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Design Cad develops and delivers
software training courses in many disciplines. The company was formed in 1997 and is based at the Thebarton campus
of the University of Adelaide, South Australia. We employ three staff and
utilize the services of a number of consultants. Our offices are located
in Stirling Lane, 24 Stirling Street, Thebarton, South Australia. The principal of Design Cad is
Keith West, BSc, BSc (Hons), PhD - an
academic with 30 years experience in university teaching and research.
Adult learning
Experience over many years has taught us that adults
learn best by progressing through a course of study at their own pace and
at times that suit them. Our courses are specifically designed so that
this can occur.
Learn by being shown and then 'doing'
It is a common observation that most
people learn
best 'by doing'. If we are shown how to perform a task, we
need to 'do it' several times and in different ways to firmly cement the
new concept in our mind. We make instructional movies which show how a
task is done and provided detailed written instructions to follow.
Students need feedback
As a student
passes through each stage of their learning, they need to be provided
with feedback and encouragement. This feedback needs to be provided by a
knowledgeable and sympathetic tutor. It is important that every student
must be confident at each stage of their learning and that they are
really progressing and learning some useful and practical skills as they go.
We avoid the classroom mentality
In addition to the fundamental
observations that adult learning occurs at quite variable rates, and
that encouragement needs to be provided, it is our experience that not
many adults like to learn (whether it's computer software or other concepts) when they are placed in groups with a ‘teacher’ or tutor driving them
through in a classroom steps. If adults are placed in a group, competition often develops
between students to see who can show the tutor how clever they are and
who can get through exercises the quickest. The slower students get
intimidated. There is an additional problem on the other side of the
equation in that teachers become bored presenting the same material over
and over again and invariably ‘latch onto’ the most interesting problems
raised by the most advanced students in the group. The average student
thus is left behind.
Our learning system - some details
We have developed a system of
flexible, computer
based multi media learning which efficiently allows self-paced learning, yet still
provides the elements of 'group or one-on-one' student support. Our course
material contains written instructions, embedded movies which show
how a task is to be performed and then provide a written step by step
guide for a student to follow and practice. If a student is unable to
grasp the concept, they can easily repeat it.
Learning to use modern
computer software lends itself particularly well to this approach, but any
topic which requires the acquisition of a specific skill can be dealt with in this way.
An example
The following module is taken from
a course entitled 'Basic CAD 1'. The the student is learning to use the circle command
to accurately place a circle using computer aided design software.
[FIRST SOME TEXT EXPLANATION]
The circle command
There are several options associated
with the circle command and it is well worth exploring all of them, even
if you later use one or two methods. The default method for drawing a
circle is to nominate the Cartesian coordinates of a center point and
the radius in drawing units.
[NOW A MULTIMEDIA MOVIE]
Click
here
to play a movie illustrating the use of the circle command.
[NOW IT'S THE STUDENT'S TURN]
 
Using the circle command
Switch to IntelliCAD, select
File>Open and open the drawing ‘Circle’ from the Exercises
folder.
At the left of the screen is a
red V-shape, and at right is a yellow arc. These will be used later in
the exercise, so ignore them until advised.
On the toolbar the
‘Circle’ button has a triangle on it, signifying that there are
various options available by holding down the mouse button over it. We
will draw circles by going through the following options in sequence.
Note that some of the buttons are
very similar, but all of the options given by them are also available by
using the Insert>Circle drop down menu then choosing from the various
options in the command bar.
Select the ‘Circle
Centre-Radius’ button, accept the default to select the centre of the
circle, then select the radius either by picking a point or typing a
value.
(Note that after selecting the
centre of the circle, instead of accepting the default to select the
radius, you could have used the D option to give the diameter of the
circle instead of the radius.)
Select the ‘Circle
Centre-Radius’ button again, type M (for multiple), select the centre
of the circle and the radius and note that the prompt is again asking
for a ‘centre of circle’. Move the cursor, pick several other points
and other identical circles will be drawn.
