Competitive Design of Web-Based Courses in Engineering Education - Web-Based Engineering Education: Critical Design and Effective Tools - page 126

affecting the performance of parameter y , even if
the two parameters are negative correlated. For
example, between the volume of information in
a course and the time required to deliver this in-
formation is a negative correlation as long as the
goal is to increase the volume of information and
to reduce the course duration. Innovative problem
solving means to deliver more information in less
time. The targets related to parameters “amount
of information” and “time” will define the level
of challenges in innovative problem solving.
The standard parameters are used by a so-called
“contradiction matrix” to reveal the paths of in-
novation for the given problem. The contradic-
tion matrix consists of 39 columns and 39 rows,
corresponding to the number of TRIZ standard
parameters. At the intersection between a row
and a column of the contradiction matrix a set of
numerical values is revealed. The size of this set is
between 0 and 4 elements. The numerical values
associated to these elements represent the indexes
of the so-called TRIZ inventive principles. There
are 40 inventive principles in TRIZ. According
to the contradiction matrix, when a conflicting
problem occurs in the analyzed system between
two parameters, a limited set of TRIZ inventive
principles (between 0 and 4) could be associated
to the respective conflicting problem. This set
recommends the most appropriate paths (direc-
tions of intervention) where innovative solutions
should be identified. If the set has 0 elements, the
meaning is the conflicting problem hardly can be
solved without affecting the current structure of
the system. For example, considering the above-
mentioned problem “amount of information”
versus “time”, the related TRIZ parameters are
“amount of substance” (index 26) and “speed”
(index 9). For these standard parameters, the
contradiction matrix reveals the inventive prin-
ciples “change the volume and/or density and/
or the degree of flexibility and/or physical state”
(index 35), “replace solid parts with fluid parts”
(index 29), “after an element of the system has
completed its function it should be rejected or

modified” (index 34) and “replace stationary
fields with moving fields” (index 28). Innovative
solutions suggested by these vectors could be:
replace the standard way of information delivery
(e.g. text and drawings) with a non-conventional
way (e.g. movies, sound and animations/simula-
tions), use of virtual reality, use of games, use of
didactical prototypes, consideration of site visits,
etc. For more complex problems, the matrix of
contradiction and the TRIZ inventive principles
are integrated into systematic algorithms of inven-
tive problem solving (e.g. ARIZ, Su-Field, etc.).
Reader is encouraged to consult TRIZ literature
in order to find out more about methods, tools
and methodologies of creativity and innovative
problem solving.

ArEAS of IntErvEntIon

Designing a web-based course in engineering is
a complex task. Special attention should be given
to many aspects like course structure, course sub-
ject, communication technology, teaching process
management, costs, effort and time to prepare the
course, dynamics of information, dynamics of
the educational models, technology to provide
the information, etc. (Barros, Read, & Verdejo,
2008; Du, Li & Li, 2008; Ebner & Walder, 2008;
Helander & Emami, 2008; Li & Wang, 2007; Say-
gin & Kahraman, 2004; Sessink, van der Schaaf,
Beeftink, Hartog & Tramper, 2007; Toral, Barrero
& Martinez-Torres, 2007; Vargas, Sanchez, Duro,
Dormido, Farias, Dormido, Esquembre, Salzmann
& Gillet, 2008; Xuelian, 2008). All these areas of
intervention are important for setting up a com-
petitive web-based course in engineering. From
this perspective, a web-based engineering course
is revealed as a complex adaptable system (Brad,
2008). A web-based engineering course, seen as a
“living” complex adaptable system, should be able
to internalize information, to modify its param-
eters and behavior over its life-cycle, to compress
information gathered from the interaction with