Computer-Aided Education for Engineering Graphics Courses Using

3D Printing Technology

Yang Xiao

, Yuming Jiang

, Yixiang Wang

and Jie Zhang

School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China

School of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

Keywords: Computer-Aided Education, Higher Engineering Education, Information-Based Teaching, 3D Printing

Technology, Teaching Reform and Innovation.

Abstract: The modernization and informatization of education have always been important means to improve the quality

of education and meet the requirements of social development and construction in China's higher engineering

education. Based on the premise of the application of modern advanced manufacturing technology 3D printing

and the theoretical method of "digital learning", this paper discusses the deep integration of educational

information technology and engineering graphics education and the impact of 3D printing technology on the

teaching of product design and engineering graphics courses. Carry out reform research and innovative

practice in the teaching content, teaching mode, teaching method, and practice links of engineering graphics

courses, establish a set of engineering graphics education systems that meets the requirements of educational

informatization, industrial informatization, and intelligence, and carry out teaching practice. Through the

comparison and analysis of the implementation effect of teaching practice, the teaching effect is verified, and

the research has achieved the purpose of improving the teaching quality and adapting to the quality

requirements of advanced mechanical engineering talents in the new era.

1 INTRODUCTION

At present, a new round of world science, technology,

and industrial revolution is emerging. It has had a

great impact on human society. It will cause profound

adjustments to the world economic and political

pattern in the future, reshape the global position of

national competitiveness, subvert the form, division

of labor, and organizational mode of many existing

industries, and achieve multi-field integration.

Reconstruct people's lives, learning, and way of

thinking, and even change the relationship between

people and the world. The development of each

emerging technology will certainly have a significant

impact on the deepening reform of education (Yao

Zhiming, 2018;

He Kekang, 2019), and the

application of each technology as an educational

technology will have an impact on the learning

environment, teaching methods, experimental means,

the design of teaching activities, learning evaluation,

etc., thus causing the concept of knowledge

production and the mode of knowledge production.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5757-8355

And changes in the cognitive patterns and behavior

patterns of educators, learners, participants, and other

roles. Therefore, it is of great significance to

vigorously advocate and deeply study the application

of emerging information technology in education and

teaching, and carry out computer-aided education.

Engineering science and technology change the

world, and engineering education leads to innovation.

Since modern times, engineering science and

technology have directly linked scientific discoveries

with industrial development and become the main

driving force of economic and social development.

Worldwide, engineering education is the fastest and

most far-reaching educational reform. The world is

changing, and education must change, which requires

new forms of education to cultivate the capabilities

and talents needed for today's and future societies and

economies (Wang Lina, Chen Lin, 2018;

Wu Yan,

2018).

Engineering graphics is an important technical

course for higher engineering college students. It

cultivates students' fundamental engineering literacy

Xiao, Y., Jiang, Y., Wang, Y. and Zhang, J.

Computer-Aided Education for Engineering Graphics Courses Using 3D Printing Technology.

DOI: 10.5220/0012060000003612

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2022), pages 827-834

ISBN: 978-989-758-622-4; ISSN: 2975-9463

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

827

and design description and expression of engineering

objects and achieves the exchange of information

about product design and manufacturing. As a new

technology, 3D printing technology is known as a

new industrial revolution in the manufacturing

industry, which will have a very revolutionary impact

on the manufacturing industry. Well, for the

theoretical and practical research on the deep

integration of the teaching of specific disciplines of

emerging information technology and engineering

graphics, the establishment of a computer-aided

education model is a very novel and important issue.

Based on this consideration, in 2018, we received

funding from the key research project on the

application and development of education

informatization of the Sichuan Provincial Department

of Education to carry out the above research.

2 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

AND CHARACTERISTICS

3D printing technology, also known as additive

manufacturing technology, is a technology based on

the 3D model of objects, using discrete materials

(liquids, powders, etc.) to manufacture complex

shapes by layer-by-layer cumulative methods (Li

Maoguo, 2016). In recent years, 3D printing

technology has developed rapidly and has been

widely used. Due to the novel way, it generates

products, some products that could not be

manufactured by previous processing methods can be

produced, expanding the product manufacturing

scope. It is widely used in industrial product

manufacturing, biomedicine, architectural

decoration, cultural and artistic creativity, and other

fields (Zhao Ji, Xie Yinbo, 2017).

