Formative Learning Through a Spatial Visualization-Based Cadathon Contest

Spatial visualization courses constitute engineering drawing, machine drawing, production drawing, architectural design, civil drawing, and computer-aided geometric modeling and analysis. These courses have a large component of tacit knowledge and thus are an important part of engineering education. This work promotes students’ learning in an experiential way through a contest based on spatial visualization skills. This contest named “Cadathon” derives inspiration from competitive events like hackathons which promote higher-order thinking and pragmatic skills through formative learning. Cadathon enables undergraduate students to work in a real-world industrial scenario. It exposes them to the real-time work culture of non-stop production spanning continuous working hours through the early hours of the night shifts in a computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)–based mechanical engineering designing software industry. In this work, a competitive cadathon contest promoted formative learning, where a total of 20 teams with each team comprising of 4 students participated. The best five teams have been recognized for their CAD geometric modeling-cum-analysis skills. Cadathon has been analyzed for process capability study, and a process performance capability index ( C PK ) of 0.875 is obtained, confirming the 2.625 sigma level. This paves the way for a vast opportunity and an optimistic future scope to achieve a 6 Sigma level of excellence. Since the students represent various engineering institutions, this cadathon contest also serves as a talent acquisition opportunity for industry personnel to identify students as interns in their industry. Apart from showcasing students’ efforts while making them industry-ready, this work is a one-of-its-kind for bridging the academia-industry gap. Cadathon promotes competitive spirit and, thus, supports the formative learning seen missing in the regular classroom lectures.