Premier Courseware of 2004

Jeroo and MecMovies: Mechanics of Materials were announced as the Premier Courseware of 2004 at the 2004 ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference on Saturday, October 23, 2004 in Savannah, GA.

Jeroo

Brian Dorn, Iowa State University and Dean Sanders, Northwest Missouri State University

Jeroo is a standalone software package designed to introduce students to the basics of object-oriented programming. It provides an engaging integrated development environment that consists of code editing facilities, execution mechanisms and program animation tools. The rich execution environment illustrates the semantics of fundamental control structures, clarifies the basic notions of using objects to solve problems and reinforces the use of methods. Jeroo provides two programming languages specifically designed to ease the transition to any of the following four general-purpose languages: Java, C++, C# and VisualBasic.NET. Jeroo can be used at the college as well as the pre-college/high school levels. Author-conducted assessment indicates that all students, regardless of programming background or gender, found Jeroo a valuable tool; data also shows an improvement in retention, and comfort and confidence levels among all students.

MecMovies: Mechanics of Materials

Timothy A. Philpot, Richard Hall, David B. Oglesby, Nancy Hubing, Ralph E. Flori, Vikas Yellamraju, John Thomas Barnett, Sreeram Ramakrisnan, Wesley J. Merkle and Arun S. Balasubramanian, University of Missouri-Rolla

MecMovies is an extensive collection of useful examples, discussion of theory and games designed to complement introductory Mechanics of Materials courses. The courseware features high quality graphics and meaningful animations that are very effective in communicating basic concepts and problem solving methods. Special emphasis is placed on developing a thorough understanding and proficiency in concepts and skills through interactive exercises and games. In addition to its obvious classroom use, the courseware should also prove useful to students studying on their own, and certain elements of MecMovies could also find application in introductory Machine Design courses. Classroom implementation of the courseware has produced improved student performance and more positive student attitudes regarding introductory Mechanics of Materials courses.

2004 Sponsors

About the Premier Award

The Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware was developed by NEEDS—A Digital Library for Engineering Education, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and the Synthesis Coalition to recognize high-quality, non-commercial courseware designed to enhance engineering education.