As a new product production method, the

emergence and application of 3D printing technology

will have a significant impact on the theory and

methods of industrial product design and

manufacturing, as shown in the following aspects:

1. 3D printing makes personalized design

possible

Due to the development of modern product CAD

technology, 3D printing is more flexible and flexible.

Products that meet the requirements can be designed

and processed according to consumers’ personal

needs, making personalized design and production

possible and truly people-oriented.

2. 3D printing makes product shape design more

diverse

Combined with CAD, 3D printing can use free

curve surfaces to generate product shapes and print

them out. Therefore, it is qualified to be more

diversified in the shape, structure, and other aspects

of products. Designers are less restrained when

designing product shapes (Wang Lina, Chen Lin,

2018).

3. 3D printing expands the idea of product

structure design.

3D printing makes the product structure very

complicated, and the trend of product structure and

shape design integration gradually emerges. It can

directly generate complex parts shapes and structures

without splitting or integrating product structures. It

not only improves production efficiency but also

improves the structural strength, rigidity, and

reliability of the product.

3 CONSTRUCTION MODE OF

ENGINEERING GRAPHICS

COURSE USING 3D PRINTING

TECHNOLOGY

The theory, methods, and means of human design and

manufacturing products were closely related to the

level of scientific and technological development at

that time. If there is any product manufacturing

method, there will be a corresponding product design

theory and method (Zhu Yanqing, 2015). For

example, for the material reduction manufacturing

method, we add some common structures to

strengthen strength, stiffness, and manufacturing

requirements according to the functional

requirements of parts. Try to make the shape of the

product simple for processing. In terms of structure

consideration, it is possible to decompose the

complex parts of the structure into relatively simple

parts to facilitate processing and production. Then

connect the parts to the components. And based on

this idea, a set of design methods and design

specifications have been formed. The engineering

graphs course is also taught according to this

specification

3.1 The Impact of 3D Printing

Technology on the Teaching of

Engineering Graphics Courses

3D printing is a method of additive manufacturing.

When using 3D printing for product design, the main

points to be considered are different from that of

reduced material manufacturing. For example, in the

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shape design of parts, the free curve surface is used to

define the surface, which can not only meet the

aesthetic requirements, but also meet the application

requirements such as actual working space and

strength stiffness, and save materials. At the same

time, to meet the needs, the complex shapes of the

parts can be printed at once without having to

decompose them into multiple parts through

connection. New structural products can be designed,

which are light, material-saving, and high in strength

and stiffness (Xia Duanwu, Xue Xiaofeng, 2016).

And some of these design ideas and methods were not

available in the previous component design, and there

was no corresponding content reflected in the course

teaching of engineering graphics (Zhou Yi, Xiao

Yang, 2015). Through careful analysis and research,

considering the characteristics and applications of 3D

printing, we have the following considerations about

the teaching of the engineering graphs course:

 Appropriately reduce the traditional

graphic education content, and try to start

the organization and learning of the course

content with the 3D objects;

 In the introduction of the generation mode

of three-dimensional objects, the concepts

and expressions of modern three-

dimensional modeling theory are

introduced. In addition to the traditional

combinations, the 3D modeling methods

such as stretching, rotation, scanning, and

free curve surface generation are

introduced, and these methods are also

introduced to the component configuration

design;

 Strengthen the introduction and use of 3D

design software, and use the software to

skillfully turn design ideas into 3D models

through the practice of teaching

experiments;

 Add the teaching and training of content

that changes the structural design methods

and ideas of relevant parts due to the

characteristics of 3D printing.

 Appropriately reduce the content when the

three-dimensional object is projected to the

plane to get the projection. Some efficient

editing techniques for two-dimensional

views are introduced to facilitate the

generation of engineering drawings that

meet national standards.

 Appropriately reduce the content of two-

dimensional graphic drawings, and directly

use 3D software to project the floor plan.

 Deeply integrate practical teaching links

with classroom teaching links. We will

break through the gap between theoretical,

practice, component design, and

expression, and the generation of final real

objects, to truly achieve what you see is

what you get and what you want.

