2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Materials education is an inherently image-intensive and data-rich endeavor. Educators draw on primary and secondary sources such as journal articles and materials handbooks for data graphics (generally, x-y scatter graphs and tables) that help to explain materials concepts. A key purpose of a well-designed graphic is to help the reader compare large sets of data in a compact space, in a short amount of time, so that the reader can understand relationships between variables (including uncertainty and scatter). Unfortunately, many data graphics in the materials field are not easy for undergraduates to read. It's difficult enough for students to learn new MS&E concepts without facing unnecessary barriers to learning such as poorly-designed data graphics.
Many data graphics in handbooks and textbooks show curves with no datapoints. It's necessary in phase diagrams to prevent clutter and confusion, but students can benefit by seeing datapoints on S/N fatigue curves and in graphs of Charpy impact energy vs. temperture. In such graphs, data points help students understand the degree of scatter that is normally found in these mechanical tests.
Some limitations of graphing software can be overcome by changing default settings on fonts, standard symbols, line thicknesses, hard-to-read vertically-oriented text, or a legend that fails to list symbols in the same order as they appear on the graph. Other limitations are best overcome by converting a graph to artwork.
This paper demonstrates ways to improve the quality of engineering graphs used in materials education by comparing many examples of as-published data graphics with improved versions. The examples are drawn from graphs used in a freshman introductory materials and processes class as well as six junior/senior level materials classes taught for a minor in materials engineering technology.