Michael C. Vorster, the David Burrows Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, will present the Vecellio Distinguished Lecture on Friday, Oct. 1 in the Alumni Assembly Hall at the Inn at Virginia Tech.
His talk, “Teaching and Learning: The Critical Balance in Effective Education,” is open to the general public.
The premise of the talk is “We teach too much and our students learn too little. That is more than a sound bite. It defines a very real problem and places an appropriate focus on the magic of learning rather than the rote process of teaching,” Vorster said.
“Every teacher teaches and every student learns but we all know that the relationship between teaching and learning is not linear. Regardless of the way we present the material, understand learning styles or follow an accepted learning process, there comes a time when we face diminishing returns. Our efforts do not seem to produce the results we want. We still get asked, “Will that be on the test?” he added.
Vorster will recommend that “the current teacher-centered approach where the balance of power lies with the teacher and where the need to cover the content is paramount to the learner should be changed to a learner-centered approach that emphasizes independence, self motivation, and individual responsibility.”
Vorster has taught in the Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Program since 1986.
Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, he worked in industry and academia in South and Central Africa. In industry, he was directly involved in the field construction of heavy civil engineering projects at various levels of responsibility from 1965 to 1975. In academia, he was chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Cape Town where he established an executive level construction management program which provided inspiration and input for similar operations at Stanford, Texas A&M, UT Austin, and Virginia Tech. He also played a leading role in the establishment of undergraduate and graduate programs in construction engineering at the University of Cape Town.
His appointment at Virginia Tech gave new emphasis to construction education in the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and made it possible for Virginia Tech to assume a position of leadership in this area. His personal teaching and research interests focus on construction equipment, contract administration, and contract dispute resolution.
He is a member of the Virginia Tech Academy of Teaching Excellence and a recipient of the College of Engineering Certificate of Teaching Excellence, the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia Outstanding Faculty award.
He holds a BS in civil engineering and an MBA from the University of Cape Town and a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Stellenbosch. He is a Fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the National Academy of Construction and a recipient of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers Basil Reid Gold Medal for contributions to construction. He is the author of “Construction Equipment Economics” a standard handbook on the management of large construction equipment fleets.
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