Not sure which course(s) cover such things, this is one of the first practical units they take where they have to work out things all by themselves in a group of 4-5
Or even easier go to the website and it tells you all the details you could wish for.
If there's a utube or tiktok on it then the answer would be yes. ;-)
I think him saying he "couldn't use this" was more a case of this was unfit for purpose rather than he didn't know how to use it. Imagine using a 0.5 metre long piece of wood marked in mm increments to measure something in the 1.5 ~ 3.5 mm range.
TBH engineering degrees are not always synonymous with practical skills. Maybe they can solve beam load calculations to N decimal places, or do vector calculus in spherical polar coordinates, but using hand tools is not always something they've been exposed to - for some engineering is effectively 'applied physics'. Which is effectively what those civil engineers will be doing when they graduate too - they aren't pouring the concrete themselves.
('Engineering' at school OTOH is rather more practical - a bit more like metalwork classes of old. More useful for trainee mechanics than civil engineers)
Yes, the point of university is to learn things, and that includes practical techniques. So give them a ruler, a pen, some paper and turn it into a problem for them to solve.
In the Cambridge course it's second year material.
Theo
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