Message from the Editor

Abstract

How do we know whether we’re teaching what we should be teaching and teaching it the way it should be taught? The second half of this question is something that all of ask ourselves on a regular basis as we teach our classes. Every once in while, we have the opportunity to ask ourselves the first half of this question. “Have we designed a course or courses that provides the right blend of technology, conceptual knowledge, and skill development to prepare our students to be successful when they graduate?” This issue of the Journal provides three articles to help us think about what we should be teaching and how we should evaluate its effectiveness.

Sorby’s article continues the reporting on the development of an innovative course in spatial visualization that has been in development since 1993. This article reminds us that course development is never a one-shot affair but, rather, a process of continuous quality improvement. Clark’s article reports on an animation course that has been under development for five years. While many institutions do not have the luxury of offering courses outside of mainstream engineering graphics, articles such as these provide insight into the many facets of technical engineering graphics and ways in which new approaches to the topic might be implemented. Once a new course has been developed and taught, Colwell, Whittington, and Higley’s article provides methods for assessing both the success of the course and, just as importantly, how well the course fits into the overall structure of your curriculum.

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