Course
and Materials Overview
This
page is a compilation of downloadable and online resources
that may be useful for instructors wishing to teach
a course on Engineering German at roughly the third
year college level. German for Engineering I & II
include:
- Readings
from Wie funktioniert das? Technik heute, with
accompanying vocabulary lists. The textbook is occasionally
supplemented by current magazine or online articles
on topics such as recent trade fairs, emerging technologies,
or automobile comparison tests. Students write a short,
informal response journal on each text they read.
- Field
trips and/or guest lectures (varying from term to
term), such as visits to an automotive lab or a robotics
lab on campus, or to nearby manufacturing plants with
German connections such as Liebherr or DaimlerChrysler.
- Miscellaneous
videos on engineering topics, which constitute the
listening comprehension component of the course
- Two
group presentations on topics students choose, such
as rotary engines, "Bagger," the International
Space Station, concepts for energy-efficient houses,
submarines, etc.
- One
class session devoted to taking things apart and then
putting them back together. This requires a box of
cheap tools (a selection of screwdrivers, allen wrenches,
pliers, etc.), and some cheap electronic items from
a goodwill store, such as hard drives, smoke detectors,
clock radios, mixers, cameras, VCRs, etc.
- Grammar
review using the "Interactive Grammar Tutor"
- 4
longer writing assignments on topics students choose
- Regular
quizzes, but no exams
Only
resources used specifically for this course are listed
on this page; resources used more generally in our courses
such as the "Interactive Grammar Tutor," the
"German on the Web" link list, information
on learning strategies etc., are available on the general
resource page.
Please
use the "Contact/Feedback" link in the sidebar
for questions and comments, or to inquire about incorporating
any materials from this site in materials for commercial
use.
Feel
free to download, use and edit the materials on this
page to suit your needs. Please use the "Contact/Feedback"
link in the sidebar if you have trouble downloading
something, or if something you'd like to download isn't
here.
Textbook
Information
The
textbook is the 5th edition of Wie funktioniert das?
Technik, published in 2003 by Meyers Lexikonverlag
(ISBN: 3-411-08855-9). Each article consists of one
page of text supplemented by one page of illustrations.
The book is concise, clear, and up-to-date, covers a
wide range of topics, and works well for students at
this level.
In
addition to the vocabulary lists accompanying each text
(see "Online Resources" below), the following
worksheets (listed according to the title of the article
they refer to) are available to supplement specific
texts from the book. These are intended for students
to work on in class in pairs or groups:
- Auto
(Übersicht) pp. 100-1
- For
this I've made a set of index cards with multiple
choice questions and answers on the back; unfortunately
these don't exist in electronic form.
- Ottomotor
pp. 102-3
- Dieselmotor
pp. 104-5, Wankelmotor (Kreiskolbenmotor) pp.
106-7, Aufladung (Turbomotor) pp. 108-9
- For
this, I split the class into three groups. Each
group reads one text, discusses it within the
group, then summarizes the important points for
the rest of the class.
- In
addition, each group of students selects a short
list of "test vocabulary" for their
article from this long
list of vocabulary suggestions.The most recent
resulting list is online under "Vocabulary"
on the German 325 course home page.
- Getriebe
I & II pp. 116-9
-
Brennstoffzellenantrieb pp. 136-7
- Elektroauto
pp. 132-3
- Hybridantrieb
pp. 134-5
- Windkraftanlagen
pp. 262-3
-
Wasserkraftwerke pp. 258-9
- Solarthermie-Kraftwerke
pp. 266-7
- Raketen
pp. 182-3
- Marssonde
und Marsfahrzeug pp. 194-5
- Farbfernsehen
pp. 50-1 & Bildschirme pp. 52-3
- Digitalfernsehen
pp. 54-5
- Übertragungstechnik
pp. 56-7
-
Videorekorder pp. 58-9
- Werkstoffliches
Kunststoffrecycling pp. 288-9
- Rohstoffliches
Kunststoffrecycling pp. 290-1
- Kunststoffe
pp. 294-5
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Online
Resources
Course
Homepages
The
course homepages include access to
- Extensive
vocabulary lists for each assigned text
- A
complete homework schedule for each course, including
supplementary links, essay assignments etc.
- Useful
related links, such as the LEO online dictionary (in
the sidebar), the website of the Deutsches Museum
München and the German-language version of a
wonderful Danish website on wind power
Homepages
of Related Courses
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Videos
and Accompanying Materials
Intermedia
A
variety of excellent engineering-related videos is available
for educational purposes for just the cost of shipping
from Intermedia. A full catalog of available titles,
including short descriptions and some previews, is available
on Intermedia's
website.
We
have successfully used the titles listed below. Please
note that the outlines available for download below
were made hurriedly while previewing these videos and
thus contain gaps, typos, etc., but may be useful
supplements to the descriptions available online, and
a useful starting point for anyone wishing to create
a more thorough outline or a worksheet on one of these
videos.
- Brennstoffzellentechnologie
- Energie für die Mobilität von morgen
(by Adam Opel AG)
- This
is a very short video (5 minutes) with some helpful
diagrams that can serve as both an introduction
to or a follow-up for a text on fuel cells.
- Kraft
aus vier Takten (by Adam Opel AG, 1981)
- This
video is old, but students will appreciate the
close-up shots of an old carburettor engine, and
the speaker's very clear explanations and enunciation
- Detailed
outline/partial transcript
- Handout
It would be counterproductive to make students
fill in all the blanks in this long handout, since
the task would be too long, and it would keep
students from being able to actually see much
of the video, swince thy would always be writing.
What worked well for us was to have students spend
15-25 minutes at the end of one class trying to
fill in the blanks corresponding to the first
part of the video, with occasional breaks for
them to compare their results in groups, and then
the next day to show the entire video again, letting
students use the handout to help them follow the
video, but no longer requiring them to fill in
any of the blanks.
- Das
Opel-Produktionssystem (by Adam Opel AG)
- So
testet Opel - Das Testzentrum in Dudenhofen (by
Adam Opel AG)
- Sonne
im Tank/Kein Benzin im Tank (by BMW AG)
- Erdöl
und Erdgas aus deutschen Quellen (by Wirtschaftsverband
Erdöl- und Erdgasgewinnung e.V.)
- Weltrekordprojekt
Söhlingen Z-10 Erschließt Deutsches Erdgas
(by Mobil Erdgas Erdöl GmbH)
- All
Around You (by Clariant AG)
- Kunststoff
- Entscheidung für die Zukunft (by Verband
Kunststofferzeugende Industrie e.V.)
- Verantwortung
Zukunft - Wege des Kunststoffrecyclings (by Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Kunststoff-Recycling Mbh (DKR))
- Verpackungsrecycling
(by Duales System Deutschland AG)
Other
Sources
- Internationale
Raumstation: Leben im All (by Discovery Channel
Video; a 46 minute video released early 2001)
- Raketen
(by Discovery Channel Video; a 52 minute video released
May 2000)
Other
Resources
- Kennen
lernen A
transparency with some entertaining questions for
the first day of class.
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