Papers by Alfonso Martin-Erro
Exploring freehand drawing skills of engineering students as a support of visualization
Edication Sciences, 2024
The importance of having engineering students proficient in visual literacy has long been recogni... more The importance of having engineering students proficient in visual literacy has long been recognized. Within this objetive, the role of freehand drawing is paramount. It is therefore important to reinforce its practise for engineering communication and visual thinking support.
This paper reports the findings of a research project aimed at studying the visual literacy skills of engineering students and the use of freehand drawing for this purpose.
This exploratory study focuses on visualization and its externalization by freehand drawing. An empirical study was conducted with 66 engineering students from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). Its skills for expressing visualized images by freehand drawing and its tendency to use drawings for problem solving were evaluated.
The findings of the study indicate that students generally lack skills in expressing ideas by freehand drawing, additionally they do not tend to apply drawing when finding solutions to given problems. Considering the importance of freehand drawing to reinforce visual literacy, the implementation of its practice is encouraged in order to have students competent in thinking and communicating through these means.
Resumen Esta tesis doctoral muestra una revisión del dibujo a mano alzada en el actual entorno de... more Resumen Esta tesis doctoral muestra una revisión del dibujo a mano alzada en el actual entorno de la ingeniería gráfica, fijándose en su contribución al desarrollo de la Alfabetización visual. El presente siglo XXI plantea grandes desafíos a la profesión de ingeniería, entendiendo que todo profesional y estudiante debe desarrollar adecuadamente las competencias que tratan de la comunicación, el aprendizaje y el pensamiento visuales. El medio natural para este cometido son los gráficos, al ser su función de comunicar ideas, generarlas y documentarlas. El dibujo a mano alzada abarca todas estas funciones. El ámbito de esta investigación doctoral se centra en la función cognitiva del dibujo a mano alzada, estudiando su contribución como apoyo al pensamiento en la resolución de problemas de diseño y concretándose en su fomento dentro del entorno docente. El dibujo a mano alzada como apoyo al diseño ha sido estudiado exhaustivamente en arquitectura y en diseño, habiéndose abordado en menor medida en ingeniería. El papel del dibujo a mano alzada, en forma de bocetos, es reconocido ampliamente por la comunidad académica y gran parte de la educativa. Su necesidad de retomar su enseñanza es asimismo un hecho consensuado. En este sentido se han llevado a cabo diferentes enfoques, desarrollando las habilidades en el dibujo a mano alzada con la premisa de que con ello se estimulan las capacidades resolutivas y de ideación. En esta investigación doctoral se propone un enfoque distinto, contemplándolo desde aspectos metodológicos. El objetivo consiste primeramente en identificar la caracterización creativa del dibujo en ingeniería. Para ello se realiza un análisis de bocetos realizados por ingenieros de diseño, tanto desde aspectos del proceso de ideación, como los formales del propio dibujo. Se hace un estudio comparativo con otros bocetos realizados por diseñadores de producto y arquitectos. Se evalúan también otras técnicas gráficas, identificadas como "Visual Thinking", susceptibles de su uso en diseño de ingeniería. El resultado da pie a la definición de un marco metodológico. vi En paralelo, se ha desarrollado una investigación conducente a estudiar las características particulares de la Alfabetización visual en ingeniería, y enumerar las competencias requeridas para su desarrollo. Este trabajo investigador se llevó a cabo en el seno del proyecto internacional Erasmus+ "Visual Literacy for Engineering Education". Se han llevado a cabo diferentes experiencias empíricas en tres centros educativos de
Applying Visual Thinking Techniques in Engineering Education
Springer eBooks, Dec 9, 2021
Applying Visual Thinking Techniques in Engineering Education
Advances in Design Engineering II, 2021
A framework for visual literacy competences in engineering education
Journal of Visual Literacy, 2022
Creativity and Engineering Design: Analysis Into the Educational Environment
ABSTRACT Creativity is an important subject in many areas, regarding design. Engineering Designer... more ABSTRACT Creativity is an important subject in many areas, regarding design. Engineering Designers has to face several design problems, since concept ideation to detail as well as manufacturing. A creative strategy will easily solve most of engineering design problems. Visual thinking is important mean for a creative practice on engineering design. There are several studies and methods for creativity and engineering design. However, creativity and engineering remains as an open question. Engineering professionals do not apply creativity as it is desired. A survey study confirmed this lack of creativity in the engineering design processes. One of these causes can be allocated into the educational phase of engineers. Current engineering educational programs are replacing subjects where creativity is fostered. One case is the use of Computer Aided Design for tasks later performed by sketches. Sketching is a visual thinking tool considered as paramount for designers and a proven tool for creative work. Engineering students does not often work with sketches and uses computer aided design tools instead. In this paper we study several creative learning approaches from various perspectives and then we propose an implementation model into the engineering academic programs. In the first part we will discuss the open question of creativity on engineering. Need of creativity as well as different creative approaches are shown. In the second part we will show a survey study made on some engineering professionals. In the third part we will analyse this question focusing on the educational stage and in the fourth part a proposal is made according to visual thinking to implement creativity on engineering education.
