Evaluation of a compact CAD course in laboratory experiments

With the increasing deployment of CAD, the necessity of instructing employees in the use of such systems grows; short training periods are desirable. The authors developed a compact course of 40‐hour's duration in which 32 individuals (engineering students) were instructed on a 2‐dimensional CAD system; a subsequent investigation of the achievements of the course was made with the use of laboratory experiments. In qualitative and quantitative respects the performance achieved using CAD during a drawing task was lower than that attained by the same individuals at the drawing board. A compact course of the described extent can only be the basis for self‐instruction. Interrelations between the quality of the results and the method of work exist. With regard to the performance, the variance among individuals was distinctly higher at the CAD terminal than at the drawing board. A prediction concerning the achievements of the course drawn from the performance at the drawing board, especially when based on quantitative achievements, is problematic.