Abstract:

This paper presents a refreshing of the educational tool “GRaph of Internal FOrceS” (GRIFOS). The main aim of this software is to enhance the learning methods used to teach the distribution of internal forces in building structures. This tool allows students to practise drawing schemes of Flexure Moments, Shear Strength and Axial force of structures. Thus, it is able to automatically check the structural schemes of the mechanical behaviour laws of typical building structures, helping the self-study.

The group of innovative education E4 (Exploración de Enseñanzas en Estructuras de Edificación) promote the use of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and it is continuously modernizing GRIFOS, form the early versions of this question type, in which the numerical values were checked using variables data for each student, to the latest version, significantly more advanced and complex, which is able to automatically check the schemes of the internal forces of building structures.

The improvements that are currently carrying out in GRIFOS are presented in this work. The main enhancement being made is to incorporate the possibility of copy and paste the schemes form a frame to other one frame of the same structure. This is an option that is present in computer-aided design (CAD) programs, and it is an excellent option to imitate them because the architecture students are acquainted. An example of other improvements is to incorporate the option of modifying an already drawn scheme. This option, combined with the previous one, will allow to speed up the drawing process of schemes in complex structures composed by several frames. Other ones enhancements that could be developed are focused on the improvement of the visual characteristics.

The improvements are being made in GRIFOS are based on the results of satisfaction surveys, in which students and teachers from the Technical University of Madrid have participated, and the main objective of them is to obtain a powerful educational tool than can be useful to other Universities and Technical Schools.

Keywords:

ICT, e-learning, educational tool, building structures.