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Soma Chak aba i and Claes F ed ikssonDe eloping Engaging Enginee ing Educa ion Resou ces Based on S uden s Lea ning and Edu-
ca o s’ Teaching S yles - 10.5821/con e ence-9788412322262.1270
doi:10.5821/con e ence-9788412322262.1270
DEVELOPING ENGAGING ENGINEERING EDUCATION
RESOURCES BASED ON STUDENTS LEARNING AND EDUCATORS’
TEACHING STYLES
S. Chak aba i 1
ANSYS, Inc.
Canonsbu g, PA, USA
0000-0002-8267-1064
C. F ed iksson
ANSYS UK LTD.
Camb idge, UK
Con e ence Key A eas: Cu iculum De elopmen , Teaching me hods
Keywo ds: eaching esou ces, enginee ing educa ion, lea ning s yles, eaching
s yles, p ojec -based lea ning
ABSTRACT
The lea ning s yles o enginee ing s uden s ha e e ol ed o e he yea s wi h he
ad en o echnology-enhanced educa ion. Educa o s ha e also changed hei
eaching s yles o inco po a e s uden -cen ic pedagogy and educa ional echnology.
While he COVID-19 pandemic p oli e a ed online eaching wo ldwide, o en o cing
educa o s o concep ualize and con e ace- o- ace eaching ma e ials o online
lea ning modules, Ansys academic endea ou s ha e also pi o ed o suppo
educa o s and digi al lea ning. This pape highligh s he Ansys Educa ion Resou ces,
aimed a helping unde g adua e ma e ials and simula ion-based design educa o s
each and inspi e s uden s. These a e also pe ec o s uden s and sel -lea ne s who
a e looking o complemen class oom con en . Mo eo e , hese help p o esso s in
assigning supplemen al homewo k o caps one p ojec s.
The esou ces, o which 80% a e openly accessed, a e ca ego ized as lec u es, case
s udies, mic o-p ojec s, exe cises, e c., and make he educa o s’ job easie in
inspi ing and engaging he s uden s’ digi al lea ning p ocess h oughou he
unde g adua e cu icula. Solu ions o exe cises and p ojec s a e es ic ed o
educa o s wi h cu en G an a EduPack p oduc licenses. In de eloping hese
esou ces, he con en de elope s conside di e en eaching and lea ning s yles
wi h special emphasis on p ojec -based lea ning and inco po a ing ques ions ha
inspi e s uden s o conside socie al impac and e hical choices. Some esou ces a e
pu posely p epa ed o discussions and deba es.
1 Co esponding Au ho
S. Chak aba i; soma.chak aba [email protected]
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The impac o hese esou ces is measu ed h ough quali a i e ques ions-answe s in
use g oup mee ings, pe iodical su eys, and quan i a i e pe o mance (such as
download numbe s) o he websi e eposi o ies.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Lea ning S yles o S uden s and Teaching S yles o P o esso s in
Enginee ing
S uden s lea n in di e se ways, depending on hei own lea ning s yles, bu also
depending on he discipline o s udy. The eache s should be adap ing o such
lea ning s yles by designing app op ia e eaching esou ces and picking up he
app op ia e s yle o ins uc a speci ic g oup o s uden s. The lea ning s yles o
enginee ing s uden s ha e o en been desc ibed as isual [1, 2, 3]; howe e , wi h he
ad en o digi al communica ion sys ems, s uden s lean on ecei ing in o ma ion ia
digi al media, wi h he abili y o in e ac ing wi h such ma e ial in di e en ways. In
unde g adua e enginee ing educa ion, howe e , li le has changed in class oom
eaching o inspi e s uden s wi h hese e ol ing lea ning p e e ences un il he
Co ona i us pandemic in 2020. Wi hin a couple o weeks, some imes e en sho e ,
uni e si ies and colleges wo ldwide had o ans e in-pe son classes o emo e
eaching, o en o li e online classes o ideo-based asynch onous lea ning. Online
lipped class ooms whe e s uden s s udied on hei own and hen joined li e online
discussions p oli e a ed. Howe e , he e o was mo e o a eac i e esponse han a
hough ul, p o-ac i e app oach.
1.2. Teaching Resou ces o Visual, In e ac i e and Digi al Lea ning
P epa ing isually a ac i e, in e ac i e, engaging eaching esou ces in digi al
o ma is no easy. Fo mo e han 10 yea s, he Educa ion Di ision o G an a Design
in he UK has been p epa ing such esou ces o help he eache s ha will inspi e
ma e ials educa ion. Since 2019, a e i s acquisi ion by Ansys, his eam expanded
and a e also engaged in p epa ing esou ces o simula ion-based design and o he
enginee ing disciplines. This pape p esen s a ew o hose examples wi h
ela ionships o how s uden s can lea n and how p o esso s can each in digi al
mode, using such esou ces, wi hou losing in e ac i i y o engagemen in a i ual o
an in-pe son class oom.
