In classical teaching of undergraduate courses of geotechnics and foundation procedures from the Civil Engineering Degree (E.T.S.I. de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), the design of shallow foundations and the retaining structures is based on Ultimate Limit State (ULS) analysis, which are also studied –in greater detail– in the Foundations course of the Master's program in Structures, Foundations, and Materials. Despite the efforts made to illustrate theoretical concepts in a practical manner in these subjects, students express the need to tangibly observe the failure mechanisms that can occur in foundations and/or retaining structures through physical models. For this reason, the Educational Innovation in Geotechnics Group at UPM has worked to provide this conceptual reinforcement through physical modelling. To do this, 3D printings of foundations and retaining structures and small-scale tests are built, with student participation in their design. Thus, student learning is enhanced by being directly involved in the entire process: from preparing the small-scale model to executing the test that demonstrates the failure mechanism of the foundation and/or retaining structure. Similarly, students will also develop their own learning capacity and will know how to solve problems that may arise during the process. During the 2023-2024 academic year, a pilot experience was conducted to apply the new teaching methodology to reinforce, in a more practical and tangible way, the knowledge acquired in the undergraduate courses mentioned above. This experience was carried out in the Geotechnics undergraduate course at the UPM´s Civil Engineering Degree.

The (in-person) laboratory practice included:
(i) a demonstration of the behavior of a shallow foundation subjected to an axial load, and
(ii) the opportunity for the student to closely observe the resulting failure mechanism.

The survey test conducted before and after the experience reflected an improvement in the understanding of the load-bearing behavior of shallow foundations. The proposed methodology allows to model the shallow foundations and retaining elements under different conditions and to consider different soil types, thereby enriching students' understanding of load-bearing behavior in geotechnics.

Keywords: Challenge-based learning, Geotechnics, Soil mechanics, Foundations, Retaining structures.