Matching Computational Tools to User Competence Levels in Education of Engineering Data Processing

Abstract. Computational data processing often poses significant challenges for individuals not professionally specialized in this area. In particular, the problem lies in finding suitable computational tools that, on the one hand, have the necessary functionalities and, on the other hand, are easy to use for users with intermediate or low-level competencies. During the academic year 2022/2023, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Cracow University of Technology conducted classes on data processing for three diverse groups: the third- and fourth-year students of a public high school with a math-physics-computer science profile, undergraduate students in safety engineering, and undergraduate students in applied informatics. The needs regarding the functionalities of the computational tools and the competencies in their usage were compared, both in the assessment of the instructors and the participants themselves. The article presents comparisons of computational tools in terms of various aspects, as well as guidelines for their application for each target group.