This research explored emergent trends in technical/engineering graphics education as prior research suggested that changes had occurred in the instructional topics and practices of the field. Prior research also showed that instructors wondered if the same topics were taught by graphics professionals as a part of their curriculum at other institutions. The areas researched in this study were: course offerings, student populations, professional development, technical/engineering graphics education, and future research. The study sample of fifty-six (N=56) graphics education instructors was selected from Engineering Design Graphics Division (EDGD) members that were listed in the 2007-2008 membership directory, provided a valid email address to American Society for Engineering Educators (ASEE), had achieved at least a Bachelorâs degree, and taught at least one graphics course a year. The EDGD members were contacted via email and responses were collected by an online survey instrument. Overall, the results were checked for invalid responses, compiled, and then compared to the results of previous research from 1998 and 2004. The results of this study showed a decline in the instruction of: GD&T, manual instruments, 2-D CAD, 3-D modeling, and CAM. The results indicated no change in 3-D constraint-based modeling instruction, but an increase in the instruction of animation. A decline in female students enrolled in technical/engineering graphics courses was also reported; however, an increase was reported in ethic minority students enrolled in the same courses. The results indicated a decline in the number of educational institutions that offered technical/engineering graphics as a major degree, but an increase in institutions that offered a minor in the same field. Furthermore, the results indicated that as time progressed and technology advanced, the topics taught within technical/engineering graphics courses shifted from traditional topics and to new emergent topics. Common concerns of respondents were difficulties remaining up-to-date with changes within the field and the preparedness of incoming students to the field. Possible future trends identified in this study were all software related and included: an increased emphasis on 3-D CAD, the increased instruction of animation, and a migration to online and distance education from traditional classroom instruction. The field of technical/engineering graphics education appeared to be strong and had adapted to industrial advancements and curriculum changes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-03242009-174715 |
| Date | 13 April 2009 |
| Creators | Downs, Brian |
| Contributors | Terri E. Varnado, Alice Y. Scales, Aaron C. Clark |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03242009-174715/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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