Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) is a web-based

educational software Educational software is a term used for any computer software that is made for an educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software. The purpose of all th ...

resource designed to facilitate the teaching and learning of

Materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

, at the tertiary level for free.

History

The DoITPoMS project originated in the early 1990s, incorporating customized online sources into the curriculum of the

Materials Science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

courses in the

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

of the

University Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The initiative became formalized in 2000, with the start of a project supported by the UK national Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL). This was led by the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

with five partner institutions, including the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

, the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

, and the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. This period of cooperation lasted for about 10 years. The FDTL project was aimed at building on expertise concerning the use of

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

(IT) to enhance the student learning experience and to disseminate these techniques within the Materials Education community in the UK and globally. This was done by creating an archive of background information, such as video clips, micrographs, simulations, etc, and libraries of teaching and learning packages (TLPs) that covers a particular topic, which were designed both for independent usage by students and as a teaching aid for educators. A vital feature of these packages is a high level of user interactivity. DoITPoMS has no commercial sponsors and no advertising is permitted on the site. The background science to the resources within DoITPoMS has all been input by unpaid volunteers, most of whom have been academics based in universities. A single person retains responsibility for a particular resource, and these people are credited to the site. While the logo of

does appear on the site, is content is available freely and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 UK.

Format and usage

The set of resources currently available on the site comprises ''Libraries'' of TLPs (~75), Micrographs (~900), Video clips (~150), Lecture demonstration packages (5), and Stand-alone simulations (2). These all have slightly different purposes, and the modes of usage cover a wide range. In each TLP, several simulations typically allow the user to input data to visualise the characteristics of particular effects or phenomena. This is to enable students to explore areas in their way and facilitates the creation of exercises by educators. Each TLP has a set of questions at the end, designed to test whether the main points of the TLP have been understood. The TLPs cover many diverse topics within the broad field of

, ranging from basics, such as

crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat ...

s and

thermal conduction Thermal conduction is the diffusion of thermal energy (heat) within one material or between materials in contact. The higher temperature object has molecules with more kinetic energy; collisions between molecules distributes this kinetic energy ...

, to more applied areas, such as the design and functioning of batteries and

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

s. Tools such as

X-ray diffraction X-ray diffraction is a generic term for phenomena associated with changes in the direction of X-ray beams due to interactions with the electrons around atoms. It occurs due to elastic scattering, when there is no change in the energy of the waves. ...

and the

finite element method Finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat tran ...

are also included. Many, although not all, of these topics, go into greater depth and are designed explicitly as educational resources. Approximately half a million users accessed the site in 2021.

References

External links

DoITPoMS
on Flicker.
DoITPoMS
on YouTube. {{Authority control British educational websites Educational materials Virtual learning environments Science communication Open educational resources Materials science Organisations associated with the University of Cambridge