values as mean and standard deviation are evaluated. With these values, percentages of difference in the response of irregular bridges were estimated; these percentages could be included as fragility weights of the irregularity degree in more rigorous preliminary methods to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of bridges.Postprint (published version

Statistical analysis and use of questionnaries for evaluation of the knouledge at university. A practical case

The accomplished experience, using the data processing platform Moodle, in the execution of multiple-option questionnaires with automatic evaluation; is presented. The obtained results have been utilized subsequently for their statistical analysis by means of centered measures and basic dispersion. The documented experience was implemented in the subject: Construction of Traditional Structures and Equipments (CETE), in the Technical Architecture (AT) career of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) The summary of the information includes the results obtained for a total sampling of 437 students distributed in four different groups. In those groups, three different professors taught the classes for the two available schedules. The obtained results facilitate to discern among the different professors, student typologies, student gender, different levels of acquired knowledge, relation to other evaluation techniques applied, and relation to the documented prior knowledge. It is proposed and analyzed, basing on the obtained results, educational adaptations that will allow future improvements in subjects with similar requests or needs on the part of the students. Similarly, possible poor preceding formation in students or in the teaching by professors can be determined; both shall be corrected after the analysis. This work is part of the effort achieved in the educational improvement field, that is being executed inside the Upper-Technical Building College of Barcelona (EPSEB) and framed in the European Space of Higher Education. The objective is to show the current descriptive focal point on the learning and continuous evaluation field, applied in this subjectPostprint (published version

Evaluation of waste as a comparative criterion for building materials

In this paper, it analyzes and compares the use of three different materials (Reinforced Concrete -R. C.-, Steel and Wood) usable for the building, and construction processes that this entails. The analysis aimed to investigate which of the three materials is the most appropriate from the perspective of sustainability in order to propose alternatives that minimize the impact they have on the environment. Today, concrete is the material most commonly used in construction, and therefore must be environmental objective for reflection, that after analyzed, we can propose other typologies or alternative materials. The analysis included projects single-family housing for each of the materials and building systems proposed, these cases involved comparable properties within their specific environments (rules and context Spanish) and process variables normalization that validate the analysis. The work was developed using the software tool for managing, scheduling and forecasting of construction waste Net Waste Tool (NWT) Waste & Resources Action Programmer, in which, it proceeded entering data, characteristics, volumes, consumption and emissions of each entry or supplies described in the study variables, and in this way, determine and quantify the pollutants vectors generated by these. The analysis of the results obtained have been able to argue a selection of materials for building sustainable new approach to waste generation, understanding that at the end of a life cycle, process or matter that pollutes less is bestPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Efficient nonparametric three-stage estimation of fixed effects varying coefficient panel data models

This paper is concerned with the estimation of a fixed effects panel data model that adopts a partially linear form, in which the coeffcients of some variables are restricted to be constant but the coeffcients of other variables are assumed to be varying, depending on some exogenous continuous variables. Moreover, we allow for the existence of endogeneity in the structural equation. Conditional moment restrictions on first differences are imposed to identify the structural equation. Based on these restrictions we propose a three stage estimation procedure. The asymptotic properties of these proposed estimators are established. Moreover, as a result of the first differences transformation, to estimate the unknown varying coeffcient functions, two alternative backfitting estimators are obtained. As a novelty, we propose a minimum distance estimator that, combining both estimators, is more effcient and achieves the optimal rate of convergence. The feasibility and possible gains of this new procedure are shown by estimating a Life-cycle hypothesis panel data model and a Monte Carlo study is implemented.The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Programa Estatal de Fomentode la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia/Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Ref. ECO2016-76203-C2-1-P. In addition, this work is part of the Research Project APIE 1/2015-17: "New Methods for the empirical analysis of financial markets" of the Santander Financial Institute (SANFI) of UCEIF Foundation resolved by the University of Cantabria and funded with sponsorship from Banco Santander