Elementary and High School Students Building Virtual Bridges to Engineering Heights with Computer Aided Design

摘要

This paper describes a work in progress. Direct coordination with school officials has authorized the use of a computer-aided design (CAD) software package originally developed as a vehicle for outreach to primary and secondary school students. This application research examines the successful initial implementation at the High School level and provides a status report on outreach efforts to fifth grade students enrolled in a program for gifted students. Although originally scheduled for completion in December, 2003, final implementation of this program will be realized in May, 2004. The students enrolled in this research effort will employ a CAD program designed to accomplish the following: Stimulate interest in engineering and design. Provide the user with an opportunity to perform a legitimate structural design, based on a realistic set of design specifications and constraints. Provide participants with an opportunity to use the computer as a problem-solving tool. These students pursue a relatively simple objective: create and optimize bridge designs in seven categories featuring a variety of bridge spans and configurations. This paper provides an overview of this initiative to these High School and Grade School students.