A case study in the use of Internet-based tutorials and a managed learning environment in support of the teaching and learning of CAD/CAM

摘要

This case study provides an account and observations, over a two-year period, of the development and use of internet-based teaching resources and a managed learning environment. They were used to enhance the teaching and learning of computer-aided design and manufacturing applications in support of engineering undergraduate courses at the University of Hertfordshire. The internet-based learning resources were developed and supplied by the vendor of the computer-aided engineering application, namely SDRC-Ideas_(~R). Such learning resources are commercially used as a critical part of the company's method of training users in the computer-aided engineering application. They provide detailed instructions for use in the design of 3-Dimensional engineering part-models. The user is guided through part-model creation, the analysis of the structural integrity of these part-models and subsequent specify, the methods and operations required to manufacture such part-models. These internet-based tutorials are amply illustrated and very well detailed, providing useful explanation which enables the user to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of computer-aided design, analysis and manufacture. Additional internet-based learning resources, in the form of self-assessment tutorials, were developed by the author to enable the students to gauge their understanding at staged points through the tutorial and laboratory sessions.