TEIXEIRA, Fabio1, SILVA, Regio2 & SILVA, Tania3
1 Expressao Grafica - UFRGS, fabiogt@vortex.ufrgs.br,
www.ufrgs.br
2 Expressao Grafica - UFRGS, regio@vortex.ufrgs.br,
www.ufrgs.br
3 Expressao Grafica - UFRGS, taniaks@orion.ufrgs.br,
www.ufrgs.br
Abstract: this work is part of the modernization project for the disciplines of Graphic Expression for Engineering, inserted in the project REENGE, and it has for objective the creation a Learning Environment computerized that aid the teaching the Descriptive Geometry inside and out of the class room.
The first prototype contemplates the whole content of the discipline Descriptive Geometry III (study of surfaces) and it uses the language HTML and the software HTML Help Workshop of Microsoft. These tools are what there is of more modern in electronic documentation, because they unite the advantages of the hypertext and multimedia to the speed of the compiled executable programs and the access through internet. The proof of that is that the files of help of the new generation of software (Windows 98, 3D Studio Max) they use HTML Help.
The final objective and to place all the contents of the disciplines of Graphic Expression for the Engineering in a CD-ROM that can be used in the works in class room and for studies out of the class room.
Keywords: descriptive geometry, teaching-learning, Virtual Reality
All the disciplines of Graphic Expression applied the Engineering, that they are of responsibility of the Department of Graphic Expression University of Architecture, they have as theoretical pillar the Projective Geometry, area of the knowledge that studies the representation in the plan of objects of the three-dimensional space through projection systems.
The Descriptive Geometry, sub area of the Projective Geometry that studies the representation of objects through multiple projections (method of Monk) in orthogonal plans, besides supplying the theoretical fundaments for the disciplines of technical drawing, that they use orthographic views, he/she has as important function the development of the perception and space visualization and of the logical and space reasoning, fundamental in a good engineer's formation.
The use of traditional and secular techniques, using fundamentally the black picture, associated to the low hourly load, to the lack of updated bibliography is turning inefficient the teaching of the Descriptive Geometry. Besides, very a little or almost nothing has been made, in institutional terms, for the improvement of the teaching of the Descriptive Geometry and of the disciplines of Graphic Expression in general.
The project REENGE (Reengineering of the Teaching of Engineering) it is a sub project of PRODENGE (Program of Development of the Teaching of Engineering), an initiative of MEC/Finep, with financing of the World Bank. UFRGS announces of REENGE with an institutional project that joins sub projects of most of the Departments of the University tied of some form to courses of Engineering.
The Department of Graphic Expression of Faculty of Architecture, responsible for all disciplines of Graphic Expression of all the courses of UFRGS, it had your sub project Reengineering of the Teaching of Graphic Expression in the Engineering coordinated by teacher Fabio Goncalves Teixeira, approved and considered priority for the School of Engineering.
The specific objectives of the project REENGE of Department of Graphic Expression are the following ones:
Reformulation of the contents of disciplines and updating with the most recent technological innovations related to the graphic expression and to the scientific visualization applied to the Engineering.
Reformulation of the pedagogic methods for now used, resells distribution of hourly load and implementing new resources teaching in all the disciplines of graphic expression, aiming at to rationalize the teaching and to privilege the creativity and the capacity of the students' initiative.
Making of didactic material and of coherent pedagogic support with the new contents and such methods as books, study aids and teaching software (interactive and multimedia), besides specific material for schools of 2o kindred degree of supplying deficiencies in the basic formation.
Integration of the graphic expression disciplines with the professionals disciplines, through the reposition in the advised series of some drawing disciplines of the accomplishment of seminars and courses (in partnership with departments and institutions of kindred areas) that treat of the specific particularities of each area.
With your approved project, the Department of Graphic Expression received a computer science laboratory with 21 computers (the computers were financed by the project and the civil works, for your installation, they were financed by the School of Engineering), to be used in the teaching of the Graphic Expression for the Engineering. Besides, they were acquired software for the development of teaching-learning tools with budget destined to the project.
The largest difficulty in the teaching of the Descriptive Geometry is in doing the student " to see " the objects in the space starting from conventional plane representations. That is worsened by the lack of advanced and interactive visualization resources.
The Graphic Computation, that he/she has your theoretical fundaments in the Descriptive Geometry, it can supply advanced resources of three-dimensional visualization with animations and interactivity. Then it is natural and even obvious that the teaching of Descriptive Geometry develops in the direction of the Graphic Computation.
Now three parallel projects exist for the modernization of the teaching of the Descriptive Geometry:
Book - it is being written a book, fruit of researches and of an extensive bibliographical revision on the part of the teachers' team that you/they teach Descriptive Geometry, to serve as base for all the disciplines of Descriptive Geometry. The illustrations are all done with resources of three-dimensional modeling and rendering, the one that allows generate images with great quality and definition.
