Timothy A. Philpot

Animated instructional software for mechanics of materials: Implementation and assessment

During the past 3 years, the Basic Engineering Department at the University of Missouri, Rolla has been developing a second‐generation suite of instructional software called MecMovies for the Mechanics of Materials course. The MecMovies suite consists of over 110 animated example problems, drill‐and‐practice games, and interactive exercises. Students generally respond favorably to software of this type; however, much of the data that has been gathered to assess the effectiveness of similar software has been anecdotal. The method by which instructional software is incorporated into the engineering class is partly responsible for this lack of systematic evaluation. Often, software packages have been implemented in the classroom as supplemental material—recommended but not required. In the Fall 2003 semester, MecMovies was integrated thoroughly into the course assignments for one of the six UMR Mechanics of Materials sections. Four professors were involved in the study, and student performance in the experimental MecMovies section was compared to performance in the five control sections through a common final exam. At the end of the semester, students who used the MecMovies software also completed a survey questionnaire consisting of a number of subjective rating items. This paper presents a comparison of student performance in the experimental and control sections along with discussion of student qualitative ratings and comments.

Animated instructional media for stress transformations in a Mechanics of Materials course

Two unique instructional modules—the Plane Stress Transformations Module and the Mohrs Circle for Plane Stress Module—developed for the Mechanics of Materials course are presented. Formative assessment data gathered from Mechanics of Materials students pertaining to these courseware modules are presented and discussed. General conclusions and recommendations are presented.

Using Flash animations and 3D rendering to increase the effectiveness of instructional software

Animation and three-dimensional rendering software offers exciting new capabilities that can enhance engineering instructional material. Using these software tools, instructional media can escape the static two-dimensional confines of the printed page or the classroom blackboard. This work-in-progress describes a project to develop instructional material for a Mechanics of Materials course. The paper presents examples of instructional animations, discusses software development tools used to create the animations and discusses early student reaction to the multimedia presentations.