 Make full use of computer-aided education

in teaching design. Teachers will design the

online course resources and publish them

through the online course platform.

Students will receive learning tasks and

obtain learning resources for independent

learning. Throughout the learning process,

students can communicate and interact

with teachers and other peers on time

through online course platforms or other

communication tools.

3.2 The Relationship and Impact of 3D

Printing Technology and the

Practical Teaching Link of

Engineering Graphics Courses

Teachers mainly focus on thinking development and

comprehensive practical learning activities and carry

out seminar-oriented teaching and research-oriented

teaching. The main teaching tasks include three

aspects: first, answering questions and solving

questions in the classroom for difficult and common

problems encountered by students in the process of

online self-study, and organizing students to discuss

in groups, a study in groups, and encourage students

to divergent thinking; second, arrange special

experiments and comprehensive experiments, carry

out research teaching, and cultivate students' Design

thinking, innovative thinking and the ability to

comprehensively apply the knowledge and skills

learned to solve practical engineering problems; third,

evaluate students' learning results. Students’ learning

tasks include: first, asking questions, bringing

difficult problems encountered in the online self-

study process to the classroom, and actively

participating in group discussions; second, carrying

out group cooperative learning and research learning

with other companions under the guidance of teachers

to complete thematic tasks; third, summarize and

report on research results.

Due to the development and maturity of 3D

printing technology, makes it easy for us to design

complex objects and get actual parts quickly. In this

way, hands-on sessions can be added during the

course. Connected with the established mechanical

innovation design laboratory, 3D printing equipment

Computer-Aided Education for Engineering Graphics Courses Using 3D Printing Technology

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is used to enable students to complete the

configuration, design, and expression of objects to the

direct output of 3D printing models, to achieve the

purpose of comprehensive application and training of

students' knowledge (Zhou Yi, Xiao Yang, 2015).

Based on this consideration, in the mode of Computer

Aided Education for engineering graphic teaching

process, we have designed the practical teaching

frame, shown in Figure 1. And the construction of

laboratory software and hardware conditions has been

carried out.

Figure 1: The practical teaching system framework.

This deep integration of classroom teaching and

practical teaching has been carried out in the past two

years of engineering graphics courses, and the effect

is good (Liu Ying, Li Kai, Cao Mo, Li Yuyi, 2017).

Students reflect that through such experiments, what

they design objects are what they see, are impressed

with, and have a solid grasp of what they have

learned. Figure 2 is the laboratory, and Figure 3 is the

experimental results of students' 3D modeling.

Figure 2: Course teaching laboratory.

Figure 3: Student 3D modeling result.

4 COMPUTER-AIDED

EDUCATION AND THE

CULTIVATION OF STUDENTS'

INNOVATIVE ABILITY

Student-centered, focusing on strengthening the

training and cultivation of students' innovative ability

in teaching has always been a very important teaching

purpose. In the process of the computer-aided

education project, we have done the following to

cultivate students' innovative abilities in the teaching

process:

 Adopt discussion teaching. Ask some

questions for students to find their answers

for discussion, and the teacher guides them.

For some content, give some directions and

ideas, so that students can try to study and

answer them. In the teaching process,

teachers pay attention to the role of needle

threading, control, and guidance. Let all

students participate in it. Through this

process of exercise, they can quickly adapt

to future college studies.

 Carry out research-based teaching. Use the

generation methods of various shapes to

construct different shapes and discuss their

projections, which not only trains innovation

ability but also increases the training of

students' spatial imagination ability.

Students are required to complete their

homework in the form of a report after class,

which can be discussed and completed

together in groups.

 Use the characteristics of 3D printing to

carry out the creative design of object

configuration and print output. Give

questions, let students create as many shapes

as possible through the knowledge they have

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learned, experience the fun of creativity, and

experiment with printing and output. I use

the theoretical knowledge I have learned and

mastered the hands-on link of practice. What

I see is what I get.

 Use the advantages of education

informatization for real-time review and

coaching communication without time or

space restrictions. Micro classes have been

made. And an engineering graph learning

resource has been established to enrich

students’ learning.

