Teaching Engineering Problem Solving With Mathcad And The Web

Students often have difficulty understanding basic engineering procedures because of the gulf of mathematical analysis that lies between the definition of a problem and the implementation of its solution. We describe a new Web-based introduction to engineering problem solving intended to address this difficulty. Using Mathcad as a computational engine, analytic details in the course are selectively de-emphasized, directing student attention to the essentials of problem formulation and interpretation. The approach integrates Mathcad’s many pedagogical advantages with the accessibilty, flexibility, and richness of the Web.