This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to do the research necessary to bring into existence a computer-assisted learning (CAL) tool to supplement classroom focus on the relationship of variable manipulation to outcome, thus making engineering problems and solutions "come alive." Specifically, utilizing the opportunity presented by the availability of hypertext and multimedia technologies, GRADE Corporation proposes to research and develop (1) a set of databases of Applied Mechanics problems, their solutions, and related attributes; (2) a design for a user interface which will exploit the "special attributes" of the databases; and (3) specifications for using the databases in a client or server mode. The research will examine the feasibility of using a database of problems and solutions with special attributes and classications to make a highly reusable computer-assisted learning (CAL) module that is efficient and appealing to students. The research represents an attempt to stimulate the entry of nontraditional students into engineering by assimilating vast engineering problems and solutions resources into one readily accessible knowledge base; at the same time, it invokes a concept applicable to any student and to other subject areas with problem solving objectives.
