TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH IN TEACHING DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY

Dejana Neduin1 Vesna Stojakovi2 Radovan tuli3

Rsum In reference to the implementation of Bologna process and contemporary tendencies in both education and professional domain, a constant adjustment of the structure, content and methodology of every academic course is inevitable. Developing skills, knowledge and expertise that may later be practically applied, as well as achieving more efficient learning, present the key issues when conducting its reform. The paper discusses the results of implementing a new approach in teaching the course of Descriptive Geometry on the study programs of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering on the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, that is compliant with transformed curriculum of each study program and its specific educational objectives and outcomes. It presents an overview of changes in course's structure and content and a comparative analysis of students' success rate prior and after the reform.
1

Dejana Neduin, MSc, teaching assistant, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department for Architecture and Urban Planning, e-mail: dejana_neducin@yahoo.com Vesna Stojakovi, MSc, teaching assistant, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department for Architecture and Urban Planning, e-mail: vesna100jakovic@gmail.com Radovan tuli, PhD, full professor, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department for Architecture and Urban Planning, email: stulic@uns.ac.rs

Key words: descriptive geometry, reform, structure, content

1. INTRODUCTION One of the main focuses of the higher education reform was to increase competitiveness of European universities on a global level, through implementing the principles that reflect the challenges of the rapid technology development. The Bologna Process reconsidered the basic aims of the Bologna Declaration, emphasizing the significance of effective learning, and gaining knowledge and skills, and recognizing them as the key issues that need to be taken into account while transforming a curriculum of each study program, as well as a syllabus of every university course.[1] This entails a new approach to developing students' special competences (understanding certain topics, transfer and utilization of acquired knowledge, etc.), along with improving the general ones (cognitive abilities, capability to study, analytic and synthetic reasoning, team work, etc.). In reference to the implementation of the Bologna principles and contemporary tendencies in both education and professional domain, a constant adjustment of the structure, content and methodological approach to teaching of every academic course is inevitable. Developing skills, knowledge and expertise that may later be practically applied currently present the most important goals of reforming courses' syllabuses. In addition to this, as achieving a more efficient learning is one of the main pillars of the declaration, their structures and contents need to be adjusted according to the need for constant monitoring and evaluation of students' achievements, with the aim to facilitate knowledgegaining process and improve students' success rates. Considering the fact that Descriptive Geometry presents a fundamental course that is being taught during the first year of bachelor studies of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering, as well as on other technical studies' programs of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, this paper discusses the results of implementing a new approach in teaching descriptive geometry that is compliant with the curriculum of each study program and its general and specific educational outcomes. It

presents a comparative overview of the course's structure and content on two aforementioned study programs and an analysis of students' success rates on exams after conducting a reform. 2. TRANSFORMATION OF COURSES' STRUCTURE Course of Descriptive Geometry consists of lectures, during which students gradually acquire theoretical knowledge, and practicals focused on concrete problem-solving graphical exercises that correspond to the material presented on lectures. Implementation of the Bologna principles on the Faculty of Technical Sciences and requirements for adjustment of courses' syllabus to reorganized curriculum of each study program, instigated alterations of the structure and, consequently, the content of every teaching course, including the Descriptive Geometry. Prior to these changes, a study program of Architecture and Urban Planning included an obligatory three-semester course of Descriptive Geometry and Perspective that encompassed two semesters of learning descriptive geometry and one semester of examining geometry of perspective projections, with the total of 30+30 (lectures + practicals) contact hours for each of first two semesters and 15+30 for the third one. A reform of its structure was conducted in the school year of 2006/2007, when the initial content was divided into two one-semester long obligatory courses of Descriptive Geometry 1 and 2 respectively, and a succeeding optional one-semester long course of Perspective. The total number of contact classes per semester for each course, as well as the scope of course's content, remained the same. Two-semester course of Descriptive Geometry for the students of civil engineering underwent a drastic change of structure in the school year of 2004/2005, when it was compressed to one semester, with the same total of 45+60 contact classes per semester. Even though course's duration was practically halved, its teaching content for the time being remained unchanged, due to the requirements of the study program's curriculum. In the following year, the total number of practicals was diminished to 30. The final stage of transformation the course reached in the school year of 2007/2008, when the total number of lectures was cut down to 30

