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Session 2793

Teaching Qualitative Material with Interactive Feedback Learning Modules Emma Shepherdson, Jerome J. Connor Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract

The teaching of qualitative and quantitative material simultaneously to structural engineering undergraduates has not been successful. An appropriate strategy for resolving this problem would appear to be the use of multimedia for presenting information and communicating to students. This approach allows for individual interaction for the students, interesting and informative manners for instruction, and a better opportunity for assessment.

Many educators, however, feel that the current so-called “interactive” computer learning software for teaching material with “strong qualitative content” has not achieved true interactivity and adaptability. A necessary pedagogical ingredient for an effective learning environment is informative feedback. The inherent properties of qualitative material include abstract ideas and large variability, which are difficult to cater to with multimedia, particularly when providing the desired feedback.

Endeavoring to overcome these problems, this paper proposes a different approach for educating engineers interactively with qualitative content. The approach employs a well-structured and guided environment, and encourages informative and continual feedback. These ideas are implemented through a developed module within the teaching context of Structural Behavior. This paper also presents the important design issues to consider for efficient production of this interactive a learning experience.

1. Introduction

Structural Engineering is a discipline concerned with the design of buildings, bridges, and other types of structures whose primary function is to carry loadings. Like all engineering disciplines, it requires a balance of skills; mixing art and science. Strong analytical capabilities are essential, but so is a good intuitive sense of how structures behave. These skills are becoming particularly more crucial with the increasing use of computers that is now occurring in professional practice. Major problems are created if the engineer does not interact appropriately with a structure’s computer model to ensure that the structure will perform as desired. It is essential for the designer to go beyond the analytical results to understand the structural behavior and its implications.

Practicing engineers and academics all recognize that the design process is not just a matter of numerical calculations to arrive at a set of minimum dimensions. The process is much richer, requiring an ability to tease out the fundamental problem, understand its implications, prepare solution schemes, assess the most appropriate scheme, and only then carry out a full analysis or number crunching. To accomplish all of these steps acceptably, again a solid understanding of

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Connor, J. J., & Shepherdson, E. (2000, June), Teaching Qualitative Material With Interactive Feedback Learning Modules Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8758