An Asynchronous Approach To Teaching Math And Engineering Software Within The Context Of A Course In Mechanisms

In this work we describe the use of interactive, web-based instructional technologies in conjunction with in a course in Mechanisms to teach math and engineering software, and vice-versa, the use of interactive, web-based instructional technologies in conjunction with math and engineering software to teach in a course in Mechanisms. The idea is to accomplish both the teaching of the course content and the use of math and engineering software without taking class time to teach the software. The guiding principle is to initially introduce the student one step at a time through only the parts of the software necessary to solve the specific problem at hand, be it a lecture concept/learning objective or a homework assignment. Then, after the student has developed a certain familiarity with the software, they can more readily use the software’s own more encyclopedic assistive materials to address new and more comprehensive tasks. The approach taken incorporates the use of “screen capture with audio” avi tutorials, along with a variety of interactive materials including; supplemental lecture notes, homework assignments and solutions, sample exams and exam solutions, and projects. Liberal use is also made of the software packages’ own assistive materials. The software “taught” includes MathSoft's Mathcad and MSC's Working Model 2D, with TechSmith's Camtasia used to create the “screen capture with audio” avi files. Examples demonstrating the delivery and instructional techniques used are given. The first two examples illustrate the interactive lecture and homework materials. The final example shows part of an interactive sample project involving the synthesis/design and subsequent analysis of a planar four bar linkage. Introduction The general demand for fewer hours in the curriculum without sacrificing content, along with the desire for the development of a working knowledge of math and engineering software, requires "new" delivery approaches. The development of a web-site with various modes/types of asynchronous tutorial material is the approach taken in this course. More specifically, Word documents with hyperlinks to “screen capture with audio” avi tutorials, and interactive Mathcad and Working Model 2D (WM2D) example "scripts" are used as the delivery modes. TechSmith's Camtasia is used to create the avi tutorials. This form of presentation is very effective for teaching GUI type software such as WM2D. While not as effective for Mathcad, it is still beneficial to the student to have a verbal dialog along with a "textual" presentation of how to access and use certain features of the software. Beyond the development of such asynchronous materials is the "Bottom Line": The students must want to use the materials. Our perspective is to first hook them with the utility of the software to solve problems and understand concepts through in-class demonstrations, then teach them the software in easily digestible bites using asynchronous tutorial materials that coincide with course assignments. An outline of the course content followed by examples demonstrating the delivery and instructional techniques used are given. The first two examples illustrate the interactive lecture and homework materials. The final example shows part of an interactive sample project involving the kinematic synthesis and subsequent analysis of a planar four bar linkage. In order to more easily discriminate P ge 883.1 between the textual content of this paper and the asynchronous materials, the textual content is shown in red. MECE 3380 Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines This course is aimed at introducing Junior-level students to issues involved in the kinematic synthesis, dynamic analysis, and "optimal" design of co-planar mechanisms, with an emphasis on four bar linkages. The course content is summarized in Table 1. Lecture Summaries Condensed summaries of each lecture are posted on the course web-site with links to additional asynchronous tutorial material as appropriate. A portion of the summary of one lecture is given in Figure 1. In this case the link is to an interactive WM2D simulation, shown in Figure 2, which clearly illustrates the effect that fixing different links in a 4-Bar linkage has on the absolute motion P ge 883.2 of the device. The student is directed to move the anchor to fix the different links, and to simulate the four cases on their own. This provides a very simple introduction to interacting with WM2D. In general, links exist to textual material, Camtasia tutorials, Mathcad, and/or WM2D.