[U-08] Geoscience Research/Education Across Language And Cultural Boundaries 2: Organization Perspectives

[U08-P07] Experiences in teaching geology for engineering students in a multinational environment in Europe (Hungary)

★Invited Papers

*Akos Torok¹ (1.Department of Engineering Geology and Geotecnics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

Keywords:geology, teaching, civil engineering, environmental engineering, international students

Teaching geosciences requires a special approach when non-geoscientist students are the ‘target audience’. The presentation provides an overview on teaching methods and communication between engineering students and teaching staff members of one of the oldest technical universities of Europe, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary). The university has a long history of teaching geology for engineers, since it was founded in 1782. With its nearly twenty thousands of students, it is the largest university in Hungary providing engineering degrees. Within earth sciences engineering geology and geosciences are taught in 3 faculties, for Hungarian and international students coming from more than 30 countries. The teaching methods include lectures in large lecture halls, practical courses in laboratories and field courses, as well as group works and student projects. The study will outline the difficulties on how to overcome the different backgrounds of students coming from almost all continents (Asia, Europe, Africa, North- and South America) and on how to balance the oral lectures, traditional and modern techniques in teaching at BSc, MSc and PhD levels. It compares the requirements at different levels, and also outline the differences in course materials for civil engineering, environmental engineering and architecture students. The changes in curricula and in expected geoscientific knowledge of engineering students will be also discussed based on the nearly four decades of teaching experience of the presenting author.