Abstract:

The e-learning is playing an ever-larger role in the process of self-learning because it allows greater flexibility, encourages cooperation between students and teachers. The design of interfaces can be considered a research area of great practical and theoretical importance, so we had the idea of an interface for the self-study of the descriptive geometry. We would compare the representation that uses the traditional double orthogonal projection with the 3D one and we must return to a reinterpretation of the historical theory of the Descriptive Geometry to identify the bases useful for a new knowledge also suitable for 3D representation.

The re-reading of the sources allows researchers to know more intimately the findings of their precursors to get new ideas and offers an easy device to face the inventive methods and procedures.

The study of 3D drawing exercises by Frère Gabriel-Marie’s book (FGM) has been the starting point for some reflections on the renewal of the discipline.

An interactive multimedia interface, designed for e-learning, allows to take control of the applications studied by developing the learning skills of the user.

In virtual space, all the fundamentals useful to the method of double orthogonal projections are valid, with a consequent simplification of the problems so many problems, once complicated, are simplified and assume greater clarity.

We have chosen to work on the exercises 206 and 216 of FGM. The problems have been taken into consideration both for their geometrical qualities both for the difficulty of the rendering.

The solution of the problems in the virtual space is extremely easier, but its picture doesn’t make its representation useful to the understanding.

In the platform, the primary step is to select the key knowledge to be transmitted through the tool. The corpus of exercises represents an innovative contribution for the self-study.

The will was to make available a series of modules to be used as tools for courses or as single aid for self-study. Each module is completed by a series of self-assessments tests to increase the knowledge The user, in the first access to the platform, must take a test to identify the degree of his knowledge of the discipline.

Then the user can access to the interactive learning where a series of exercises guide and help him to understand the theoretical fundamentals relevant to the progress of the course through a series of statements to be demonstrated step by step. The progress of the demonstration and learning occurs through triple-choice questions and when the student clicks on the wrong one, an explanation appears. At the same time, in a near window, the user can try to carry out the demonstration in the virtual space using its vector drawing software. The idea is to create a dynamic interface for a timed interactive self-study, a sort of animated book that forces the learner to work to solve the problem after having seen the statement and received the input, rather than the static print of a work that tells the fundamentals. It is also planned to create a repository where the user can store the data of different exercises done, to which the teacher can draw for any consignment.

The perspective offered by the modules of descriptive geometry, constructed with the training on-line e-learning system, helps a greater diffusion of a discipline useful to the 3D modelling and increases the quality of the 3D models, created with a superior awareness of geometry.

Keywords:

Descriptive Geometry, Frère Gabriel-Marie, 3D representation, 3D drawing, orthogonal projections.