Interactive Use of Mathematical Software In Teaching Structures Courses

摘要

Computer software are indispensable tools for teaching structures courses. They can be used to perform complicated mathematical operations, accurately, within a reasonable time. Thus leaving enough time to be spent on visualization and understanding the basics of structural behavior, without getting entangled in numeric computation. However, the functioning steps of many analysis and design software on the market are concealed from the end user. They work as a black box, receiving input data to produce some fancy output in a mysterious way. It is totally left to the user to interpret the output and to exercise one's professional judgment to verify if the output makes sense. This procedure is acceptable in professional practice, but it cannot be utilized for teaching purpose. Interactive use of mathematical software seems to be a better alternative. This paper presents the implementation of MathCad in teaching a structures course in the College of Applied Science.