Developing New Frameworks of Art-Physics-Design Pedagogy for Future Engineers

The study aims to investigate Art teaching ideas and activities enhancing pre-engineering students' prospects for their forthcoming career path. The designed approach embraces the integration between fundamental structural forces and applied art as to facilitate learners' developing of abstract, unsophisticated features. The samples of model conversion from 2D illustrations to abstract, tangible 3D engineering configurations incorporate the representation of glass and steel low-rise and high-rise building structures, as well as long span bridges being generated from compression and tension principles. Concisely, students' fabricated models feature the balanced combination of engineering conceptual design coupled with the aesthetics aspect of artwork. Materials for structural design cover normal items such as paper, plaster, rubber, cloth waste and yarn. Ninety pre-engineering in the first year were classified into 3 classes, each of which contained 6 groups of 5 members. Subsequent to the developed instructional approach, the samples could create 7 pieces of model representation in one semester. The performance evaluation, measured from fundamental implementation toward advanced application reveals that a quarter of samples fulfilled the progression of planning-to-shape integration as well as model production. Furthermore, half of them were able to apply practical knowledge about directions (real physics) into innovative and artistry creations. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.