Sketchtivity is an intelligent sketch tutoring software designed to teach two-point perspective sketching techniques in undergraduate mechanical engineering courses. This is an NSF funded collaborative project with Texas A&M, Purdue University, San Jose State University, and Georgia Tech. We are investigating the impacts of Sketchtivity on sketch learning outcomes. The software is being implemented in classrooms at three universities. In addition to evaluating sketching improvement, we are also investigating the role of sketching in the design process. We are analyzing the relationship between sketching ability and idea generation ability for mechanical design problems and the relationship between sketching ability and engineers’ propensity for sketching as they design.
The application, which was developed by the research team, provides each student with iterative, real-time, personalized feedback on the drawing, promoting improvements and facilitating learning. Free-hand drawing and its associated benefits were inadvertently removed from the engineering curricula when educators transitioned from hand drafting to Computer-Aided-Design. This transition has resulted in the lack of student and faculty proficiency in freehand drawing. This project will support restoration of 2D-perspective drawing to engineering curricula. The project has the potential to produce significant new knowledge about drawing-based artificial intelligence (AI) tools. It can also increase understanding about the effects of feedback and reflective prompts on drawing skills, and on learning and creativity. The project will compare AI-based assessments to assessments conducted by humans, thus providing additional information about development of intelligent tutoring systems. The impact of drawing ability on students’ creativity and spatial reasoning skills will be investigated, along with the transferability of drawing skills to other courses in engineering.
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