Subject:
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Re: New Civil Engineer - Lego vs Meccano debate
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.uk, lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Fri, 3 Aug 2001 10:16:16 GMT
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Viewed:
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1024 times
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Dear all. Thanks for your help.
Here is the completed 300 words. They've kind of backed me into a corner by
changing the question so it's back to being specifically about degree
courses and I'm not as fiercely anti-Meccano in that arena but I've decided
to send it anyway. There may be time to change it if anyone has a problem.
"I agree that construction toys should be used to teach structural
principles, particularly as they allow trial and error and therefore
learning through discovery rather than imitation. However, though Meccano
is a very good medium for modelling steel structures, I feel that Lego has
significant advantages.
When I first encountered Meccano as a young child I found using nuts and
bolts was much more fiddly than the snap together method of Lego. It also
irritated me that on some Meccano models you had to bend the metal plates,
and then bend the same ones back for different models so eventually they
would split (though I suppose that's a useful lesson about fatigue cracking!).
Today’s students are more likely to have used Lego before, mostly because it
is designed to grow up with a child, Duplo is easy for infants but connects
with System which then leads up to the advanced Technic range. Familiarity
with the methods used to build means that work can start sooner and
experimentation is easier.
Lego has a history of supporting education. The Dacta educational theme
includes teacher’s packs and special parts like solar cells and capacitors.
I would love to see a University level Dacta set and if the market was there
I am sure Lego would produce one.
I believe the preference for Meccano is down to age. People who are older
than their 30's either didn't have Lego as children, or if they did, all
they had was bricks. Lego has become more sophisticated, particularly since
1978 and the introduction of Technic, with a range of mechanical elements
including differentials, shock absorbers, pneumatic pumps and cylinders and
now the new robotics system Mindstorms.
I am a civil engineer because of Lego, it got me interested in building
things and helped me understand structures. I think it can and should be
used to do this for others."
...let the BURP-stoning commence!
Psi
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