Mechanics Of Materials Interactive Multimedia Labware

This paper concerns the development of a website and CD-ROM based laboratory manual for a Strength of Materials Laboratory. Similar work has been done for another component of the Civil Engineering undergraduate curriculum, the Introduction to Environmental Engineering Laboratory. The laboratory manuals for the two classes will have a similar interface and layout. The long-term goal of the project is to use the style and approach developed on this project as a template for other civil engineering laboratory courses. Common elements to all of these laboratories include modules on laboratory safety, report writing, statistics and proper use of units. This work is being done as a collaborative NSF-funded project between the Civil Engineering and the Interactive Multimedia Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Partial support for this work is provided by the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program under grant DUE-9952577. Southern Illinois University Carbondale College of Engineering, College of Mass Communication and Media Arts and the Materials Technology Center provide additional support. In addition, a faculty member from the College of Education is involved with the assessment of the project. In addition, assessment and development is supported through an industry partner. It is hoped that the final product will serve as a national model for a diverse range of university environments. Strength of Materials or Mechanics of Materials is a second-semester sophomore or firstsemester junior level engineering class, and is required for all civil engineering majors, as well as most other engineering majors. The laboratory component of this class includes experiments measuring bending stresses and deflections, buckling loads, compression of various materials, uniaxial tension and torsion of materials. The labware (laboratory courseware) was designed to present elements of theory, experimental procedure, data collection, data reduction, report