Targeted Infusion Project: Building a Learner-centered Cyberlearning Environment in Computer-Aided Design Education

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The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. Prairie View A & M University will implement a project entitled: Building a Learner-centered Cyberlearning Environment in Computer-Aided Design Education. Engineering students in the 21st century enter a professional environment where computer-aided design (CAD) tools are ubiquitous. Today's industries demand that universities graduate engineers who are prepared with the skills to use modern computer-aided design tools. This project will enhance students' learning of computer-aided design through learner-centered strategies. The project will build an electronic library of CAD software screencast tutorials created by students; teach students CAD with the screencast tutorials created by their peers; and investigate the effects of the student generated tutorials on student learning of CAD, as well as their interest and motivation towards engineering. The screencast tutorials repository developed through this project will be made publicly accessible through an Internet website for use by other engineering students and faculty. The screencast tutorials will also be disseminated through the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education program - a collaboration among 50 universities around the world. The project will be implemented in the freshman Mechanical Engineering Drawing lab-based course designed to teach students engineering graphics and 3D modeling based on computer-aided design. Engineering students will develop and utilize screencasts, record the supported audio, post the screencasts on an electronic repository, and organize the peer-to-peer learning process. Screencast is a digitally recorded playback of a computer screen output which often contains audio narration, to visually present procedural information. A screencast is a unique tool for e-learning design because it promotes an affordable way of producing multimedia instruction that is authentic and motivating and can be applied in various educational settings. Project efforts will advance the current state of knowledge on how to effectively utilize cyberlearning in engineering education. The project will provide students with hands-on experience on the same advanced computer-aided design software used by industry.