USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES TO TEACH STRUCTURAL MECHANICS
E. PEÑA, B. CALVO, M. A. MARTÍNEZ, E. CUETO AND M. DOBLARÉ Group of Structural Mechanics and Material Modeling. Aragon Institute of Engineering Research. University of Zaragoza. María de Luna, nº 5, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail:
[email protected] Modern multimedia tools include a wide range of technologies to improve on-line education. At the University of Zaragoza, two courses in structural mechanics (Structural Mechanics and Finite Elements Methods for Structures) are given on a Digital Teaching Web (DTW) using state-of-the-art technologies, including pdf etc. Students can obtain complementary material on the internet that is not available in class or on the DTW. In order to stimulate internet searches, an important number of useful links have been included. Keen students will probably want more than what is provided in the course material. A questionnaire was given to students after participating in the courses. 82% used the web, in general found good. Web tools are becoming more important to improve teaching quality. However, they may not be enough if the number of lecture hours are decreased or eliminated.
1
Introduction
A growing number of teaching professionals use modern multimedia tools to innovate traditional lectures, making them more graphical and didactic. Widespread access to personal computers and internet has helped to create new work areas, such as the European area for higher education or environments that improve student and teacher mobility [3,4,6]. Internet can be used to reinforce on-site education with continuous training, which is essentially distance learning. Within this framework, the University of Zaragoza began to create a Digital Teaching Web [1] in 2001 where students and teachers can meet in a virtual environment. Solutions are provided in many different situations, ranging from long distance education, folders for different teaching material, evaluation tools, etc. The Digital Teaching Web (DTW) is based on the WebCT application and includes teaching tools, calendars, image and video databases, communication tools (e-mail, chat with students) and self-evaluation tools (tests, exams, homework). The Structural Mechanics Division at the University of Zaragoza provides different courses on the DTW, including Structural Mechanics and Finite Element Method for Structures. All necessary tools and documentation are included on the web and teachers and students can interact directly. The main objective is to use the DTW to teach Structural Mechanics within the curriculum of Mechanical Engineering. Software is also included to easily simulate the behavior of a wide range of simple structures. In other words, we tried to design a multimedia tool that could provide the students with a sound theoretical background and practical training (through different homework and exercises). By the end of the course students should be able to understand and interpret knowledge in different. 2
Methods
The efficiency of an on-line environment depends on the organization of contents and materials and the amount of proposed activities. First we must distinguish between the net as an information distribution system (Web-based information distribution system) or as an educational system (Web-based training). Each framework implies a different approach to develop, design and organize teaching modules [2,5]. A web-based information distribution system is usually designed around the site and not on the contents. Normally it contains a lot of information which the user must evaluate and process depending on his needs. In web based training, the structure of the multimedia contents is focused on organizing the information and learning. Usually there are also exercises and homework so the student can acquire indepth knowledge.
In our case, the on-line tool is based on the structure of the contents and less on the general structure of the web.
(a)
(b)
Figure 1. a) General view of the WebCT tool, b) contents module for a particular discipline.
The contents of the courses Structural Mechanics and Finite Element Methods for Structures are described below. 2.1
Syllabus, objectives, grading and methodology
The course syllabus, contents and objectives are in HTML. 2.2
Lectures
Following the HTML documents, students can access the lecture notes of the different topics. The notes are based on the Microsoft PowerPoint system and can be used to follow the classes or as a guide where the most important concepts of each lecture are described.
Figure 2. Lecture notes in PDF format.
2.3
Laboratory classes
Students can access laboratory questionnaires via the HTML documents. A brief description is included of each essay to be developed by the students, as well as input files for computer-based classes in Portable Document Format (Adobe PDF, see Figure 3). Students can also download three different textbooks, written by members of the Structural Mechanics Division of the University of Zaragoza. The books are also in PDF format, easy to handle and print, and can be distributed freely. They cover the fundamental aspects of the course. The first book includes classic methods used in Structural Mechanics, the second considers the matrix calculus of structures and the third book is on the Finite Element method. 2.4
Self-evaluation material
Self-evaluation material includes solved problems, as web as suggested exercises and free software to help the students carry out their work. WebCT also has a test module (see Figure 3.b). This module can guide the student on-line by indicating the correct answers to a given number of questions. The teacher can also follow up on the students and their number of correct answers. Several software programs have been included in this module, which allows the student to solve an important number of exercises that can help to understand the course.
