Create relationship between Engineering Drawing and Workshop Practice

I am writing these blogs in collaboration with my colleague Nicky Joshi. Together we are trying to make engineering education at the undergraduate level a journey of discoveries such that academic chalk and talk reinforces and fills in the gaps between discoveries instead of the other way round.

 To understand the concepts of fits and tolerances and clearly see the relationship between a technical drawing and the workshop processes involved divide the class into groups of two each.
Give each group a simple brief for example draw a plate of so and so size of so and so thickness with a hole of Dia so and so located at so and so point and a also draw a shaft that will fit in the hole such that it is sliding fit , or tight fit etc.

The idea being that each pair take reference from each others drawing and make the drawing complete with all dimensions tolerances etc having all the requirements of a good shop drawing. The discovery of fits and tolerances should be left to the students. As a whole class with each pair having unique challenges the class learning will be comprehensive.

In the next stage the students are required to go to the workshop and actually make the the mating parts. This stage will expose the students to the different machining processes and the limits of each process.

If a set of student pairs are given the same brief they should compare the parts they have made and become aware of the slight differences in the part made even if the drawing shows the same dimensions.
Why this happens and when it is important to control it and how, will become a very powerful learning experience.  

Comments

  1. Unknown30 March 2019 at 05:11

    Agree with caution. J D Bernal would be happy. But some things have changed in half a . century. The over abundance of technology and the tech enhanced / tech imbued experiential world of the learner.
    The magic of discovery can serve as the alluring pedagogical device. But if the events have become passe due to over abundance if ever more magical gizmos, the simpler joys of hinged door may fail to excite.
    So the discovery method needs ti be retuned to over abundant experience and heavily flooded information highways.

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