Speaker
Description
This paper presents a new education concept for the course “Mechanics 1”, which was specially developed for the new Bachelor's degree program “AI Engineering - Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Science”. The Bachelor's degree program is the first German-speaking degree program that provides an integrated education in artificial intelligence, engineering science, and computer science. The focus is on the systematic integration of coding exercises in the practical lessons as a result of which the students acquire practical computing programming skills in addition to the theoretical foundation of mechanics. The presented teaching methodology requires students to solve exercises not through manual calculations but by using computer algebra systems. In conjunction with this, students learn to model mechanical problems using the programming language Python. This shifts the educational focus away from manual analytical problem-solving skills towards a more refined problem understanding and in-depth knowledge of mathematical and software-technical modeling of corresponding problems. This enables an increased focus on understanding mechanical systems and the discussion of more complex and practice-oriented problems. A key element of the concept is the structure of the course: At the beginning, students receive partly pre-structured programs, which they complete step by step through equations. This enables both, the computation of large systems of equations and the graphical representation of mechanical relationships, for example of internal forces. As the semester progresses, the level of guidance decreases, which encourages the development of increasingly independent problem-solving strategies. The concept is accompanied by the use of electronic response systems (ERS), which enables continuous monitoring of learning progress and provides students with immediate feedback on their understanding. Initial evaluations indicate that the integrated approach both deepens the understanding of mechanical principles and conveys important digital competencies for modern engineering practice.
