Engineering Graphics Literacy: Spatial Visualization Ability and Students’ Ability to Model Objects from Assembly Drawing Information

Engineering Graphics Literacy: Spatial Visualization Ability and Students' Ability to Model Objects from Assembly Drawing Information Engineering drawings are still one of the main pieces of legal documentation for product development. Interpreting these drawings is a skill needed by engineers and technicians since these documents are the primary way design information is communicated to manufacturing and quality control. Post‐secondary engineering programs, however, have reduced the amount of instructional time related to engineering graphics. More emphasis has been placed on basic modeling strategies in CAD programs, but has this come at the expense of being able to correctly read complex engineering drawings? The primary research question for this study is, "how well do current engineering and technology students read engineering drawings?" Specifically, can students take the information given on an assembly drawing, visualize or interpret each part, and then create 3D models of the parts in a constraint‐based CAD system? During the Spring 2011 semester, a pilot study was conducted in a junior‐level constraint‐based modeling course where twenty‐nine students were asked to model as many of the seven parts given in an assembly drawing of a device within a 110 minute class period. The main purpose of this pilot study was to determine the procedures necessary for this type of assessment in a classroom setting. The parts in the assembly ranged in complexity from a ball to a valve body. Students were given a ruler to measure parts on the B‐size drawing and determine sizes of features based on the given scale (2:1). There was a positive relationship between the scores on the activity and the pace at which each student completed the parts. Only eight students modeled all seven parts in the assembly. For the Fall 2011 semester, thirty‐five students in the same constraint‐based modeling course completed the identical modeling activity. Prior to the activity, each student completed a computer‐based version of the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test – Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R). Scores on the PSVT:R were correlated with scores on the modeling activity. This paper will present the results of the Fall 2011 study and discuss implications for future research in the United States and in other countries.