UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
The Teaching Development Grants scheme funded the production of electronic resources which were a part of a much larger collection of resources and aids for teaching and research based at the University of Cambridge. Since 1997, the PI had been involved in the creation of a comprehensive web resource which would archive the entire volume of Metallurgy based research and teaching aids. The contents of this web-site comprise of a wide range of material, including self-sufficient overviews of subjects related to metallurgy, lecture notes and presentations, electronic copies of textbooks, as well as electronic copies of graduate theses. The aim of this endeavour was to ‘teach the world’ rather than just the students in a class. The contents of this website included material for entire courses, as well as other related resources for research and teaching. Over time, this web resource (http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/index.html) has grown to incorporate a wide variety of material related to teaching and research. All this material is freely available, royalty free and easily downloadable. Anecdotal evidence, as well as access statistics (http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/access/access2.html) point towards the immense popularity of this website. A further indication of the dissemination of this web resource is the use of its contents for the Micrograph library and TLPs created at the Department of Material Science and Metallurgy as part of the DOITPOMS project, also funded through the UKCME’s Supported Change Programme.
A significant part of the contents of this web resource stemmed from the existing research interests. In some cases, research for a self-sufficient study for the website has also led to a new research interest for the PI, which has resulted in publications in peer-reviewed journals. Studies which are not directly related to the PI’s research interest were commissioned from graduate students, post-doctoral and research staff, ex-students and associates. This delegation ensured that the website is populated with resources, and the money also acted as an incentive for graduate students. Quality control is ensured by the PI, who checks all content before uploading it onto the website. The content is periodically updated, and in most cases enhanced through the addition of photographic material or videos obtained from both private (through visits made by the PI or through contacts) and industrial sources. Because these websites are very popular worldwide (if searched through the popular search engine Google, they usually rank amongst the top five or eight recommended websites), they have also generated a lot of feedback from users worldwide, who have not only pointed out errors but have also volunteered to provide material to update the web content. The grant holder has also uploaded copyright free books on his website with permission from publishers.
The following are the resources which have been specifically developed using UKCME funding:
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2005/Stainless_steels/stainless.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2006/SI/SI.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2005/Amir/bond.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2006/Irradiated_Steel/Irradiated_Steel.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2002/FR.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2001/adi/cast.iron.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2006/hydroforming.html
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2007/LDH.html