Transparencies - transparencies are being made with illustrations done in Graphic Computation, to promote a visual aid to the verbal exhibitions. Actually these transparencies are a sub product of the book, because most of the illustrations used here they are the same of the book or obtained starting from the same models.
Learning Environment - it Programs interactive computational that allows the teaching individualized in activities inside of the class or out of the class. In the apprenticeship current program it contains texts, images, animations and virtual reality with high interactivity degree and navigation. The objective with this program is a complement of the activities developed in class room and it can be accessed by CD-ROM and, hereafter, by Internet, even could be used as environment for teaching the distance.
Figure 1. Learning Environment
The objective of this project is to create an atmosphere of virtual learning where each student (user) he/she can learn following your rhythm and your learning style, making the intensive use of Graphic Computation and three-dimensional modeling of objects in images, animations and virtual reality.
In a first stage, a presentation program was developed, using Visual Basic as platform. However, the time and the necessary cost to develop a reliable and efficient program were shown impracticable for this project. A direction change was made necessary. However the commercial presentation programs didn't present the characteristics intended for the project.
Figure 2. HTML Help
The HTML Help - At this time, Microsoft was thrown HTML Help workshop, a system to create systems of help for computer programs and for electronic documentation in general. As the own name says, the documentation electronic maid with this system is based on the language HTML, the universal language of Internet. Own Microsoft adopted as pattern for your programs (including WINDOWS 98) the systems of help based on HTML Help. Autodesk adopted HTML Help for the documentation on line of 3D Studio Max (it represents). HTML Help presents all the advantages of the language HTML, as the hypertext use, images, animations, virtual reality (VRML), associated the a system of navigation non lineal and to the speed of compiled programs and not interpreted, as it is traditional HTML. Everything this turns HTML Help the most powerful tool for the available electronic documentation until the moment.
The navigation non lineal, guaranteed for the hypertext and for the navigation bar that presents all the topic available in a hierarchical way, it provides the one that each student (user) an own way, individualized of accessing the data contained in the electronic document.
HTML Help allows to create executable programs and compiled where graphic files and animations, that are " built-in " in the file of the program (* .chm), they are compacted to reduce the space in disk.
Versions not compiled easily they can be created for us to can accessed through Internet. In this case, there is not compact graphic files, therefore care should be had with the sizes of the used graphic files, that they can make unfeasible the access through Internet, always very slow.
Electronic book - HTML Help use in the teaching of Descriptive Geometry began with the transcription of the book, that it is still being written, for the language HTML. They were used until the same images. In this stage, the generated electronic document didn't pass of an electronic book. The only innovations in relation to the paper version were the navigation non lineal and the capacity of researching words, a very useful mechanism for the fast access to information.
Figure 3. Electronic Book
Animations - In a second stage, animations were created using 3D Studio Max of Autodesk, and already enclosed to the pages maids. With this, there was an enormous earnings in the visual quality of the presentation of the contents. The animations pattern AVI, generate very big files, however they are highly reduced with the compactacao accomplished during the compilation. In spite of that, the use of a presentation with very heavy animations in equipments low end can become painful and even unviable. In these cases, the problem was solved substituting files AVI, for files lively GIF with less pictures than the previous. The reduction in Megabytes is brutal and the quality loss in the animations doesn't get to commit the objectives of the project. This technique is also used to create presentations through Internet, where the acting of graphic applications is critical.
Virtual reality - In the apprenticeship of current development, the use of virtual reality is being implemented, where the interactivity degree is so much that the user can walk among the objects in study. These can have transparencies, textures and materials. The use of virtual reality is made using files in the format VRML, that present great portability and they are standard for virtual reality in Internet.
The interactive three-dimensional experience proportionate for the countless atmospheres in available virtual reality in this application for Descriptive Geometry is something that doesn't exist similar in electronic documentation for didactic use.
In the next stages teaching-learning techniques will be implemented tuned in that the more modern pedagogic tendencies, so that the result of the project is indeed an Atmosphere of Learning, including techniques of the student's evaluation. This subject is part of the research project and of the theme of the dissertation of teacher's Tania K. Silva master's degree, that will apply the results of your research to enrich this project. Besides, a specific version will be developed for access through Internet, that will be the beginning of a platform for a future course the distance of Graphic Expression.
Figure 4. Virtual Reality with VRML.
The united use of texts, hypertext, images, animations and virtual reality creates an atmosphere highly and interactive and extremely rich in information, with great potential for use in any knowledge area. The use in Descriptive Geometry comes to supply the great lack of innovations in this area of such important knowledge in the basic formation of Engineers and Architects.
With this tool type, the teachers' of the section of Descriptive Geometry team of the Technical Section of the Department of Graphic Expression of University of Architecture of UFRGS demonstrates that is prepared to answer to the challenges of the Superior Education of this final of millennium.