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The Design-led Teaching Approach

Granta’s CES EduPack has been developed alongside an innovative, some say revolutionary, 'design-led' teaching approach by Professor Mike Ashby over 20 years with colleagues at Cambridge, collaborating universities, and Granta.

Motivating students: “What is the objective of the design?”

The design-led approach begins with the question ‘What is the objective of the design?’ This question launches the process of investigation and learning with a strong practical motive that makes sense to students of engineering and design: Materials and processes matter because they are relevant to real engineering and design problems. In-depth explorations of the world of materials follow naturally. ‘Why should wood be considered a good material for making a table top?’ The challenges of design lead to critical discussion of materials properties, examination of alternative materials and processes, and on to consideration of the underlying physics and chemistry.

A ‘design-led’ approach contrasts with the more conventional approach that begins with the physics and chemistry of materials, progressing from the atomistic through the microstructure to the macroscopic. While this traditional ‘science-led’ approach underpins our understanding of materials science, it can create a difficulty for teaching: “The information the engineer really needs to perform his or her role as a maker of things comes only at the end or not at all” (from Ashby and Cebon, Teaching Engineering Materials - a copy is available in Granta's Information Pack) and the opportunity to motivate by the challenges of design is lost.

Material selection charts, data and methods

The rationale of a design-led approach is fully developed in Professor Ashby’s textbooks Materials: Science, Engineering, Processing, and Design and Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, and CES EduPack's supporting lecture presentations.

Once motivated by the challenge of design, students’ exploration of the world of materials and processes is made possible and enjoyable by the CES EduPack software and database. Students can begin by capturing a particular design challenge in terms of the required function, and the constraints and objectives that the design must meet. They can then use the CES EduPack software to create materials selection charts (known by many as ‘Ashby Charts’) that allow them to explore how different engineering materials meet the design objectives. Next, they could consider why different materials families (such as ceramics, polymers and metals) perfom differently - which may lead to a consideration of the underlying science. The software allows them to 'drill down' to 'science notes' that explain, for example, the science behind a particular materials property. The materials selection charts are also the foundation of investigations in materials and process selection, and for more advanced work, an important research tool for optimal selection in design.

All of the materials at level 2 in a Materials Property Chart.

Benefits of a design-led approach

Customers’ experience over the years reveals a number of benefits that result directly from using CES EduPack to support a design-led approach to the teaching of materials. These include:

• Students’ interest in the subject is captured immediately.
• Design-led simplicity and visual impact of the software work well at introductory levels.
• Interest is re-invigorated even for more experienced students.
• Natural appeal of the approach encourages course enrollment.
• Self-teaching is encouraged at all levels as progress is motivated by design and made enjoyable by the software.
• Links between materials and processes are made clear and relevant.
• Emphasis on design makes EduPack an excellent tool for final-year “capstone” design courses, project work and problem-based learning.
• EduPack integrates easily across a broad range of courses, including: General, Mechanical, Manufacturing and Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Industrial and Product Design, Polymer Science and Engineering, Eco-Engineering and Architectural and Civil Engineering.

Paper: Teaching Engineering Materials

You can read in more detail about the EduPack teaching approach in our Information Pack, which contains the white paper Teaching Engineering Materiaas by Mike Ashby and Dave Cebon. This paper was most recently updated in 2007.