Spreadsheet Applications for Materials Science
SAMS is a series of modules and related materials designed to help teach materials science and engineering by using spreadsheets to perform engaging, and interactive exercises that help teach materials science. Just as calculators, which long ago became an essential part of engineering courses, changed how they are taught and what types of exercises are assigned, spreadsheets, which are as common as pocket calculators, offer the means to affect similar changes in engineering courses by making it possible to develop more interesting, creative, interactive and multifaceted exercises.
This web site describes the development of these modules, their implementation in the classroom and teaching laboratory, and the results of the assessments. The modules themselves are also available for downloading. Solution sets can be obtained by contacting the author.
Project Goals
- Enrich materials education by providing spreadsheet-based exercises that students and instructors can use to solve materials problems.
- Help integrate the use of computers into the materials science and engineering curriculum.
- Teach students how to perform computational exercises and how to organize and present the results.
- Make the use of spreadsheets in materials education as common and natural as using a calculator.