Global Congress on Engineering Education
1998UICEE
Cracow, Poland, 6-11 September, 1998
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES GAINED IN TEACHING
ENGINEERING GRAPHICS IN TWO COUNTRIES
Ruza Ostrgonac-Seserko,* Erol Inelmen**
The University of Western Australia, Australia,*
Bogazici University, Bebek Ýstanbul Turkey**
ABSTRACT: In the last ten years, computer technology has significantly changed the (way we teach(ing of)
Engineering Graphics. Developed countries, especially English-speaking countries, were the first to abolish traditional
courses like Descriptive Geometry and Technical Drafting. In many cases, Computer Aided Drafting and Design has
been introduced to replace the contents of older programs. Many other countries are following the same idea, which
resulted in big differences in curriculum within schools around the world. To illustrate the above statements, this paper
will present the experience gained in teaching Engineering Graphics in two different schools, from two different parts
of the world: Australia and Turkey.
INTRODUCTION
Most engineering faculties in Australia, including civil, mechanical, materials and environmental, have a common first
year program. Consequently, they all offer a similar Engineering Graphics course. In most schools, these courses
comprise of freehand drawing, manual drafting and computer graphics. In their second year, when students have chosen
their respective streams- or a particular engineering course-, they learn manual or computer aided design in accordance
to the requirements of their particular disciplines.
Similarly in Turkey, all engineering students are offered the same one semester Technical Drawing course, -()which has
recently been enhanced by including computer applications. Since there is insufficient time, many of the classical
graphics topics such as freehand sketching, auxiliary drawing and development, has been omitted. As suggested by the
accreditation, board who is currently reviewing the engineering curriculum, greater emphasis is being given to develop
design skills by assigning each student with a unique semester project.
ENGINEERING GRAPHICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
First year of the engineering course at the University of Western Australia is common for civil, mechanical, materials
and environmental students. Engineering Drawing module is a part of the two semester unit Project Engineering 115
(PE115). PE115 is supposed to be an introduction to the engineering profession as a whole, for the first year students. It
comprises of Lectures, Practical Project Works, Engineering Drawing, and a Written and Oral Communication module.
Lectures are given by professionals from four engineering disciplines: civil, mechanical, materials and environmental.
Speakers describe their professional life and present some interesting projects they have done in their practice. They also
compare the knowledge they have gained at university with the industry requirements.
Practical Project Works. During the year, students are required to produce four projects for each of the four mentioned
departments. One project is of a five-week duration.
One of the civil projects, for example was a bridge design. Students were introduced to the basic principles of bridge
design and had to design their own bridge, produce drawings, and build a model of it. Once completed, the model was
tested to validate the design parameters.
In the mechanical department students were making World Wide Web lego robot project. They had to design and
construct a robot, which was able to draw posters in A3 format paper.
The Material Department’s project was recycling. For example by taking the milk crate, the students investigated the
recycling process and produced test specimen with both the original material and recycled material. They conducted
material testing to determine the characteristics of both test specimens.
An example of the environmental project was designing a recreational bay-beach. The students investigated the ways of
redesigning a beach to cater for all potential users such as surfers, volleyball players, and ironmen, for both the elderly
and the young. They had to apply their knowledge of wave and sand formation, keep to the budget, and be
environmentally sustainable.
Doing these projects, enable students to gain a better insight in each discipline. At the same time, they have to apply the
knowledge they have gained in Freehand Drawing and Written/Oral Communication module to the projects, as
discussed.
Written/Oral Communication module comprises of an hour tutorial per week during two semesters on the use of
English (how to write technical reports, memos, essays, resumes and to give oral presentations).
ENGINEERING DRAWING
Freehand drawing module, at present, comprises of an hour lectures and three-hour tutorials each week (during the first
semester). Tutorials involve three areas: freehand sketching, manual drafting with the drawing machine, and computer
graphics-AutoCAD. Students are prepared to be literate in all three areas to be able to use freehand drawing skills to
create design sketches, to draw manually their creation in scale, and to put their final ideas on the computer.
This course offers information about:
- Basic knowledge from descriptive geometry as a tool to create accurate freehand sketches according to the rules of
projection;
- International and Australian standards for producing technical documentation;
- Elements from other related disciplines such as architectural graphics, technical illustration, diagrams, and artistic
drawings;
- Computer graphics - AutoCAD 14.
There is no final exam. It is replaced with the weekly assessments. Peer assessment also takes an important role in the
marking system.
Engineering Drawing module gives general knowledge to all first year students about visual way of communication in
engineering profession. In second year, when students choose their respective discipline they have further opportunity to
specialise in this area. For example, mechanical students have the chance in second year, in the units Design and
Manufacture and Mechanical Design, to learn 3D aspects of AutoCAD and solid modeling.