A Modified Case Study: Using Multimedia Courseware To Teach Modular Fixturing

摘要

Modular fixturing is an important concept in tooling design and applications courses in the Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) and Industrial Technology (IT) curriculum. Traditionally, a lecture is given on the topic using computer slides, videos, CAD graphics of the tooling elements along with physical components to pass around, and/or catalogs to inspect. If the time is available, a tour of local manufacturing operations which utilize tooling applications of interest may be observed. The wide variety of tooling and fixtures are difficult to cover within a single quarter (or semester), especially if consideration of related topics on gaging, cutting tools, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing are included. The need for interactive teaching tools for discreet technical fields such as modular fixturing in tool design applications is indicated and as a result, ToolTRAIN was introduced as a solution to this problem. This paper illustrates the outcomes of a research project in integration of multimedia courseware in modular fixturing concepts, in which the traditional lecture on this topic was replaced by a multimedia courseware. ToolTRAIN software was used in the area of MET and IT courses at Western Washington University, South Dakota State University and Millersville University to determine if this was a more useful learning experience for MET and IT students.