The Understated Value Of Freehand Sketching In Technology Education

Lane, Diarmaid; Seery, Niall; Gordon, Seamus

doi:10.18260/1-2--5855

Cited by 6 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Creative problem solving can especially benefit from sketching, as it allows for deeper thinking for solutions than if mental work is solely performed. 17…”

Section: Attributes Of Freehand Sketchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving students’ freehand sketching skills in mechanical engineering curriculum

Uziak

Fang

2017

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

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Freehand sketching is a fundamental skill in mechanical engineering and many other engineering disciplines. It not only serves as a communication tool among engineers, but plays a critical role in engineering design and problem solving. However, as computer-aided drafting has replaced traditional drawing classes nowadays, the training of students' freehand sketching skills has been almost completely eliminated in modern engineering curricula. This paper describes the attributes of freehand sketching and its roles in several essential aspects of engineering; in particular, in its roles in problem solving, of which current literature has ignored. Representative examples are provided to show students' freehand sketching skills in problem solving in a foundational undergraduate mechanical engineering course. Pedagogical suggestions are made on how to teach freehand sketching to engineering students.

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“…Creative problem solving can especially benefit from sketching, as it allows for deeper thinking for solutions than if mental work is solely performed. 17…”

Section: Attributes Of Freehand Sketchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving students’ freehand sketching skills in mechanical engineering curriculum

Uziak

Fang

2017

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

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“…Several major textbook publishers provide commercial online grading systems for statics problems; these include Mastering Engineering, WileyPlus, and McGraw-Hill Connect. However, they typically evaluate based on the final answer of a problem, with limited or no support for diagrams and the algebraic comparisons in some problems [18,53], but these aspects are an important part of the learning process [28]. On the other hand, some systems may support diagrams, but do not typically involve numbers.…”

Section: Existing Statics Grading Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Intelligent System to Analyze Sketched Solutions to Open-Ended Truss Problems

Runyon

Polsley

Williford

et al. 2021

26th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces

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Engineering students need practical, open-ended problems to help them build their problem-solving skills and design abilities. However, large class sizes create a grading challenge for instructors as there is simply not enough time nor support to provide adequate feedback on many design problems. In this work, we describe an intelligent user interface to provide automated real-time feedback on hand-drawn free body diagrams that is capable of analyzing the internal forces of a sketched truss to evaluate open-ended design problems. The system is driven by sketch recognition algorithms developed for recognizing trusses and a robust linear algebra approach for analyzing trusses. Students in an introductory statics course were assigned a truss design problem as a homework assignment using either paper or our software. We used conventional content analysis on four focus groups totaling 16 students to identify key aspects of their experiences with the design problem and our software. We found that the software correctly analyzed all student submissions, students enjoyed the problem compared to typical homework assignments, and students found the problem to be good practice. Additionally, students using our software reported less difficulty understanding the problem, and the majority of all students said they would prefer the software approach over pencil and paper. We also evaluated the recognition performance on a set of 3000 sketches resulting in an f-score of 0.997. We manually reviewed the submitted student work which showed the handful of student complaints about recognition were largely due to user error.

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“…Refined curriculum in technology education throughout the world has incorporated a design element that is becoming increasingly recognised for developing intellectual skills in students [5] . As design is a demanding and complex problem solving activity of great economic and social importance, sketching has an integral part to play [6] and a defined pedagogic approach is important to ensure the required abilities are nurtured [1] .…”

Section: Teaching and Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The purpose of this study was to further develop and investigate the effectiveness of an intervention strategy which aims to determine how freehand drawing can be applied as a multi-purpose autonomous learning tool in technology subjects in the Irish education system [1] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was also evident that the holistic value of learning to sketch using a defined process was far greater than the completed composition. Increased levels of enquiry, recognition of patterns and synthesis between unrelated elements in compositions provided an indicator that there is an underlying cognitive value to this activity which requires further investigation [1] In order to further develop this previous research, the intervention strategy will now be analysed in terms of developing a pedagogy that will facilitate class sizes up to thirty participants and incorporate the paradigm of "diminished return". In addition to this the transferability of freehand drawing as a critical tool in developing concept driven competencies as well as solving problems in plane and descriptive geometry will be explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Freehand Sketching As A Catalyst For Developing Concept Driven Competencies

Lane¹,

Seery²

2010 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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At a time when concept driven competencies are perceived to be critical in redefining effective technological education, the introduction of Design and Communication Graphics at senior cycle in Irish high schools has broad implications. Students now have the potential to explore applied geometries, integrated with conceptual thinking in addition to developing essential communication skills. As a result, freehand sketching has become an integral facet of all technological subjects. Action research currently being carried out at the University of Limerick aims to identify a sustainable intervention strategy for the development of concept driven competencies in students of technological education. Core to this is the development of student's ability to freehand sketch what is both perceived and conceptualised. This paper presents findings of an intervention strategy carried out with a cohort of 124 pre-service teachers of technology education. The study develops participant's ability to engage in higher order symphonic cognition as well as the harmonisation of fundamental communication skills through the medium of freehand sketching.The approach for the research followed a five phase intervention strategy. An initial pre-instruction covariant exercise was used to measure participants overall communication ability together with their capacity to engage in higher order thinking. Stage one, two and three developed the aptitudes of recognition, enquiry and synthesis through the use of both regular and non-regular geometry embedded in dual purpose activities. Stage four, moving towards conceptualisation, employed a comparative photographic composition as a measure of students previously perceived composition. The final stage centred on an organic composition derived by the students that outlined their ability not only to communicate but also present symphonic aptitudes.The key findings for this paper are significant in terms of developing a sustainable strategy for teaching freehand sketching in Irish high schools. Instantaneous improvement resulted in participants developing an intrinsic motivation to develop their skills and engage in the activities as autonomous learners. An innovative pedagogical strategy was applied. This facilitated a cohort of thirty participants and incorporated Pareto's Law and the 80/20 Principle. The concept of realising and developing personal styles in the communication of compositions was a novel finding of the research. Relationships between metacognition and sketching competencies are discussed with implications for the exploration and development of complex solutions in plane and descriptive geometry.The paper concludes by highlighting the value of freehand sketching in developing symphonic design capabilities, the implications of this skill in terms of transferability and access of the physical symbol system present in the cognitive architecture.

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The Understated Value Of Freehand Sketching In Technology Education

Abstract: He is currently responsible for teaching Design and Communication Graphics to trainee teachers of Engineering Education. His special interests include freehand technical sketching and pedagogical approaches in Engineering Graphics Education.

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Improving students’ freehand sketching skills in mechanical engineering curriculum

Improving students’ freehand sketching skills in mechanical engineering curriculum

An Intelligent System to Analyze Sketched Solutions to Open-Ended Truss Problems

Freehand Sketching As A Catalyst For Developing Concept Driven Competencies

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