In a second simulation-oriented project, a Georgia Tech aerospace engineering professor is developing multimedia courseware for a class in basic vibration. Assistant Professor Kurt C. Gramoll is well on the way to completing five or six modules with animated visualizations of key concepts. These modules can be used to complement any textbook, he says. Three of these modules are complete and available for students to use on a computer server in the School of Aerospace Engineering. The courseware will soon be copied onto compact disks and distributed as a test case in one of the School of Aerospace Engineering's vibration classes.
Students are enthusiastic.
He is compiling individual exercises and tutorials that depict important chemical processes in graphical form. Active learners trying things and seeing the effect instead of being told what the effect is. Bertrand is basing this tool on software that he developed for optional use in a junior-level inorganic chemistry course. The experience was favorable enough that Bertrand decided to adapt the approach to the needs of freshmen. I personally think the marriage of science and engineering that would happen through this kind of endeavor would be a really important thing for our scientists and engineers.