A Low Cost Simulation to Replace a Physical Demo for Teaching Vibration Concepts

Physical demo tools providing concrete experience to students can enhance the learning experience in an engineering lecture.In April 2020, Canadian universities were under quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the need for social distancing and other uncertainties caused by the virus, instructors were asked to convert their lectures and labs in preparation for online delivery in September 2020.The author was responsible for a Mechanical Vibrations course in Level 3 of an Engineering Technology Program at McMaster University. Over the years, many physical demo tools have been developed for this course [1]. The conversion of one of these demo tools into a low cost Excel simulation demo for online delivery is the focus of this study.