NDLI: Using MATLAB to Enhance Engineering Students’ Analytical Problem-Solving Skills

Content Provider	The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection
Author	Cai, Liang-Wu
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	Symbolic analysis is one of the most feared tasks for many undergraduate students in engineering disciplines. Students argue that, without numerical values, it is difficult to make a sense out of a long expression. Instructors have experienced that students are diffident in such analyses; and they quickly lose interest in the topic. This trend has been enhanced with more prevalent use of computers in engineering curricula in recent years. In the senior level Mechanical Vibrations course, this author has experimented with an innovative procedure of using mathematical software such as MATLAB to enhance the students’ learning experience with extensive symbolic calculations. In this experiment, MATLAB is used as a rudimentary plotting device that allows students to plot curves. The procedure provides students a systematical approach to produce parametric plots from an analytical expression, and to validate the expression on physical grounds. This innovative procedure has changed students’ perception about long expressions, decreased their fear, and boosted their confidence in their analytical skills. All these help student to develop a more positive altitude towards symbolic analyses.
Starting Page	503
Ending Page	512
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISBN	0791843017
DOI	10.1115/IMECE2007-43020
e-ISBN	0791838129
Volume Number	Volume 7: Engineering Education and Professional Development
Conference Proceedings	ASME 2007 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
Language	English
Publisher Date	2007-11-11
Publisher Place	Seattle, Washington, USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Undergraduate students Vibration Students Computer software Engineering disciplines Engineering students Matlab Computers and information in engineering
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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