Articles by the Infamous Professor

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The World Wide Web as an Instructional Delivery Medium.
The number of students connected to the World Wide Web is increasing at an exponential rate, as is the number of course related pages and sites.  Sources estimate that nearly 2,000 new users log onto the Internet each day. Now more than ever educators must regard the World Wide Web as a needed means of distributing classroom materials. As part of their duties, educators must provide time and resources in the classroom, but now they must also provide their materials via the Web to help expand their classroom efforts beyond their four walls, and more importantly, beyond their finite time with students. Due to the tremendous demands on their time already, efficient means of creating and utilizing Web-based documents must be used. Many tools exist that can aid educators in converting existing materials to Web-based media without knowing HTML. Tools also exist that promote managing and maintaining a site on a remote server without an information systems background. This paper presents several tools which can be used to aid instructors in their quest to provide Web-based instructional materials. This discussion include the three primary Web development tools: HTML editors, HTML converters, and HTML generators.

Using Engineering Tools in the Presentation of Engineering Graphics Concepts
The present and future students enrolled in universities across the United State have been raised in the computer/video age. They are accustomed to computer-generated graphics from television advertisements to movies. These students can become bored with traditional presentations of concepts. This boredom may mean that they tend not to attend class or they are physically present, but mentally absent. With the rapid advance and the lower cost of computer hardware and software, educators must review not only what they are teaching but how the are presenting concepts. This is especially true in the presentation of abstract engineering graphics concepts. Many students have difficulty visualizing these concepts and become bored or give up on attempting to visualize and learn them.

Utilizing the World Wide Web for Distance Learning and Communication
This paper presents information regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of World Wide Web based educational communication and delivery. It presents the current state of networking technologies and the speed associated with delivering rich multimedia elements over the Web. Specific limitations regarding Internet connection, delivery and other concerns surrounding Web-based multimedia elements are discussed.

An Instructional Method for the AutoCAD Modeling Environment
This article presents a command organizer for AutoCAD to aid new users in operating within the 3D modeling environment. While teaching solid modeling as the basis for engineering design, as well as a using the modeling database as a focal point for the generation of other types of technical and engineering graphics, it was found that new users frequently encountered the same problems and asked the same questions when presented with the 3D environment. The organizer presented in this article is designed to help engineering students become acquainted with the AutoCAD modeling environment and the commands that control the environment; it has met with limited success in both visually organizing the command structure and decreasing new user questions. Although it is specifically designed for the AutoCAD environment, it must be noted that the underlying environmental controls and the operation of the environment is consistent and applicable to many other software packages and graphical applications.

A Procedural Model for Interactive Multimedia Development
This paper discusses a model for the development of interactive multimedia. Through the use of five stages, it gives a methodical procedure to creating multimedia products. The uniqueness of the Multimedia Development Model is that it allows for total planning and increases communication within group settings; reducing and sometimes eliminating errors. Although rigorously adhering to any one  model would be unrealistic, it chronologically presents the major points of concern when developing interactive multimedia.