per semester. Almost complete alteration of previous teaching content resulted in establishing a new study program that would be more suitable to course's adopted structure. Substantial restructuring of both courses was recognized as a challenge to creating a new approach in teaching descriptive geometry that would broaden courses' educational objectives and outcomes, while simultaneously corresponding to the main Bologna principles, especially in terms of contributing to a more efficient learning and increasing students' pass rates. 3. TRANSFORMATION OF COURSES' CONTENT One of the principle educational objectives of the course of Descriptive Geometry, that served as a general guidance in defining its teaching content and methodology on the study programs of Architecture and Urban Planning and Civil Engineering, is developing and refining students' geometric and spatial reasoning.[2] This primarily refers to gaining ability to interpret and analyze a real three-dimensional (3D) space by means of graphic and geometric methods applied to two-dimensional (2D) images, as well as developing a skill of optimal graphical depiction of spatial configurations on 2D media.[3] Given that each technical profession has its own special requirements regarding spatial visualization and imagination, a preceding method of teaching descriptive geometry had to undergo certain changes that would simultaneously be compliant with the demands of the Bologna process and in accordance with a transformed structure of each course. Thus, one of the main aims of reforming its content and methodology on both study programs was to ease the interpretation of abstract concepts by using concrete and distinct practical examples of application, which are chosen to suit students' professional interests.[4] The outcomes of implementation of this new approach may be noted by analyzing the similarities and differences between the contents of courses for the students of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering. The introductory sections on both study programs are almost identical. They are focused on gaining a basic knowledge on spatial visualization (orthogonal projections, types of projections of basic geometric solids, criteria for obtaining characteristic views, with the aim of detecting objects' metric

properties and recognizing their spatial relationships, etc.). Further courses' contents are adjusted to special professional requirements for more specific knowledge and skills within each study program, in terms of selecting more tangible models for practical application of previously learnt principles and methods that directly relate to the contents of succeeding courses. After the mutual introductory section, students of both study programs are presented with the examples of practical and concrete application of the main principles in solving more complex problems, associated with various geometric forms that they professionally need to be familiar with, such as defining buildings' roof slopes. Moreover, for civil engineering students, a special accent is put on visualization of objects in horizontal projection (topography basics, designing road fills and cuts, etc.). Considering that the course on the study program of Architecture and Urban Planning is two semesters long, students additionally analyze more complex 3D forms, as well as axonometric projections of various object. This knowledge they later practically apply to solving problems of geometric derivation and representation of multipart roofs, arches, vaults, domes, etc., as well as reversely - of detecting spatial relationships between objects' segments out of their 2D images. During the last section of the course, students are being taught how to construct and investigate attached and cast shadows in orthogonal and oblique projections, with the goal of reaching virtual realism and obtaining a more obvious depiction of 3D shapes presented on 2D media. Due to constant advancements in computer graphics, in addition to accomplishing the elementary educational outcomes, as well as the newly recognized ones, the content and methodology of each course were recreated to encourage development of students' problem-solving skills by means of promoting individual logical reasoning that may be applied to detecting objects' spatial relationships, regardless of their visual representation. In order to achieve this, various principles and methods that descriptive geometry relies on are being taught through series of sketches of logical steps, instead of using of accurate technical drawing. In other words, as some researches proved that technical drawing does not have a significant impact on improving the ability of spatial visualization,[5,6] all unnecessarily graphical construction is

omitted and emphasis is given to creation of students' problemsolving strategies. [7] Conducted reforms of the structure, methodology and content of both courses contributed achieving a more dynamic and interactive teaching process, with higher participation of students during lectures and practicals and improved feedback. 4. ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS' SUCCESS RATES While separately evaluating students' success rates on the final exam of the course of Descriptive Geometry on the study programs of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering, two essential parameters were taken into account - students' pass rate and average grade. Separate calculations were done for the students' overall accomplishment on the exam taken right after finishing the course, and the total success rate on the exams passed during the academic year of enrollment. The results obtained for the period after implementing the Bologna Declaration were compared to those prior to transformation of each course's syllabus.

