Peer Review

Animated Engines

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Dec 23, 2021 by Engineering

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: The material is a collection of 21 animations describing the working process of a wide variety of engines. Carefully explained, each engine is illustrated with appealing animations that can be slowed down for a better understanding. It is suitable for college students in the matter of heat engines.
Type of Material:: Open access website. Animation.
Recommended Uses:: It could be recommended for courses on technology in STEM disciplines. Useful for visualization of cyclic engines in traditional and hybrid/blended teaching.This material can be used by the teacher in class to explain the functioning of these different engines or by the students at home to deepen in the understanding of their behavior once they have been seen in class.
Technical Requirements:: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Microsoft Edge browsers were used to access the material. It seems that all facilities are active for any browser.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The website is addressed to science, technology and engineering students and teachers of a variety of educational levels interested in learning about the cyclic Engines. User will learn how the most common steam, Stirling and internal combustion engines work as well as their differences.
Target Student Population:: Grade School, Middle School, High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Basic knowledge of physics engineering and technology.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The website presents 21 animated illustrations that explain the inner workings of a variety of steam, Stirling, and internal combustion engines. For the sake of a better observation, the speed of animations can be varied by means of a simple control panel. The website carefully explains each step of the portrayed engines. The animations, though simplified, reflect even small details of the real engines, such as differences in the timing of the valves or different lengths of the strokes. For every case, additional information on the physical processes taking place is presented in a step-by-step text. Both the animations and the explanations are thoroughly based on the provided bibliography.

Concerns:

Although it includes a number of engines, the list of animated engines is not a systematic and methodological classification of engines. The list is not linked to any conceptual criteria of engines.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The learning objectives and prerequisite knowledge of animations are not declared explicitly but they address common core examples in mechanical engineering courses. Animations can be used as “visualization tools”, easy to integrate into curriculum assignments. The author explains the differences between engines that are based in the sample principle. The animations are considerably helpful for the teacher to explain how each one of the engines work thanks to its simplicity. Additional information in textboxes, although very short, helps to link the animation with core content in technology and engineering textbooks. Website can be linked to any LMS.

Concerns:

Animations do not show any relation between concepts, neither shows progressive learning options or student’s outcomes, they are only demonstrative. The material is intended to illustrate and give examples of the engines, but the material does not scale up (it does not increase progressively the knowledge on the topic, but gives several examples, all at the same educational level). The explanations provided could not be enough for novel students, and the further development of the topic by the teacher may be required.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The manipulation of the animations is easy and simple. The animations are appealing and concise, and visually attractive as they are very dynamic. Interactivity is related to the change the speed of the animation. The language used by the author is proficient but also friendly.
Concerns:: Animations can not be downloaded, only website use id permitted. No accessibility alternatives are provided.

Other Issues and Comments:: The website is addressed to science, technology and engineering students and teachers of a variety of educational levels interested in learning about the cyclic Engines. It contains 21 animated illustrations that explain the inner workings of a variety of steam, Stirling, and internal combustion engines. For the sake of a better understanding, the speed of animations can be varied by means of a simple control panel. Animations represent, though some simplifications, the main mechanical features of cyclic engines in a visual manner. Animations can be used as “visualization tools”, easy to integrate into curriculum assignments. Very ease of use as website. A section of the site is devoted to explaining how the animations were created in case someone wants to produce similar animations.
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