Pascale Brandt-Pomares

Methodology of selecting CAM software package for education based on a questionnaire

Selecting computer-aided manufacturing software that meets learners’ requirements in education is a difficult process. Selection of a wrong software package can turn out to be costly in terms of allocated learning time and adaptability of students to software packages used in industries. This paper presents a methodology to provide selection criteria in education based on the theoretical model of activity theory. The main identified factors allowed us to draw up a questionnaire. This questionnaire aimed at getting learning effectiveness consideration from a group of 50 students of higher education using computer-aided manufacturing software. The processing and analysis of the questionnaire data helped us to set general criteria for the selection of computer-aided manufacturing software to be used for education purposes.

Didactique des sciences physiques, didactique de la technologie, et usage des TICE

The purpose of the hereby presented research is to study the question of teaching a disciplinary knowledge in a situation where laptop computers are used. The aim is to experiment teaching systems in physics and technology where the computer is used from the conception of the situation and thus to take into account the fact that the method of transmission appropriation changes the learning processes and that the teaching activity can be therefore modified. The results are based on the analysis of interactions in the teaching situation observed in every taught subject. Key words: laptop computer, teaching activity, disciplinary knowledge, didactical interactions