Design Engineering
The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016
Searching the Ways to Creativity in Engineering Education Through Engineering Graphics
The Role of Sketching in Engineering Design and Its Presence on Engineering Education
INTED2016 Proceedings, 2016
Sketching is understood as a key factor for creative expression, one the most effective visual th... more Sketching is understood as a key factor for creative expression, one the most effective visual thinking tools and so applied for design. Is considered the principal approach by which design engineers externalize their concepts and where the drawings provide visual clues for refinement and revision. Engineering Design researchers as well as professionals agrees the value of sketching to enhance visual thinking and so creativity, but sketching presence in engineering education is so few. There is a decrease in class hours for graphical subjects in current engineering curricula. Moreover, these even pays more attention to metric geometry and CAD training, and so sketching practice is almost totally displaced by modern computer-aided tools. Our appreciation is that sketching is not valued as a powerful visual thinking tool and seen as an old drawing method, replaced by new computer drafting interfaces. We studied how sketching is valued at engineering schools by students and educators, about their opinions related on the importance of sketching, how they see as a creative tool and how they apply for courses, for teaching and for learning. It is very important that engineering colleges give students the value of sketching, as well of foster its use, to train the future design engineer “not only in the standard drafting skills, but additionally in the ability to represent concepts that are more abstract and best represented as sketches”. To foster creative problem solving, engineering schools should offer formal courses in sketching and drawing in support of design projects: teaching basic techniques in freehand sketching would help them generate quicker and more effective external visualizations of their ideas, and thus foster their creativity.
Logistic support of local government units in Poland is a one of subject that, in the area of log... more Logistic support of local government units in Poland is a one of subject that, in the area of logistics considerations, occupies an even more important place. On the one hand, the question is whether logistics in LGU should be considered as an element of effective management and, on the other hand, logistic activities should be considered in terms of support. The differences in consistency and scope of logistic activities (and logistical support) at different levels of LGU have been assumed to be the basic issue. The reflections were based on theoretical assumptions about the possibilities of using logistic processes and actions in the functioning of local government units. The article has a theoretical character. The logistic paradigm has attempted to define integrated logistical support for local government units. Using the method of secondary analysis of documents and the deduction technique, the possibility of proposing the concept of vertical integration of logistic support measures in local government units was proposed. To this end, the scope of logistic support for territorial self-government units has been characterized, taking into account the voivodship, poviat and commune levels. Identification and discussion of the concept of integrated logistic support of the territorial self-government units has been identified and implemented thus realizing the purpose of the article aiming at identifying possibilities of integration of logistic support measures as a contribution to the economic and social development of Poland's regions.
Spanish Engineering Graphic Expression Subjects and Its Relation to Creativity Competence
ICERI2017 Proceedings
Creativity and Engineering Education: A Survey of Approaches and Current State
ICERI2016 Proceedings, 2016
Visual Literacy as a Strategy for Fostering Creativity in Engineering Education
ICERI2016 Proceedings, 2016
Aplicaciones De Entornos De Realidad Mixta en El Diseño y Fabricación De Productos
Dyna, Jul 1, 2014
Aplicaciones industriales de entornos de realidad virtual y de realidad aumentada
Dyna, 2014
Métodos y Recursos Empleados en El Proceso De Diseño Conceptual: Resultados De Un Estudio Empírico
DYNA INGENIERIA E INDUSTRIA, 2015
Aplicaciones De Entornos De Realidad Mixta en El Diseño y Fabricación De Productos
DYNA INGENIERIA E INDUSTRIA, 2014
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Papers by Alfonso Martin-Erro
This paper reports the findings of a research project aimed at studying the visual literacy skills of engineering students and the use of freehand drawing for this purpose.
This exploratory study focuses on visualization and its externalization by freehand drawing. An empirical study was conducted with 66 engineering students from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). Its skills for expressing visualized images by freehand drawing and its tendency to use drawings for problem solving were evaluated.
The findings of the study indicate that students generally lack skills in expressing ideas by freehand drawing, additionally they do not tend to apply drawing when finding solutions to given problems. Considering the importance of freehand drawing to reinforce visual literacy, the implementation of its practice is encouraged in order to have students competent in thinking and communicating through these means.