Teaching and Learning Enhancement in Undergraduate Machine Dynamics

Currently, information technology (IT) is playing a significant role in the development of learning environments. The integration of IT into the classroom provides innovative learning environments that allow for more interactive, relevant, and effective applications to give students valuable experiences. This article presents the design and implementation of more active and collaborative methods of teaching and learning in a course on mechanisms and machine dynamics. Through the use of virtual collaborative environments such as cooperative learning, problem-based learning (PBL), critical thinking, and more in the context of IT-enabled environments, students are given the opportunity to experiment with ideas and see the results of their efforts on the computer screen. These interactive learning modules impose more responsibility on students for their own learning than the traditional lecture-based passive learning methodology. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 19: 244-255, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com; DOI 10.1002/cae.20306