Teaching Strength of Materials to HNC and HND Students

Since the war, technical college courses have widened tremendously. New subjects — automatic control, nuclear engineering, work study, etc. and, of course, liberal studies now have to be considered by our future technologists. In spite of day‐release schemes and the various types of sandwich course, it is not surprising that the time devoted to traditional studies such as theory of machines, strength of materials, and theory of structures has had to be reduced. With the tendency for teaching time to shrink, it is opportune for us to discuss efficient methods of presentation, revision of syllabuses, wider generalisation and a more unified scientific approach to the teaching of subjects which are, after all, branches of applied mechanics.