Title: FORUM 3: Teaching 'lessons learned'

Authors: Chin Y. Kuo

Addresses: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, USA

Abstract: Occasionally, past bad experiences and mistakes are discussed in the class. The idea is to advise the students not to step into the same mistakes made by others. Although it is somewhat on the negative side, teaching |lessons learned| indeed is an effective way of passing knowledge to students in addition to teaching what is considered the standard procedures and methods to be followed in the workplace. However, the author suggests that lessons are divided into good lessons and bad lessons. It is the bad lessons which deserve some discussion regarding their significance and desirability to learn from them.

Keywords: college education; higher education; lessons learned; documented case studies; design failure; component failure; project failure; safety concerns; negligence; mistakes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2010.032038

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2010 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.421 - 422

Published online: 04 Mar 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article