5 RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE

The teaching effect of the course is evaluated through

comparison. In the second and third years of the

reform, the results will be reflected through the

statistical analysis of performance statistics and

questionnaires after the completion of the class study

of the same school hours and the same requirements

(Xiao Yang, 2017). Specific evaluation methods:

First, compare and analyze students' course

examination results in the two academic years before

and after the computer-aided education mode of the

course, test students' mastery of course knowledge,

and evaluate the teaching effect relatively

objectively; second, compare the design and

expression ability, teamwork ability and shape of the

two teaching models to students. The impact of the

improvement of ability and quality such as physical

innovation and conception ability to verify the effect

of computer-aided education.

By the principle of overall sampling and strict

control of differences between groups, 60 students

were selected from each of the two academic years

before and after the computer-aided education mode

as the object of investigation and analysis, that is, 60

people from the reform teaching group (referred to as

the computer-aided education group) and 60 people

from the traditional teaching group (referred to as the

traditional group).

Both groups of elective students come from the

same department, and the same grade, and the student

foundation and the content of the previous courses are

the same. The specific analysis of the curriculum

results and ability improvement of the two groups of

students is as follows:

5.1 Course Results Analysis

Judging from the course results of the two groups of

students, there are obvious differences between the

computer-aided education group and the traditional

group in terms of average score, variance, and

excellent rate. The average score of the computer-

aided education group was nearly 10 points higher

than that of the traditional group. The score variance

of the computer-aided education group is 5.1, and the

traditional group is 11.3. The variance of the

computer-aided education group is about half that of

the traditional group, indicating that the individual

score difference of the computer-aided education

group is significantly reduced. Judging from the

excellent rate (the proportion of course scores of more

than 90 points), the excellent rate of computer-aided

education teaching group students is significantly

higher than that of the traditional teaching group, with

an overall increase of 13.3%. The results of the

specific analysis are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Comparison of the academic performance.

Group

Number o

examiners

Average

erformance

Performance

variance

Excellence

rate

CAE

group

60 78.9 5.1 23.3%

Traditional

group

60 69.6 11.3 12%

The analysis results of the schoolwork transcript

factor difference between the reform group and the

traditional group also show that there is a significant

difference between the computer-aided education

group and the traditional group. That is, at the level

of a=0.05, the p-value is 0.00012, which is far less

than 0.01.

The above results show that: Computer-aided

education pays attention to the combination of online

and offline, emphasizing a new teaching model such

as research teaching and cooperative learning, which

is conducive to generally improving students'

understanding and mastery of knowledge and skills,

reducing individual differences among students, and

effectively promoting the individual academic

performance of each student. The improvement.

Compared with traditional teaching, computer-aided

education can achieve better teaching results in

knowledge transfer and skills training.

5.2 The Improvement Ability Analysis

According to the educational goals of this course,

students' ability literacy mainly includes 7 parts:

students' ability to understand and effectively use

what they have learned, engineering design ability,

ability to analyse and solve problems, innovative

thinking ability, expression and communication

Computer-Aided Education for Engineering Graphics Courses Using 3D Printing Technology

831

ability, teamwork ability and self-study ability.

Through a questionnaire survey of students from

CAE groups and traditional groups, it is found that the

above-mentioned ability factors of CAE teaching

group students are significantly better than that of

traditional teaching groups. The details are shown in

Table 2.

Through three years of teaching research and

reform practice, this project has carried out and

completed the following tasks:

1. The study explores the impact of the application

of 3D printing technology on the teaching

content of engineering graphics courses, and

establishes a curriculum system corresponding

to it.

2. The study explores the experimental teaching

link of engineering graphics that is deeply

integrated with 3D printing and educational

informatization. A relatively complete

curriculum experimental teaching system has

been initially established. The deep integration

of experimental teaching content and classroom

teaching content deepens students'

understanding and application of book

knowledge and is conducive to the smooth

progress of the teaching process. Figure 4

shows the experimental results of the students.

a. Machine part

b. Creative construction objects

Figure 4: Students’ course experimental results.

