The ability to rotate visual mental images is a complex cognitive skill. It requires the building of graphical libraries of information through short or long term memory systems and the subsequent retrieval and manipulation of these towards a specified goal. The development of mental rotation skill is of critical importance within engineering…

The purpose of this study is to investigate student designers' attitude and choices towards the use of computers and paper sketches when involved in a graphic design process. 65 computer graphic technology undergraduates participated in this research. A mixed method study with survey and in-depth interviews was applied to answer the research…

Information graphics, or "infographics," are widely used to convey complex science and its importance to society. To be educated consumers and citizens, students need to understand and be critical of information presented in graphical form. Researchers, accordingly, have called for fostering the "representational competence" of…

This paper describes the development and implementation of an online working drawing review video and online assessment tool. Particular attention was paid to dimensioning and ASME ANSI Y14 standards with the goal of improving the quality of the working drawings required in final design project reports. All members of freshmen design teams in the…

Technology education in Irish post-primary schools is undergoing significant change. In recent years the syllabi of all technology-related subjects have been revised. A new subject, Design and Communication Graphics, has replaced the traditional Technical Drawing subject. This new subject aims to develop students' spatial awareness and graphical…

Creating poster portfolios can increase the quality of work that students put into planning projects. This article describes an activity developed by the author that involves the use of poster portfolio projects. The activity helps students produce better-organized, higher quality work, and allows them to enjoy the opportunity it gives them for…

Four drafting teachers give their opinions on how to teach metric measurement and conversion and other matters. They are Jeffry T. Lufting, James E. Kelso, L. Dayle Yeager, and Michael B. Atkins. Computer graphics, modular structures, communicative drafting, and microfilm reproduction are also discussed. (MS)

Computer graphics systems typically produce a single, machine-like character font. At most, these systems enable the user to (1) alter the aspect ratio (height-to-width ratio) of the characters, (2) specify a transformation matrix to slant the characters, and (3) define a virtual pen table to change the lineweight of the plotted characters.…

This curriculum guide contains materials for a 17-unit course in advanced technical drafting, a followup to the basic technical drafting course in the industrial arts curriculum for grades 10-12. It is intended for use by industrial arts teachers, supervisors, counselors, administrators, and teacher educators. A three-page course overview provides…

The course covers the basic fundamentals of architectural drafting and is not intended to delve into the more advanced phases of architecture. The student is presented with standards and procedures, and will become proficient in layout of floor plans, electrical plans, roof construction, foundation plans, typical wall construction, plot plans, and…

The use of models in the high school drafting room eliminates the need for many drawings and demonstrates potential problems. (MW)

A method of teaching true point dimensioning system to your students. (Editor)

A method used to teach isometric drawing. (GB)

This article examines images of the future as visualized by space artists and design engineers. In excerpts from interviews, the artists describe their activities and their use of computer-aided design. The article concludes that visual thinking plays a large part in translating the dreams of visionaries into reality. (JDD)

Explanations of geometric dimensioning symbols are provided to assist in the comprehension of the implied basic sentence structure of modern geometric dimensioning and tolerance. The proper identification and interpretation of the substantive language within several exemplary engineering drawings, otherwise called feature control frames, is…