Title:
Teaching Strategies and Resources for a Prestressed Concrete Course
Author(s):
Benjamin Z. Dymond, Cameron D. Murray, Christopher R. Shearer, Pinar Okumus
Publication:
Symposium Paper
Volume:
367
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
133-153
Keywords:
prestressed concrete, allowable stresses, prestress loss, shear capacity, assessment, active learning, demonstrations, experiential learning
DOI:
10.14359/51750596
Date:
3/1/2026
Abstract:
Prestressed concrete is used in a wide range of building and transportation structures where its improved performance and material efficiency is typically associated with longer spans, reduced structural thickness, and material savings compared with conventional reinforced concrete. However, there are some key differences in the behavior, limit states, serviceability, and strength design of prestressed concrete compared to cast-in-place concrete. The following three concepts were identified by the authors as the key differences, which are often associated with student confusion in an advanced prestressed concrete course: allowable stress, loss of prestress, and shear capacity. This paper presents an overview of how instructors can highlight the key differences between prestressed and reinforced concrete. Furthermore, this paper includes significant resources that can be used when starting a prestressed concrete course, including syllabus content, learning objectives, assessment tools, available technical resources and methods of integrating them into the course, and innovative teaching techniques that can aid in removing the bottleneck to learning often associated with the key prestressed concrete concepts. The paper also highlights lessons learned from the authors based on observations from several years of instruction.
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