Abstract
Educating student engineers in the total design of structures should involve an integrated approach. Hence a new course linking mechanics, materials science and design has been developed. The course, titled ‘Mechanics and Materials in Structural Design’, educates students in the total design of structures. One important aspect of this approach to teaching is to develop multimedia-based virtual laboratory modules. This paper focuses on one such module, namely the ‘tension test of metals’ module. This module links the mechanics experiment with the fundamentals of materials science and highlights its usefulness in generating design information. With this approach to teaching, using an apparently simple tension test, the students can better visualize the linkages between mechanics, materials response at the macro and atomic levels, and design. Preliminary evaluation of the course suggests that this philosophy of teaching an integrated course on design is valid.
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