Dr Matthews is an avid educator. He has either designed, redesigned or been involved in delivering the following courses:
This core course for between 60 to 120 students introduced the engineering processes of planning, design and innovation, including ethical, social and environmental responsibilities of professional engineers to undergraduates in the electrical and electronic bachelor suite of programs. Topics include; The work of engineers and their outputs; systems engineering concepts; the life cycle of systems; risk, safety and sustainability; the engineering method; design thinking; innovation and creation; managing engineering projects; engineering and business; engineering and society; regulations and social constraints; ethics; working in teams; professional competencies. This course was taught at second year in an electrical and electronic engineering program. Designed to be taught face to face, during the COVID-19 pandemic this course was taught in an online mode over ZOOM.
This core course for 12 to 25 students was designed for the undergraduate level. The course was taught primarily to school leavers. It provided an introduction to the role of an engineering technologist. The core material started with the development of technical and professional attributes essential to perform this role effectively. Through participation in the learning activities, students developed interpersonal communication and professional skills. Hands on experience with a modern digital design software suite commensurate with defence industry practices was also included. This course was delivered in a mixed mode, with intensive lectures complemented by workshops throughout the semester. Assessments were a mixture of assignments, presentations and lab exercises. Half way through this course the teaching was converted to online only due to the covid 19 pandemic.
This course for 15 to 30 students was taught at an undergraduate and postgraduate level in their second or third year of study. It was designed to introduce students to a basic overview of additive manufacturing technologies and the prototyping options available to them. This course gave students a firm grasp of modelling in 3D as well as providing the basis for the moral, ethical and legal arguments that are currently facing the 3D printing world. Finally, students were introduced to the advances that are to be expected in the next five to ten years and the opportunities that await in the areas of bioprinting.
This course was designed for students with no prior programming experience, who are enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology. Each cohort was between 60 to 120 students at an entry level. The course introduced the fundamental concepts of procedural programming, with a focus on approaches to programming relevant for IT, including scripting languages. Topics included algorithms and problem solving, data types, control structures, functions, arrays, files, and the mechanics of running, testing, and debugging. The course also offers an introduction to the ethical, historical and social context of computing.
The following are true quotes taken from previous students:
"I would like to thank you for being such as amazing and engaging teacher this semester."
"I greatly enjoyed your style of lecturing and running workshops."
"Engaging and charismatic speaker"
"Richard creates an engaging environment for students and encourages participation."
"He is very professional and has excellent communication skills. He is understanding and very approachable. All round experienced and knows his stuff."
"He is good at getting students to think, He has industry experience and thus is able to give insight into how what we are doing will be used in our actual jobs."