2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 Fi s , Make i Visual
I is no sec e ha a pic u e speaks a housand wo ds. When D . Mike Ashby, a
p o esso a he Uni e si y o Camb idge and co- ounde o G an a Design, L d.
s a ed wo king on such esou ces, isual appeal o enginee ing s uden s, h ough
app op ia e anima ed slides, was one o he p ima y conce ns. Resou ces we e
made whe e an educa o would simply use one slide o desc ibe a complex
phenomenon, a concep , o seed a deba e in he class oom.
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2.2 Second, Make i In e ac i e
Se s o in e ac i e lea ning esou ces we e p epa ed o s uden s in Adobe Flash,
which ha e ecen ly been changed in o in e ac i e Powe Poin slideshows ha
s uden s could easily play wi h and lea n om, and hus be inspi ed o lea n mo e.
2.3 Thi d, Make i Though -P o oking and Engaging
Today’s s uden s a e well in o med and genuinely wan o con ibu e o he
sus ainabili y o ea h and consequen ly o he 17 Sus ainable De elopmen Goals
ha he Uni ed Na ions has se o h in Agenda 2030. The esou ces ha e
embedded examples ha p o oke such con e sa ions and engage he s uden s.
2.4 Fou h, Make i a Package o Help in Teaching
We know om analy ics ha p o esso s ex ensi ely use lec u e no es, quizzes,
exe cises, mic o-p ojec s, case s udy-based p ojec s, e c., o help s uden s lea n. So,
he eam has p epa ed eaching packages exclusi ely o p o esso s, p o iding
solu ions o he exe cises, quizzes and mic op ojec s ha he s uden s canno
access. This helps new eache s and expe ienced p o esso s alike o spend less
ime in c ea ing examples and ees up mo e ime o p epa e o eaching.
3 RESULTS
3.1 Visually Engaging and In e ac i e Resou ces: An Example
Fig.1 S uden s can click a box o assess knowledge Fig. 2 The es akes o igh o w ong answe
3.2 Comple e Teaching Packages
Fig. 3 A comple e in oduc o y eaching esou ce package con ains lec u e no es, mic o-p ojec s,
concep maps and exe cises besides o he componen s.
P esen a ion slides wi h no es
Concep Maps o help s uden s unde s and
he connec ions among phase diag am e ms
Exe cises and
Solu ions
Mic o-p ojec s
and Solu ions
Quizzes and
Solu ions
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3.3 Measu e o Success: Quan i a i e
The eam measu ed he likabili y and usage o e e y esou ce on he websi e [4].
Among he un es ic ed access esou ces, isually appealing, ac i e lea ning-
inducing in og aphics had highes download o 11957 in he 2-yea pe iod examined,
ollowed by bookle s, such as Ma e ial P ope y Da a o Enginee ing Ma e ials, wi h
10460 downloads. All in e ac i e examples and ad anced indus ial case s udies
(o en used o inal o caps one p ojec s) had high download numbe s, a ound 7000-
8000, wi h he Indus ial Case S udy on Au omo i e Doo Panel ha ing he highes
amongs hose (8289).
3.4 Measu e o Success: Quali a i e
The eam held a numbe o Use s G oup Mee ings (UGMs) and su eys o know he
usage o he esou ces and ways o make hose be e . F om hese UGMs, i was
clea ha p o esso s we e keen on using he, so called, ad anced case s udies,
whe eas he s uden s p e e ed engaging, in e ac i e, colou ul documen s. In ecen
yea s, he e is an inc ease in eques s o sus ainabili y ela ed esou ces ha also
include socie al impac s om ma e ials sou cing, p oduc manu ac u ing, design,
supply chain managemen and euse o p oduc s.
4 SUMMARY AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Add essing s uden s’ lea ning s yles du ing eaching, hus adap ing o a eaching
s yle ha engages s uden s is essen ial. Today’s s uden s, especially hose who
s udy enginee ing, a e digi ally sa y and en i onmen ally and socially conscious. A
a ie y o eaching esou ces show ha add essing all o hese is possible h ough
hough ully c a ed, isually and in e ac i ely engaging and scien i ically accu a e
esou ces ha , based on he con en , can be used o eaching and lea ning.
REFERENCES
[1]
Jamali, A. and Mohamad M. (2018), Dimension o Lea ning S yle among
Enginee ing S uden s, Jou nal o Physics: Con . Se ies, 1049 012055 doi
:10.1088/1742-6596/1049/1/012055.
[2]
Felde , R. (1988), Lea ning and Teaching S yles in Enginee ing S uden s,
Enginee ing Educa ion, Vol. 78(7), pp. 674-681.
[3]
Bal aqeeh, M. (2017) Unde s anding Enginee ing S uden s’ Lea ning S yles,
In e na ional Jou nal o Linguis ics and Communica ion, Vol. 5(1), pp. 44-55.
[4]
Websi e: www.ansys.com/educa ion- esou ces, accessed 30 Ap il 2022.
