Violin Sounds and Experimental Setting for Teaching Advanced Calculus in a Developing Country

摘要

This paper describes a novel approach for teaching certain topics of Advanced Calculus to mechanical engineering students. The project was devised to cope with the lack of enthusiasm and engagement which usually resulted in very low performance at the end of the course. The idea was to introduce experimental analysis of sounds generated by a string musical instrument, so that the students had the opportunity to visualize what the solutions of partial differential equations predicted. A low-cost spectrum analyzer was built by programing an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) board. Computer simulation was also included. Finally, a graduate student who is a concert violinist was invited to collaborate on the project. After two years of having started this approach, several positive results have appeared. Students have not only improved their performance, but have also managed to understand the importance of the concepts taught in this course. Furthermore, some students show empathy towards classical music, which they had never heard before.