The study explores the method of using 3D

printing technology to cultivate students' innovative

abilities. Figure 5 shows the data of the seven ability

element indicators of the two groups of students after

completing their studies. The CAE group is higher

than the traditional group. The development and

application of information technology will change

our scientific and technological development and life,

and will also have a great impact on higher

engineering education. It should be said that the

development and application of 3D printing

technology have changed the manufacturing mode of

a large class of mechanical products, and will also

produce many new application fields and application

results. Teaching reform focusing on the impact and

requirements of these new technologies on the

curriculum can improve the quality of teaching and

meet the growing talent requirements of science,

technology, and the economy for institutions of

higher education.

Figure 5: Student ability analysis.

6 CONCLUSIONS

After nearly three years of reform and practice, the

teaching effect of the project is good. Students have

achieved excellent results in mechanical innovation

design competitions and 3D innovation design

competitions in Sichuan Province and the whole

country. The 2019 Asia-Pacific Graphic Forum was

held at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and some of

the results of the project were exchanged with

international counterparts (Xiao Yang, Hang Chuan-

jun, 2017).

3D printing technology is a modern technology

that has only been widely used in this century. It will

have a revolutionary impact on the manufacturing and

production mode of products and deeply affect the

manufacturing industry. It will also have an impact on

the teaching and talent training methods of relevant

majors in relevant colleges and universities. 3D

printing technology is still developing continuously,

and its deep integration and practice of corresponding

courses in colleges and universities is also a new

topic. Studying the theory and practice of deeply

integrating information technology with the teaching

of specific engineering graphics courses is necessary.

The times are developing, science and technology

are developing, and students' abilities, quality, and

requirements are also developing. Therefore,

teaching reform must keep pace with the times and

Student ability analysis

Traditional CAE

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keep pace with development. For students, we must

consider the impact of the current growth

environment on them. Considering the impact of

information technology on our lives, in the Internet

era, students' social methods have changed, and there

are many new modern teaching methods. What

impact will the introduction and application of these

teaching methods affect the teaching of engineering

graphics? And the effect deserves further discussion

and research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by the key research

project on the application and development of

education informatization of the Sichuan Provincial

， Department of Education (JYXX18-001).

REFERENCES

Yao Zhiming., 2018. Drive Education Modernization with

Education Informatization. China higher education,

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He Kekang., 2019. The significant impact of emerging

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deepening reform of education. Research on Electronic

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Wang Lina, Chen Lin., 2018. Exploring the Innovative Way

of Education Informationization in the New Era: A

Summary of the 16th International Forum on

Educational Technology. E-education Research,

2018(06):35-40.

Wu Yan., 2018. New Engineering: The Future of Higher

Engineering Education. Research on Higher

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Li Maoguo., 2016. Reform trend of the engineering talent

training model for the new industrial revolution.

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Zhao Ji, Xie Yinbo., 2017. New Engineering course

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Zhu Gaofeng., 2016. Regarding the development prospects

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Zhou Yi, Xiao Yang., 2015. Opportunities and Challenges:

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APPENDIX

Table 2: Variance analysis.

Ability factors

Teaching mode

Student self-evaluation

Very disapproval disapproval same approval Very approval Mean value

Knowledge

comprehension and

application ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 8(26.67%) 13(43.33%) 9(30%) 4.03

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 8(26.67%) 21(70%) 4.67

Engineering design

ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 2(6.67%) 8(26.67%) 10(33.33%) 10(33.33%) 3.93

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 6(20%) 23(76.67%) 4.73

Analytical and

problem-solving

ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 3(10%) 13(43.33%) 13(43.33%) 4.27

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 7(23.33%) 23(76.67%) 4.77

Innovative thinking

ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 10(33.33%) 14(46.67%) 6(20%) 3.87

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 12(40%) 18(60%) 4.6

Computer-Aided Education for Engineering Graphics Courses Using 3D Printing Technology

833

Express

communication skills

traditional group 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 13(43.33%) 11(36.67%) 5(16.67%) 3.67

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 13(43.33%) 17(56.67%) 4.57

Teamwork ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 1(3.33%) 18(60%) 10(33.33%) 4.23

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 6(20%) 24(80%) 4.8

Self-taught ability

traditional group 0(0.00%) 1(3.33%) 3(10%) 16(53.33%) 10(33.33%) 4.17

CAE groups 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 8(26.67%) 22(73.33%) 4.73

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