Interactive Toolkit for Engineering Education
Georgia Tech has received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and test new interactive tools for engineering learning. The InTEL: Interactive Toolkit for Engineering Learning project employs computer-based models to connect abstract problems with multiple real world applications.
The Intel Project
“The InTEL project aims to change the teaching of statics, the first class most engineering students take, which traditionally uses abstract exercises,” said Mechanical Engineering’s Dr. Christine Valle, one of the key investigators on the project. “The InTEL team develops computer simulations that showcase engineering’s multiple real world, beneficial applications as they relate to statics. Those computer simulations use cutting-edge digital technology to provide both the scaffolding of model-based reasoning (essential in statics) and the contextualization of abstract problems (essential in showcasing engineering’s beneficial, every-day contributions to society).”
Statics is a foundational engineering course based on model-based reasoning for problem solving that lays the basis for later coursework by teaching students to “think like an engineer.” According to Valle, difficulty in model-building can cause a lack of confidence and a diminished sense of individual ability. “Research documents that women and underrepresented minorities are attracted to engineering when they can see ‘its specific and tangible contributions to society and in bettering local communities, our nation, and the world’,” said Valle.
Real World Application
Researchers have found that women and minorities, and students generally, are more likely to do well in the statics course when the problems are placed in the contest of real world usefulness. “We have had our students look at the weight load that the levees in New Orleans can handle as one example of a real-world problem,” explained Dr. Larry Jacobs, College of Engineering associate dean for academic affairs and graduate studies.
The hope of the InTEL project is to benefit all engineering students while helping to promote diversity in engineering education. For more information: www.intel.gatech.edu
>>Engineers are creative problem-solvers.
