Assigning Students Teacher’s Role: A Student-Centered Approach in Computer-Aided Design Education

This paper presents the preliminary work of implementing the learning by teaching approach, a student-centered pedagogy, in the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) education. Following an experimental study design, students were grouped into control section and experimental section. In the control section, students received the traditional instructor-centered instruction. In the experimental section, students were assigned into small groups and taught the course content to their peers during the class meeting. The students’ learning outcomes were evaluated, such as life-long learning skill, engineering attitude, and CAD modeling skills using NX. A CAD modeling test was used at the end of semester to assess the students’ CAD modeling skills. The engineering attitude survey and the life-long learning scale were conducted at the beginning and the end of semester. The statistical analyses were performed to examine the impact of activities. The results revealed that the students’ engineering attitude was significantly improved. In addition, experimental group students completed an exit survey that collected their feedback on the teaching activities.Copyright © 2016 by ASME