Appropriation of Functional Analysis Tools in Learning Mechanical Design

Abstract

Technical system design plays an important role in the training of professionals working in industrial production companies. It enables professionals to develop multitechnical systems. Functional, structural and behavioral analysis approaches form the basis for teaching and learning about the design of multitechnical systems. In addition, various tools from the industrial world are associated with each approach and used in the teaching-learning activities of the mechanical design of technical systems. However, their use in mechanical design teaching and learning activities raises numerous problems, sometimes linked to the pedagogical exploitation of these analysis tools, their use and/or their appropriation by students. From an exploratory perspective, this article attempts to identify the factors that promote the effectiveness of students’ mechanical design learning process with functional analysis tools. After a description of the mechanical design learning context, students’ perceptions of functional analysis tools were collected using a questionnaire. The data collected from 89 students helped address questions related to the evaluation of functional analysis tools, their appropriation by students and the identification of factors likely to promote learning effectiveness. A statistical analysis was carried out to explore the relationships between the student profile, the use of functional analysis tools, their educational use, the interaction between the student and these tools, and, finally, the effectiveness of the student’s learning. The results of the analysis made it possible to highlight factors that promote the effectiveness of students’ learning of mechanical design using functional analysis tools.