Sonja Gorjanc Web Textbook for Descriptive

Assistant Professor
University of Zagreb
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Geometry
Croatia
In this paper we present educational material which is a basis for a web
Ema Jurkin textbook designed for the lectures on geometric subjects. The textbook is
Associate Professor available online for free. It differs from previous textbooks in the
University of Zagreb
Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum
application of information technologies in presenting classic contents and
Engineering introducing 3D modelling in descriptive geometry teaching.
Croatia
Keywords: geometry education, descriptive geometry, web textbook

1. INTRODUCTION teaching material, which required interdisciplinary

knowledge and skills, in parallel with lesson prepa–
In this paper we present educational material which is a ration. The starting point of the textbook was repository
basis for a web textbook designed for the lectures on of educational materials created within the project
geometric subjects, [1]. The authors of the textbook are Introducing 3D Modeling into Geometry Education at
geometry teachers from the University of Zagreb, three Technical Colleges that was supported by Fund for
of them, Sonja Gorjanc, Helena Koncul and Iva Development of the University of Zagreb, [2]. During
Kodrnja, coming from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the year 2012 twelve teachers worked on the project,
and one, Ema Jurkin, from the Faculty of Mining, and four faculties were involved. The head of the pro–
Geology and Petroleum Engineering. The contents of ject was Sonja Gorjanc. The main goals of the project
the textbook cover the topics that are taught within the were strengthening the professional and scientific colla–
courses Descriptive Geometry and Perspective at the boration among teachers, developing teaching metho–
Faculty of Civil Engineering, and courses Descriptive dology for 3D computer modeling to enhance geometry
Geometry and Descriptive Geometry with Computer courses, and harmonization of educational material sta–
Graphics at the Faculty of Mining, Geology and ndards and their implementation in the e-learning sys–
Petroleum Engineering, however, some of its content is tems of the technical faculties that were involved. The
also applicable to other faculties in Croatia. focus of the project was creating a basic repository of
The textbook is available online for free and material related to common teaching topics and those
licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence. One can customized to profiles of each faculty, [3]. The expe–
include the full textbook, or only the parts of the rience of teachers using created educational materials
textbook, into various e-learning platforms. Materials were described in [4].
can be used free under the same conditions, i.e. must not During the last few years we enriched the existing
be used commercially. repository with new material and increased the number
The importance of clear and careful spatial reaso– of topics it used to cover, giving it a form of textbook.
ning and its graphic representation in the education of We tried to connect the benefits of classical and modern
future engineers makes descriptive geometry a tradit– approaches to teaching geometry guided by the thoughts
ional mathematical course at technical faculties, parti– presented in [5], as well as in [6] and [7].
cularly at those related to civil engineering. A series of
high-quality descriptive geometry textbooks were 2. CONTENTS OF TEXTBOOK
published in Croatian during last fifty years, and this
textbook presents their sequel. However, it really differs Table of contents is the following:
from previous textbooks in the application of infor– 1. Plane Geometry
mation technologies in presenting classic contents and 1.1. Extended Euclidean Plane
introducing 3D modelling in descriptive geometry 1.2. Second Order Curves - Conic Sections
teaching. Therefore, a different approach to some course 1.3. Transformations of Plane
units has been required. Due to specific characteristics 2. Space Geometry – Method of Projections
of descriptive geometry as a discipline of mathematics, 2.1. Introduction to Space Geometry
the textbook is graphically rich and it contains 38 2.2. Monge's Method of Projections
interactive files, 493 original drawings and figures, 83 2.3. Axonometry
original animations, 82 original presentations and 93 2.4. Elevated Projection
video clips (up to five minutes), a total of more than six 2.5. Perspective
hours of audio and video material. 3. Space Geometry – Surfaces and Space Curves
It took quite a long time to prepare this extensive 3.1. Surfaces
3.2. Intersections of Surfaces with Planes
Received: June 2018, Accepted: December 2018 3.3. Intersections of Surfaces
Correspondence to: Ema Jurkin, Associate Professor, 3.4. Undevelopable Ruled Surfaces
Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, 4. Space Geometry - 3D Modeling with program
University of Zagreb, Croatia Rhinoceros
E-mail: [email protected] 4.1. Introduction to Rhinoceros
doi:10.5937/fmet1902263G
© Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade. All rights reserved FME Transactions (2019) 47, 263-266 263
 4.2. Solved Examples and Tasks faces, helicoids) and space curves (intersection curves
of surfaces, helixes).
The first chapter deals with plane geometry in more In the final chapter the contents are presented thro–
detail than a descriptive geometry courses. The chapter ugh the application of computer technologies. For teac–
contains more than 30 interactive figures designed by hing 3D modeling we use Rhinoceros. It was chosen for
GeoGebra, and by allowing the user to move certain the following reasons: a good experience of the colle–
elements one can study the plane constructions and their agues from the University of Innsbruck, a relatively low
properties in detail. The links in the textbook enable the cost of the educational lab licence and the free trial
user to connect to certain contents when dealing with version available for students’ downloads. Therefore,
other contents in the textbook. the textbook also contains 88 five-minute video clips
The second chapter deals with space geometry and helping students to learn basics of Rhinoceros 3D
methods of projection, i.e. basic classic contents of modeling.
descriptive geometry. Modern technology is used for They were produced by the screencasting program
visualization. The chapter mostly deals with Monge’s Jing. By using video clips, students are introduced to
method, with solved exercises presented as a slideshow the basics of Rhinoceros on their own. Every time when
with video clips of spatial representations. we want to teach them something about Rhinoceros, we
A large number of figures and animations are use a geometry example. So, at the same time students
supported by Mathematica, while slideshows are master the computer program and learn geometrical
created using Adobe Illustrator. contents chosen by geometry teachers.
The third chapter presents space curves and surfaces
in great detail. The chapter contains approximately 70 3. EXAMPLES
animations created by Mathematica that visualize the
generation of surfaces (rotational, translation, ruled sur– In this section we present the textbook material by sho–
wing the examples of using aforementioned programs.

