Sure, we were doing continuously supported axial members toward the beginning of the class and we had a problem with a plate being bolted to concrete with an axial load on the plate and the bolts in shear. We modeled it as continuously supported and had an assigned value of k (spring stiffness) for the bolts. After the problem, I asked exactly what k represents for the bolts (since it clearly isn't a spring). I asked if it was a shear stiffness (similar to a flexural stiffness in K/in) and he was not able to communicate to me exactly what it was. He also indicated that he wasn't sure how you would actually get the number for a design problem, he said this of soil k values as well.
Having an appreciation for what is practical in a real engineering office, in my opinion, might be to have some sort of idea of how to approximate some values based on geotech properties......... or something.
Just saying This is how you do the problem, but I can't tell you how to arrive at or estimate any of the parameters involved doesn't make it easy to use what you are learning in class. I mean it is great to understand the theory and be able to do the calcs if called upon (when handed all of the parameters involved), but if, at the end of the day, you can't attain (or estimate) what those parameters are in a real world problem........... it doesn't do you much good.