Developing instructional modules for analyzing structures

In this paper the development of modules for teaching structural analysis concepts utilizing Flash and MATLAB software is discussed. Each of the two software components is specifically selected to accomplish a certain task and achieve a particular goal in terms of student course development. Using the Flash software, short multimedia lessons can be created to clarify the theoretical formulation and the steps involved in the solution of the problem. Powerful animation tools and other special features of this capable software are ideally suited for presenting this material to the students in a clear, organized, and appealing fashion. The MATLAB component of the created modules is designed in order to further extend the students' comprehension of the course concepts and to provide them with additional insight into understanding and predicting the behavior of structures. Effective programming features of MATLAB can be utilized to create flexible interactive script files capable of analyzing a variety of beam and loading conditions based on the input from the user. The instructor can use these capable scripts files in the classroom to create a variety of scenarios for promoting student-instructor interaction and for generating more interest. To further extend the effectiveness and utility of the discussed modules, the produced Flash movie files and the MATLAB script files can be placed on the course web site to allow the students full access to this useful educational material. To clarify the utility and usefulness of the discussed procedure, one sample module for the determination of influence lines and analysis of a beam subjected to moving loads is included in this paper.