1st examination term

Total in the academic year of enrollment

Chart 1. Architecture - students' pass rate; Chart 2. Architecture student's average grade

Conducted analysis shows that the overall pass rate of the students of architecture and urban planning remained consistent, in

spite of the reform of course's structure. It may be noticed that, in each academic year, a certain percentage of enrolled students pass the exam right after finishing the course, with a higher than total average grade. This confirms that each generation comprises a critical group of highly motivated and exceptionally diligent students, which also presents a frequent observation of the teaching staff on students' activity during practicals. The results display that a majority of the remaining class passes the final exam by the end of the academic year of enrollment, since students of architecture and urban planning rarely quit studying.

1st examination term

Total in the academic year of enrollment

Chart 3. Civil Engineering - students' pass rate; Chart 4. Civil Engineering student's average grade

After chronologically analyzing the success rate of students of civil engineering, it may be noted that the percantage of students that did well on the final exam has a tendency of increasing ever since the course's teaching content has been reduced. Shift in a pass rate also affects the total average grade, which is continuously decreasing. The reason for this may also be found in a rise of the number of ECTS that students need to acquire in order to enroll in the following year of studies, which particularly affected the generation of 2008/2009. It may also be remarked that a certain number of enrolled students pass the exam right after finishing the course, same as the students of architecture and urban planning, meaning that changes in course's structure and content do

not significantly affect the determination of hard-working students to fulfill all their duties and tasks promptly. The apparent differences between the success rates on these two study programs, prior and after the implementation of Bologna principles, may be explained by analyzing the structure of enrolled students according to their educational profile and achievements they made while being in high school. A general observation on the course last four years was that the students who register for civil engineering often graduate from grammar schools and with significantly higher total average grades than the ones who decide to study Architecture and Urban Planning. As this considerably influences students' activity and efficiency, particularly during the first year of studies, further modification and adjustment of a teaching method on the courses of Descriptive Geometry need to be carried out in a manner that would provide and ensure more consistent students' success rates and results, regardless of students' profiles. 5. CONCLUSION Each modification and alteration of structure and content of fundamental courses that are taught during the first year of academic studies should be conducted in compliance to defined educational objectives of an entire study program, as they provide students with knowledge, expertise and skills that are relevant to their accomplishments in the courses that follow. Thus, adjusting and changing a manner of teaching the course of Descriptive Geometry to better suit the growing need for gaining knowledge that may be practically applied, presents the main focus of reforming course's syllabus. As one of the most significant course's tasks is to gradually develop students' spatial skills by using special mechanisms of logical reasoning, it is necessary to motivate students to learn steadily and to teach them how to utilize both general and specific competences they obtain for concrete problem-solving. In order to realize a successful reform of any course, it is of crucial importance to constantly monitor students' efforts and achievements during lectures and practicals, as well as frequent evaluation of student's success rates on the final exams.

7. REFERENCES
1. Bergen S.: Qualifications - Introduction to a concept, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 2007. 2. H. Stachel: Descriptive Geometry in Todays Engineering Curriculum, Transactions of FAMENA, Vol.29, No.2, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 2005,Zagreb, pp.3544. 3. Hiel K., tuli R.: Spatial Perception Ability from Two-Dimensional Media, Facta Universitatis, Vol.5, No.2, University of Ni, Ni, 2007, pp.149-158. 4. Neduin D., tuli R., Stojakovi V.: Iskustva u diferencijalnom pristupu nastavi na predmetu Nacrtna geometrija u razliitim tehnikim strukama, Zbornik radova XV skupa TRENDOVI RAZVOJA - "Doktorske studije u Srbiji, regionu i EU", 2-5. mart 2009., Fakultet tehnikih nauka, Novi Sad, 2009, pp.189-191. 5. Saito T., Suzuki K., Jingu T.: Relations between Spatial Ability Evaluated by a Mental Cutting Test and Engineering Graphics Education, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Engineering Design Graphics and Descriptive Geometry - ICECGDG, Austin, 1998, pp.231-235. 6. Churches A., Magin D., Barrat A.: Prediction of Examination Performance in Drawing and Descriptive Geometry Based on Spatial Ability Tests, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Engineering Design Graphics and Descriptive Geometry - ICEGDG, Tokyo, 1996, pp.796-800. 7. tuli R., Stojakovi V.: On Possible Modifications of Descriptive Geometry Topics Architectural Curricula Based Upon Competences and Learning Outcomes, Proceedings of the 24th National and 1st International Scientific Convention MoNgeometrija 2008, 2527 September 2008 Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Ni, Ni, 2008, pp.356-363.