Figure 1. Interactive files with the images of squares in perspective collineation and affinity

Figure 2. Animation - the representation of the concept of traces of plane in the Monge’s method

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Figure 3. Slideshow – the representation of the construction of a point of intersection of a line and a plane by a projecting
plane

Figure 4. A video clip with a spatial representation and a slideshow with a constructive representation of the exercise

Figure 5. Animation – the principle of construction of an intersection curve of a cone and a cylinder and the examples of their
intersection curves

FME Transactions VOL. 47, No 2, 2019 ▪ 265

Figure 6. Intersections of a hyperbolic paraboloid and a plane

Figure 7. The application of helicoid

Interactive files with the images of squares in pers– [4] Gorjanc, S., Halas, H., Jurkin, E.: Introducing 3D
pective collineation and affinity are shown in Fig 1. The modelling into geometry education at two technical
visualisation of the Monge’s method is shown in Fig. 2 faculties at the University of Zagreb, in: Schröcker,
and Fig. 3, while the spatial representation and a slide– H.-P., Hustay, M. (Eds.): Proceedings of the 16th
show with a constructive representation of the corres– International Conference on Geometry and
ponding exercise in Fig 4. Fig. 5 demonstrates the prin– Graphics, 16th International Conference on Geo–
ciple and an example of an intersection curve const– metry and Graphics, Innsbruck, Austria, 2014.
ruction of a cone and a cylinder while Fig. 6 exhibits the [5] Stachel, H.: The status of todays descriptive geo–
intersections of a hyperbolic paraboloid and a plane. metry related education (CAD/CG/DG) in Europe,
Finally, the application of helicoid is shown in Fig. 7. Journal of Graphics Science of Japan, Vol. 41,
pp.15-20, 2007.
4. CONCLUSION
[6] Šiđanin, P., Lazić, M., Obradović, R.: Immersive
This paper discloses the nowel educational material for Virtual Reality Course at the Digital Production
delivering the lectures in descriptive geometry and per– Studies, FME Transactions, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp.
spective on the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the 205-208, 2017.
Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, [7] Zunjic, A., Papic, G., Bojovic, B., Matija, L.,
University of Zagreb. This approach provides the set of Slavkovic, G., Lukic, P.: The Role of Ergonomics
highly efficient educational activities and exercises by in the Improvement of Quality of Education, FME
which students - the future engineers can develop clear Transactions, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 82-87, 2015.
and careful spatial reasoning and its graphic repre–
sentation.
WEB УЏБЕНИК ЗА НАЦРТНУ
REFERENCES ГЕОМЕТРИЈУ
[1] Descriptive geometry (in Croatian), http://www. С. Горјанц, Е. Јуркин
grad.hr/geometrija/udzbenik/
[2] Gorjanc, S., Jurkin, E.: Introducing 3D modelling У овом раду приказујемо наставни материјал који је
into geometry education at two technical colleges, саставни дио WEB уџбеника израђеног за предавања
in: Cocchiarella, L. (Ed.): The Visual Language of из геометријских колегија. Уџбеник је слободно
Technique, Volume 3 - Heritage and Expectations доступан на интернету. Од претходних се разликује
in Education, Springer International Publishing, pp. по примјени информацијске технологије у презен–
57-67, 2015. тирању класичних садржаја и по увођењу 3Д
[3] GeomTeh3D, http://www.grad.hr/geomteh3d моделирања у подучавање дескриптивне геометрије.

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