Premier Courseware of 2004
Late October 2004, the Premier Courseware of 2004 were announced at the 2004 Frontiers in Education at an awards ceremony sponsored by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Jeroo
By Dean Sanders at Northwest Missouri State University and Brian Dorn at Iowa State University.
Jeroo is a standalone software package designed to introduce students to the basics of object-oriented programming. It provides an engaging integrated development environment that consists of code editing facilities, execution mechanisms and program animation tools. The rich execution environment illustrates the semantics of fundamental control structures, clarifies the basic notions of using objects to solve problems and reinforces the use of methods. Jeroo provides two programming languages specifically designed to ease the transition to any of the following four general-purpose languages: Java, C++, C# and VisualBasic.NET. Jeroo can be used at the college as well as the pre-college/high school levels. Author-conducted assessment indicates that all students, regardless of programming background or gender, found Jeroo a valuable tool; data also shows an improvement in retention, and comfort and confidence levels among all students.
MecMovies
By Timothy A. Philpot, Richard Hall, David B. Oglesby, Nancy Hubing, Ralph E. Flori, Vikas Yellamraju, John Thomas Barnett, Sreeram Ramakrisnan, Wesley J. Merkle and Arun S. Balasubramanian at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
MecMovies is an extensive collection of useful examples, discussion of theory and games designed to complement introductory Mechanics of Materials courses. The courseware features high quality graphics and meaningful animations that are very effective in communicating basic concepts and problem solving methods. Special emphasis is placed on developing a thorough understanding and proficiency in concepts and skills through interactive exercises and games. In addition to its obvious classroom use, the courseware should also prove useful to students studying on their own, and certain elements of MecMovies could also find application in introductory Machine Design courses. Classroom implementation of the courseware has produced improved student performance and more positive student attitudes regarding introductory Mechanics of Materials courses.
Obtaining Copies of the Premier Courseware of 2004
To obtain a complimentary copy of the Premier Courseware of 2004 on CD,
please click here.
If you'd like more information about the Premier Award or how to become a sponsor, please contact Professor Joe Tront at Virginia Tech via email at jgtront@vt.edu.
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