Teaching numerical methods or teaching with numerical methods?

This paper presents some of the results of a collaboration between TC103 (numerical methods) and TC306 (geoengineering education) of ISSMGE with the objective of producing high quality educational material to be shared with educators in form of figures or videos. The project stems from the idea that figures, charts and videos obtained with the use of numerical tools can enrich teaching of key concepts of geomechanics in introductory courses. Examples are visual resources obtained using DEM to illustrate micro-phenomena and the particulate nature of soils and its consequences, or using FEM/FDM to illustrate macro-phenomena such as stresses under loaded areas or bearing capacity of a foundation. Figures are submitted with metadata useful to guide the use of the material even by educators that are not experts in numerical methods. However, this raises a fundamental question: how detailed should be student’s (and educator’s) knowledge on numerical methods to fully understand (and use) the material? This paper discusses this issue showing how the same material, if correctly prepared, can be used with different purposes both in base and advanced courses. Pilot examples are illustrated with specific emphasis on stress under loaded areas.