An Interactive Textbook for Introductory Engineering Design

Abstract

Touchscreen computers hold great promise as educational tools. Many universities, high schools and elementary schools are working to create curricula that exploit these devices. An important part of this work is the development of textbooks that move away from the static display of words and figures to include interactive components such as videos and interactive simulations. We present such an interactive textbook, developed for an undergraduate course in mechanical engineering. We describe the course for which it was developed and the interactive components of the book. Student evaluations of the textbook are presented and discussed. Finally, we offer suggestions for additional steps that can improve interactive textbooks for use on tablet computers.

Interactive Textbook and Its Didactic Use in Obtaining and Processing Geographical Information

“…(Mázorová, 2010). Research also points to improved learning outcomes (Donnell et al, 2014) and increased student motivation (Stelzer et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2010).…”