Instructor Information

The software and exercises included in Visual Mechanics have grown out of work performed at the University of Washingon under the auspices of the NSF-sponsored ECSEL coalition, with the goal of enhancing the learning experience of engineering undergraduates.

Why use the materials?

There is always a certain amount of controversy attached to the use of computer-based analysis tools in fundamental courses. Suffice it to say that we are well aware of the normal list of concerns that arise in this context, and in fact these programs have been developed specifically with these issues in mind. The programs have been developed and tested to address particular learning objectives and learning styles, and to play particular roles in the overall instruction of Mechanics of Materials. Some of the relevant features of the software and exercises in this regard can be summarized as follows:

• Simple interfaces: The basics of Dr. Stress and Dr. Beam can be learned in minutes, and students can begin doing useful work almost immediately.
• Comprehensive modeling: Despite their initial simplicity, the tools also support quite sophisticated applications, and can be used in professional and graduate-level contexts as well as in introductory contexts.
• Direct manipulation/quasi-realtime visualization: The hands-on nature of the programs' functioning makes phenomena and behavior much more transparent and accessible than other modes of analysis. The direct link between user action and model response allows the user to gain an intuitive "feel" for the behavior of the systems in question. It also impresses on students the sequential, time-based aspect of system behavior, even in quasi-static contexts.
• Designed for conceptual as well as numerical investigation: In their original incarnation, these programs provided no numerical feedback. Although they now provide full numerical capablities, they still retain a strong visually-focused flavor. This offers a powerful illustration mechanism to help master the symbolic and abstract framework underlying fundamental theories.
• Support for design exercises: The ability to treat realistic and interesting configurations creates good opportunity for incorporating aspects of design in fundamental courses. This also makes it possible to introduce the limitations of simple analysis in concrete contexts.
• Encourages student-directed investigation: The ease of entry coupled with the generality of the available modeling encourages students to take their own lead in posing and answering questions and pursuing their own objectives.
• Supporting infrastructure: Simply putting students in front of a computer program without any kind of contextual framework accomplishes little, even with well-designed programs. It is essential to provide them with guidance and activities designed to lead them along useful paths. The course instructor and the textbook obviously take the lead in this regard -- the worksheets and touchpoints provided as part of this product are intended to provide starting points and linkages to those aspects of the course topics that are well-suited to study using the included programs. They are not simply textbook examples solved using the computer.

When and how might the materials be used?

There are many ways in which the materials can be incorporated into a class, and there is no reason to try to be proscriptive. Rather, the following are suggestions that come from experiences that have turned out to be successful:

• Classroom demonstration: These programs are very useful in lecture contexts provided one has a suitable projection system.
• Groups: One effective way to have students use the worksheets and touchpoints is in groups of 2-4 with a single, shared computer.
• Before and after: Students can investigate phenomena both before and after formal instruction in theory and analysis. This can be useful for both increased motivation and deepened understanding.
• Design exercises: As mentioned above, realistic and interesting design and modeling exercises work well.
• Practice: Exercises in which students generate qualitative/quantitative results by hand, and then verify their results with Dr. Beam can be very useful.
• Virtual & real: Physical labs and demonstrations in parallel with analysis can work well, even using very unsophisticated, lightweight apparati, such as plastic beams, rubber tubes, and chalk.

General Comments

The worksheets and touchpoints have been structured to encourage an investigative mode of thinking, and so they are all based around questions. The abstracts listing provides a quick reference to the questions themselves and the associated concepts included. The worksheets are intended to serve as standalone introductions and overviews of the indicated beam topics, while the touchpoints are more ad hoc in nature, being more reliant on the textbook contexts to which they are linked.

Reference

[1] G.R. Miller and S.C. Cooper, "Something Old, Something New: A Multifaceted Approach to the Teaching of Engineering Mechanics", ASEE Journal of Engineering Education, 84(2), 1995, 105-115.