Bill Clyne

1
Transformations in Materials Education in the
UK - Materials Science at the Forefront of the
Pedagogical IT Industry
Bill Clyne
2
Talk Outline

• The 1980s Early Initiatives by Academics
  - Activities at Surrey The IoM Software Series

• The 1990s National Schemes Emergence of the
  Web - The Liverpool Focus The MATTER
  Project

• The 2000s Liverpool becomes the Nerve Centre
  - Establishment of The UK Subject Centre in
  Materials

• The future National Consolidation Global
  Leadership - Development, Delivery and
  Maintenance of IT Resources

3
A (Very) Potted History of Personal Computing
1943 I think that there is a world market for
maybe five computers Thomas Watson (Chairman
of IBM)
1975 IBM 5100 launched - first desktop model,
with QWERTY keyboard
1975 Microsoft founded by Bill Gates Paul Allen
1976 Apple Computer (Steve Jobs Steve Woniak)
launch Apple I
1981 IBM Personal Computer launched, running
Microsoft DOS
1981 Acorn BBC model B launched (UK)
1983 Apple launches Lisa OS, with graphical user
interface
1984 Apple MacIntosh launched
1985 Microsoft introduces Windows OS
1991 Apple launches Powerbook series -
effectively first laptop
1994-96 Worldwide Web becomes established
2002 worldwide computer sales reach one billion
2008 laptop PC sales overtake desktop model sales
4
The BBC Micro ( others) arrive in UK
Universities ( Homes)
Babbage Difference Engine Designed 1849, built
2002
Acorn BBC Micro Model B Introduced 1981,
retailing at 299 Over one million sold
"BBC Computer Literacy Project - aimed to have
at least one in every school
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State of the Art in (UK) Home Computing 1986
Acorn BBC Master, twin floppy drive, monitor and
mouse
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Early IT in Teaching Initiatives - Key Role of
PJG (Surrey U.)
Figure from 1981 article in IoM house journal
(focussed on Materials Department at Surrey),
relating to PJG work on simulation of He bubble
growth in irradiated Niobium
Screen shot from PJG educational software package
for BBC Micro, written in BBC BASIC. The package
simulates impingement of individual electrons on
a thin foil, and their trajectories resulting
from elastic (red) and inelastic (blue)
scattering events (circa 1983)
Peter Goodhew, circa 1968, when he started as a
Lecturer at Surrey
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Interactivity a Key Attraction of Educational
Software

• Its important that the student has some measure
  of involvement and control. This is useful, not
  only because it effectively allows more
  information to be available to the student, but
  also in view of the strong correlation between
  extent of interaction and level of interest.
  Furthermore, a program allowing student
  involvement leads to possibilities for setting
  problems, assignments and practicals which are
  centred around the software.

Article in 1984 issue of IoM house journal,
focussed on the scope for expanding the use of
microcomputing in materials education
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The IoM Engineering Materials Software Series
Started in 1984, as an offshoot of the Books
Division
PJG was Chairman of Software Committee
20 titles released, as floppy disks, with
associated small booklets
All ran on BBC Micros - some also ran on
IBMs (PCs)
Mostly written in BBC BASIC, although some
Assembly Language used
15 Authors, all (Amateur) Academics, all
programming self-taught (!)
Little or no info survives on sales -
probably 500 copies sold in total?
One of the first such initiatives, in UK or
globally
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An Example of an IoM Software Series Product
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Talk Outline

• The 1980s Early Initiatives by Academics
  - Activities at Surrey The IoM Software Series

• The 1990s National Schemes Emergence of the
  Web - The Liverpool Focus The MATTER
  Project

• The 2000s Liverpool becomes the Nerve Centre
  - Establishment of The UK Subject Centre in
  Materials

• The future National Consolidation Global
  Leadership - Development, Delivery and
  Maintenance of IT Resources

11
Genesis of the MATTER project
Started 1991, based in U. of Liverpool
(where PJG arrived in 1990)
Project (MATerials Tertiary Educational
Resources) primarily aimed at development of
interactive educational software packages
Directed by PJG since its inception
Initially one of many projects, across all
subject areas, supported by the HEFCE Teaching
and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP)
Good practice procedures guidelines
established for production of packages their
format standardised
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Innovation and Professionalism in the MATTER
project
System introduced of teaming an academic up
with a professional programmer, in order to
produce an educational package (module)
Stable team of 5-6 programmers maintained
over extended period (Andy Green, Boban Tanovic,
Ian Jones et al)
Sets of packages, bundled with a substantial
booklet, marketed from 1996 by Chapman Hall -
Materials Science on CD-ROM copies still
being sold! (30, Liverpool U. Press)
Used extensively in Universities worldwide
Packages and products successfully produced
for the schools market
Growing involvement of industry (Alcan
British Steel contributors)
Book (180 pp), with CD inside back cover 20
modules ( 20 authors, including MATTER
programmers)
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Simulation of Beam-Specimen Interactions in the
TEM
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Evolution of the MATTER project - an amazing
success story

• Technical developments during 1990s
  (programming languages, platforms, delivery modes
  etc) created various challenges it became clear
  1998 that the future was in web-based delivery