Figure 3. (a) Laboratory assignments, (b) self-evaluation module.
2.5
Visual learning
In addition to the above, it is very important to provide students with photographs and videos about the most frequent structural typology, constructive details, structural failures, etc. The images can be used to test whether the students can identifying, evaluate and discriminate different situations or typologies. Image and video galleries can be also included in the grading module. This is a very important advantage of the multimedia environment of the web-based tutorial, which is nearly impossible in traditional classes.
3
Results
After one year of using the Digital Teaching Web, a number of professors involved in teaching the courses decided to evaluate the results. All the students were given a questionnaire, which is also a good way to improve teaching quality and adaptation of the students to understand the topics covered in the course. The questionnaire was anonymous and filled out at the end of each course. It had three sections, the first concerning frequency of use, quality of contents and personal opinions. We received 246 completed forms among the 309 students registered for the two courses. Approximately 18% of the students never used the DTW, 27% only used it once and 55% of the students used it at least once a month. Of the students who never used the web, 96% lacked internet access at home. Many students at the University of Zaragoza live in rented apartments without internet access. The remaining 4% had problems or no broad band access. Only 10% of the students used computers from the Engineering school. The most frequent reason to access the DTW was for laboratory notes (72% of the students). About 30% of the students used it to find lecture notes, 16% for solved problems and only 1% for on-line tutorials. Most students accessed more than one type of information (54%), while 31% never used the free software to prepare for exams. Of the students that used free software, 45% used it to prepare lab classes, while 16% used it for self-evaluation. Finally, 82% of the students had a positive experience with the DTW and would like to see more courses offered in this way in the future and more contents. Solutions to exams and exercises were among the most frequently requested improvements of the contents module. On the contrary, only 16% of the students thought that this tool would be enough to follow the course if the relative weight of the lecture classes was decreased. 4
Discussion
The use of the Digital Teaching Web in the last academic year is possibly not enough to reach definite conclusions but it is a good start to promote the routine use of the internet as an instrument in university education. Students can also obtain complementary material on the internet that is not available in class or on the DTW. In order to stimulate internet searches, an important number of useful links have been included. Keen students will probably want more than what is provided in the course material. On the internet, students may find simulations of reality in a board sense, where they make sense of those topics covered by the lectures. In general the students accepted the DTW quite well since it was used by 82% of them. Students who never accessed the DTW blamed it on poor internet access. Most of the students, however, we increasingly interested in self-taught knowledge and a growing relative importance of lab classes and practical applications of the topics covered. From the professor’s viewpoint, the development of the web courses encouraged us to update our knowledge and improve our teaching skills. Some expertise in information and communications technologies is also required in order to promote self-taught training. Web tools are becoming more important to improve teaching quality. However, they may not be enough if the number of lecture hours are decreased or eliminated. 5
Acknowledgements
Financial support from the University of Zaragoza to develop of the Digital Docent Web of the courses Structural Mechanics and Finite elements for Structures is gratefully acknowledged.
References 1. Anillo Digital Docente de la Universidad de Zaragoza (Digital Docent Web of the University of Zaragoza). In Spanish. Available at http://add.unizar.es. 2. Cabero J., Diseño y Evaluación de un Material Multimedia y Telemático para la Formación y Pefeccionamiento del Profesorado Universitario Para la Utilización de las Nuevas Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Docencia. Informe de la Secretaria de Educación y Universidades 3. Dunkin M., International Encyclopedia of Teaching and Teacher Education.(Ed). Oxford, Pergamon Press (1987). 4. Fisher M., Integrating information technology: competency recommendations by teacjers for techers training. J. Information Technology for Teacher 5 (1996) pp. 233–238. 5. Hoffman B, What drives successful technology planning?. J. Information Technology for Teacher 5 (1996) pp. 1–2. 6. Morgan Ch and O´Really M. Assesing open and distance learners. London, Kogan Page (1999).
