Exploring / Creating Multimedia for
Engineering Education
 Buff Furman, MAE
 Ping Hsu, EE
 Kurt McMullin, CE
 Nikos J. Mourtos, MAE
LP and ITL Fellowship “Champions” Symposium
April 23, 1998
Exploring Multimedia in Engineering Education :
Planning Phase
Research available
courseware
Evaluate existing
Multimedia
Create necessary
infrastructure in the
COE
Exploring Multimedia :
Criteria for Evaluation
Cost ?
Availability (license
required) ?
Hardware required ?
Download speed ?
Attractiveness ?
Navigation ?
Interaction w. learner ?
Graphics ? Sound ?
Animation ?
Value added ?
Buff Furman
Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering
San Jose State University
Activities This Semester
 Portable
 Search
multimedia cart
for web-based courseware
 Evaluation
 ME
of courseware
Resources web-page
Portable Multimedia Cart

Self-contained, mobile multimedia unit
• Any classroom, any time

Composition (for $12k):
• Laptop computer
– CD ROM and Ethernet PCMCIA card
•
•
•
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Document camera
VCR
LCD projector
Mobile cart
Search for web-based courseware

Mostly lower division, core courses in ME
• Statics, etc.

Some courses are making use of the web
• Course information (syllabus, etc.)
•  Discussion groups

Mostly on-line “textbooks” or digitized lecture
notes
• Lots of text and equations, with some color and graphics
• Little if any interactivity
• Problem sets, sometimes with solutions
– Ex. Univ. Wisconsin, Stout: Physics 372-325-01
Search for web-based courseware, cont.

Notable exceptions:
• Johns Hopkins University
– 520.214 Signals and Systems, Wilson J. Rugh
• Web Lecture: Continuous-Time LTI Systems and
Convolution
– Multimedia
– Interactive
• Stanford University
– ME 217 Design for Manufacturability, Kos Ishii
• SITN’s Stanford On-Line
– Video/Audio/Lecture notes of selected courses
Search for web-based courseware, cont.

Sites visited (partial list):
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
–
–
–
–
–
GE 103 Engineering Graphics and Design
Physics 101
Physics 140
ECE 311
GE 222
• University of Wisconsin, Stout
– Physics 372-325-01
• MIT
– 2.007 Design and Manufacturing I
– 2.670 Mechanical Engineering Tools
Search for web-based courseware, cont.

Sites visited (partial list), cont.:
• University of Washington
• Johns Hopkins University
• Stanford University
Search for web-based courseware, cont.

Other Resources Investigated
•
•
•
•
NEEDS Database
SUCCEED Coalition June ‘97 CD
ECSEL Coalition
Apple Computer’s Educational Object
Economy project
• Applied Aerodynamics by Ilan Kroo
Evaluation of courseware

Criteria
• Look and Feel
– Attractive, interesting, conveys useful information?
• Navigation
– Easy to get around, can you tell where you are?
• Multimedia
– Use of multiple forms of media, e.g., text, graphics, audio, video?
• Interactivity
– Can I actively take part in the learning?
• Information
• Facilitation means
ME Resources Web Page

Web page for Mechanical Engineering
Resources
Ping Hsu
Department of Electrical
Engineering
San Jose State University
Activities This Semester

Took an on-line course offered by
Vanderbilt Univ.

Generated a list of Electrical
Engineering course Websites.

Will take an on-line course on “How to
manage a Web conferencing system.”
Electrical Engineering Websites
Area
Digital Systems
Automatic Control
Computer Aided Design
Semiconductor Devices
Circuits
Digital Signal Processing
Communications
Electro-magnetic Wave
General Info.
No. of Sites
9
5
2
5
11
2
2
2
12
Example of Sites Visited

CSU Sacramento:
Circuits Analysis

Cal Poly Pomona:
Circuits Analysis

John Hopkins Univ: Signals and
Systems
Where is this all leading?
Media Use for Maximum
Effectiveness
Traditional
Lecture
Office
Hour
Visual
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Audio
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Text
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Teacherstudent
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Text
Book
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Video
Tape
CD
Web
Sites
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Studentsstudent
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Resources
Course
Adm.
Distance
Learning
Web
Conf
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Kurt McMullin
Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
San Jose State University
Objectives of Multimedia Project
Learn more about Multimedia use for
education.
 Develop a database for Internet sites for
different Civil Engineering applications.
 Evaluate sites for application in our
curriculum, and identify areas which
seem underdeveloped.

Personal Knowledge of MMedia


Starting from zero
knowledge, I have
increased to
neophyte.
Have recognized
several ways that
this technology can
be used in
instruction.
Personal Knowledge
Have attended several of the
instructional seminars here on campus.
 Have explored much more of the web
than before.
 Have started using simple items, (mass
Emailings, online presentations) in my
classes this semester.

Database of Websites


Developed an Excel
Database for
various sites that
are related to Civil
Engineering.
Divided websites
into the various
categories of
subjects in the
department.

Distributed the
database to the
other faculty of the
department for their
knowledge.
Evaluation of Websites


I looked at the sites
that are related to
my areas of
teaching.
Available sites are
limited, covering
mostly the Green
Sheet, course
outline and such.
Evaluation (Continued)
I also had a Freshman student take time
and evaluate various sites.
 She wrote evaluations of courses that
were applicable to her level of study
(Intro to Chem, Phys, Math, etc.) along
with evaluations of lower division
engineering courses.

Evaluations (continued)


She found that
engineering sites
were very limited in
scope or depth.
She found much
more work had been
done by groups in
the preparatory
courses.
Creating Multimedia for Engineering
Education
Develop web pages for 4
engr. Courses
Create a library of video
demos for each course
Assess technologyinduced learning
enhancements
Faculty development :
seminars + coaching