MATTER website (www.matter.org.uk ) became
main delivery mode in late 1990s start made on
translating packages to web-compatible format
Industrial partners spotted potential value of
resources for internal training of staff and
raising public profile (particularly of
metallurgy)
Industrial funding obtained AluMATTER,
SteelMATTER etc
Funding also obtained from EU, regional
development agencies etc
Easily the most successful of all of the (100
or so) TLTP-funded projects from the era, in
terms of innovation, productivity and durability
EU Da Vinci Award for aluMATTER, 2007
Medaille Bastien-Guillet awarded to MATTER, 2003
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Some of the MATTER team at work
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Talk Outline

• The 1980s Early Initiatives by Academics
  - Activities at Surrey The IoM Software Series

• The 1990s National Schemes Emergence of the
  Web - The Liverpool Focus The MATTER
  Project

• The 2000s Liverpool becomes the Nerve Centre
  - Establishment of The UK Subject Centre in
  Materials

• The future National Consolidation Global
  Leadership - Development, Delivery and
  Maintenance of IT Resources

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The Higher Education Academy Creation of UKCME

• The Higher Education Academy (HEA) was formed
  in 2004, with the remit to work with the
  higher education community to enhance all aspects
  of the student experience

• A total of 24 Subject Centres were created when
  the HEA was formed these cover subjects like
  Engineering, Bioscience, Medicine etc one of
  the 24 is Materials, based in Liverpool
  University

• PJG has been the Director of the UK Centre for
  Materials Education (UKCME) since it was opened

• The UKCME has about a dozen staff, based in
  Liverpool (Brodie Tower)

• UKCME has a highly informative website -
  www.materials.ac.uk

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Activities of the UKCME under the Direction of PJG

• Support provided for materials teaching in
  universities throughout the UK, within a wide
  range of types of department

• Source of information about resources for
  teaching of materials, particularly IT resources

• Very effective outreach activities to schools,
  colleges etc

• Frequent meetings workshops for dissemination
  of information about new resources etc, including
  annual meeting for new lecturers

• Funding provided for teaching initiatives in
  individual departments

• UKCME is very highly regarded within the HEA

Distribution of small grant support to UK
Universities, from UKCME, for purposes of
enhancement of teaching
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UKCME National Subject Profile Report 2008
Changes in student intake numbers into different
types of Materials course, over the past 10 years
Available from www.materials.ac.uk/subject-profi
le/report.asp
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Talk Outline

• The 1980s Early Initiatives by Academics
  - Activities at Surrey The IoM Software Series

• The 1990s National Schemes Emergence of the
  Web - The Liverpool Focus The MATTER
  Project

• The 2000s Liverpool becomes the Nerve Centre
  - Establishment of The UK Subject Centre in
  Materials

• The future National Consolidation Global
  Leadership - Development, Delivery and
  Maintenance of IT Resources

21
Future Developments in Use of IT for Materials
Education

• The use of IT, particularly the internet, in
  delivery of (materials-related) educational
  resources will continue to increase

• These resources will include conventional
  lecture handouts, question sheets, micrographs,
  phase diagrams etc, but the role of ( student
  expectation of) interactive multi-media
  resources will continue to grow

• This will probably be accompanied by a decrease
  in the role of conventional books, although
  hopefully this wont disappear altogether

• Such interactive resources, including
  educational software packages, are potentially of
  very wide utility, provided that they can be used
  in a flexible manner and adapted to suit local
  requirements

• Quality and quality control are of critical
  importance

• Quality requires the engagement of outstanding
  scientists engineers the availability of
  systematic technical support in producing
  resources

• Quality control requires a system for
  overseeing, monitoring distribution - UKCME is
  ideally placed to play, in fact to pioneer, this
  role, building on experiences from the IoM
  series, MATTER, DoITPoMS etc

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Future Production of IT Resources for Materials
Education

• Continued involvement of professional
  programmers, or at least of people with good IT
  skills, will probably be essential, but its
  important that they should be used efficiently

• Helpful if resources are broken down into
  bite-sized elements, so that users (lecturers
  students) can download use them in various ways

• Support arrangements probably best provided in a
  concerted way (ie in particular periods
  locations), giving critical mass benefits

• Benefits in using (hand-picked!) students in
  resource production, with support system and
  academic supervisors provided - DoITPoMS summer
  schools in Cambridge are working very well
  UKCME produced a report on these - see
  www.materials.ac.uk/pub/case-cambridge.asp

DoITPoMS website www.doitpoms.ac.uk
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Simulation of Beam Bending with Plastic
Deformation
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The Global Perspective

• Materials is a subject with a particular need
  for flexible tertiary educational resources,
  since its studied in a wide range of
  environments

• Global market is very large probably 200
  Materials Depts, plus 2,000 more Depts with
  interest in Materials (ie 105 academics 106
  students), plus many millions of individuals,
  teachers, school-children etc

• Clear that UK is in the vanguard of movement
  towards an ehanced role for (disseminated) IT
  usage in Materials teaching learning for
  example, global accessing of MATTER DoITPoMS
  websites is very heavy

• International conferences, which increasingly
  incorporate (well-attended) symposia on materials
  education, reflect the prominent role of the UK -
  for example, PJG has given many invited talks,
  sits on organising bodies etc he is giving a
  Plenary Talk at Euromat 2009 on Materials
  Education