A university professor is using The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to help teach engineering
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A university engineering professor is usingTheLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomto help teach his students the basics of building.
Months after the initial release ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players are still finding new ways to get the most out of the RPG. A professor at the University of Maryland recently uploaded aYouTubevideo explaining the fundamentals of his new class and how the latest Zelda game is helping him teach his students.
“I felt like we had this unique opportunity to help students advance their understanding and knowledge of machine design and engineering,” Professor Sochol said. “What surprised me, as I was playing through the game, was the unexpected emphasis on machine design and engineering.”
Professor Sochol’s students are encouraged to useThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomto advance their machine design and engineering knowledge by experimenting with the building tools and Link’s new Ultrahand ability.
The pilot course is currently designed for second-year undergraduate students in mechanical engineering. Then, everyone is divided into groups and is given aNintendo Switchand a copy ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Students must complete various tasks such as solving specific problems within the Nintendo game and investigating elements of particular machines. Students were also given construction challenges to help develop their engineering know-how. For example: one class was asked to design a transforming bioinspired amphibious robotic vehicle, i.e. a vehicle that is a car and a boat.
“We believe this pilot course is just the beginning,” Professor Sochol said. “We want to leverage the special opportunity in [The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom…] to provide a reasonably authentic and relevant learning experience for students to inspire a lasting interest and confidence in machine design and engineering.”
It’s great to see one of thebest Nintendo Switch gamesbeing used in such a helpful and interesting way, and hopefully, this pilot course will continue to educate and inspire students of all kinds.
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Elie is a Features Writer for TechRadar Gaming, here to write about anything new or slightly weird. Before writing for TRG, Elie studied for a Masters at Cardiff University JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs or editing the gaming section for their student publications.
Elie’s first step into gaming was through Pokémon but they’ve taken the natural next step in the horror genre. Any and every game that would keep you up at night is on their list to play - despite the fact that one of Elie’s biggest fears is being chased.
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