Select the ‘Circle
Centre-Diameter’ button, select the centre of the circle, then select
the diameter by picking a point or typing a value.
Right click the mouse to
reactivate the command, select the centre of the circle then look at the
prompts.
The default is radius not
diameter, so it is necessary to either type the D option or select the
‘Circle Centre-Diameter’ button again when more than one circle is
to be drawn by diameter.
Select the ‘Circle 2
Points’ button; select the first point for the diameter, then the
second point (either by picking or by relative coordinates) and the
circle will be drawn.
Select the ‘Circle 3
Points’ button; select the first point on the circle, then the second
and third points (either by picking or by relative coordinates) and the
circle will be drawn.
Erase all circles, leaving
only the red V-shape at the left of the screen and the arc at the right.
Select the ‘Circle
Radius-Tangents’ button. At the red V-shape at the left of the screen,
select a point near the top end of the left line as the first tangent
point, and a point near the top end of the right line as the second
tangent point.
At the prompt, give a radius of 2
and the circle will be drawn between the lines, and tangential to them.
There can be some unexpected
results with this command, as follows.
Select the ‘Circle
Radius-Tangents’ button again. This time select tangent points close
to the intersection point at the bottom of the V. Accept the default
radius of 2 and the circle will be drawn.
This time the circle is drawn
outside the V. It is tangential to the first line selected, but not the
second line, although it would be tangential if the second line were
extended.
Select the ‘Circle
Radius-Tangents’ button again, select each of the red lines in turn at
a point near their top end and type in a radius value of 3.
The circle is drawn above the V
as the radius is too large for the circle to touch the red lines.
However, if the red lines were
extended they would be tangential to the circle.
Select the ‘Convert Arc
to Circle’ button and select the yellow arc. The arc is converted to a
circle.
You have now completed this
exercise.
[A VARIANT OF THIS EXERCISE FOLLOWS]
The Design Cad way
We have developed what we believe is an an innovative system which allows
for the above mentioned learning philosophy to be applied using a 'stand alone'
personal computer. This means that the student is freed from the restrictions of
a classroom, personal timetable or competition from others, but receives
support from an experienced tutor at appropriate times. All that
is required is a single computer equipped with a CD-ROM drive and sound
card. Internet access is not required, although tuition can be delivered
across the web if the student has broadband access.
How does it work?
We provide a set of course notes and the key
ingredient, a CD-ROM disk. When the CD-ROM is inserted in the computer, a web browser
opens and the course starts immediately.
The student then works through a series of 'modules',
each structured in much the same way.
As illustrated above, we first outline the concept behind the task using
a text description and then demonstrate how to perform the task by way of a movie.
This takes over the student's computer for a short time. Finally, we
provide
detailed instruction on how to perform the task. The student is then required
to carry out an additional exercise or two with slightly different
requirements (and no detailed instruction) to consolidate their learning.
Distance learning students are required to send copies of the material
(and questions) that they generate to their tutor by email as they
progress through the course.
What are the results?
Many of our students are in remote and
very remote areas and cannot attend conventional training. In addition
many others do not want to be
in a competitive group or classroom situation, they like the flexibility
that our system offers.
Here is an
email comment from a user:
'Thank you so much for the CD
and course notes. I have had a
chance to do one hour so far. I find this course so clear. The way you
have set it up has taken away all the resistance I had to learning FrontPage while trying to use the Microsoft tutorial (either CD or booklet).
At each step of your course I experience the realization that this is
an easy and friendly program, after all. If you like I will send more
feedback as I progress through the course.'
from another user
The course is great, very detailed
and allowing me to grasp better, lots of 'cad' info.
and another:
The
short movies are really useful. As the old saying goes, "A picture is
worth a thousand words". I
admire the way you are able to combine your computer skills with your CAD
skills to provide a course like this.
Addendum
Our approach is not restricted to learning computer
software.
Click here to see the
system being used across the Internet to deal with a concept in the biological
sciences and here for a business related
course.
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