Abstract:

The development of information technologies has allowed the use of modelling as an important means of understanding the reality. The use of modelling in the educational process makes the connection between theory and practice easier and optimizes the activity of teaching - learning. The simplified model reproduces the original in order to facilitate the understanding of the technical concepts. Sometimes in teaching the technical notions, the teacher does not have the possibility, for different reasons, to use real teaching tools. Models are easier to present and manipulate and help in a faster understanding of phenomena and processes.

The present study was conducted to evaluate students' perceptions of new or specially created teaching tools and to see if they bring about cognitive and affective improvements. The research was carried out for a semester, at the Engineering Faculty in Sibiu, on two groups of students. For one of the groups, the specialized notions were taught in a classical way. For the other group, modern material or analogue models were used, created especially for the interactive learning of the concepts taught.

The final evaluation test of the skills and knowledge acquired by the students was composed of several types of items: multiple choice, association, short answer, completion and problem solving. The main conclusion of the study is that modelling leads to a faster acquisition of the skills and knowledge necessary for the future engineer, and, moreover, increases his confidence in his own forces.

Keywords:

Model, learning, skills, engineering.