Experiences of Teaching Hands-on Classes in Places Where They Are Rare

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuvra Das
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Modeling And Simulation ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Hybrid Vehicles ◽  
Fear Of Failure ◽  
Traditional Model ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Hands On

Abstract Engineering education in many countries still follows a traditional model where the curriculum is broadly divided into lecture-based theory classes and laboratory classes where experiments are conducted by students using step by step instructions. This type of curriculum has heavy emphasis on theory and less on exploration, application and design. In this model, opportunities for students to do hands-on activities such as building hardware and deal with troubleshooting, writing simulation models and learning by failing, etc. are quite limited. Also, many instructors in these systems are uncomfortable to adopt more hands-on teaching for the fear of failure. In 2019, in China, I taught a freshmen-level course on Introduction to Robotics using Arduino-based hardware where the students had to work in teams to build and program a mobile robot using parts that were provided to them. In 2020, I taught two classes in India for junior/senior level students on Modeling and Simulation of Mechatronic Systems and Modeling and Simulation of Hybrid Vehicles, respectively. In both courses the students spent over 80% of class time developing models and running simulations. In all three courses, enrolling about 60 students each, extensive survey-based assessment showed students are hungry for this type of hands-on experience and would be embracing these types of classes with a lot of enthusiasm. This paper discusses the details of the three classes and results from all the survey-based assessments that were done in the courses.

A Task Based Approach to Mechatronic Systems Education

Volume 3 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Firth ◽  
Brian Surgenor ◽  
Peter Wild
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Electronic Components ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Student Workload ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Hands On Learning ◽  
Elective Course

This paper describes an elective course in mechatronic systems engineering that is project based and team-oriented with hands-on learning. Working in small teams, students add electronic components to a mobile robot base and write the programs required to make the robot perform a series of tasks. Although the application of mobile robots as an educational tool in a mechatronics course is becoming the norm at many universities, the task based organization of the Queen’s mechatronics course is believed to have a number of novel features. The paper will review the pedagogy of the course, including aspects of the student workload, the interplay between teams, and the task based approach to marking and organization of the laboratories.

A Framework for Engineering Dissection Exercise Creation and Implementation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Hart ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Charles J. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Engineering Activity ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Different Levels

Hands-on product dissection and reverse engineering exercises have been shown to have a positive impact on engineering education, and many universities have incorporated such exercises in their curriculum. The CIBER-U project seeks to examine the potential to utilize cyberinfrastructure to enhance these active-learning exercises. We have formulated a framework for product dissection and reverse engineering activity creation to support a more rigorous approach to assessing other exercises for satisfaction of the CIBER-U project goals and adapting the best practices. This framework is driven by the fulfillment of learning outcomes and considers the maturity of students at different levels. Prototype exercises developed with the framework are presented. The approach is sufficiently general that it can be applied to the consideration and adaption of other types of exercises while ensuring satisfaction of the established goals.

AN "ACTIVATION" PROCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION: THE MODEL AND APPLICATION

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIANLUCA ELIA ◽  
A. MARGHERITA ◽  
G. SECUNDO ◽  
K. MOUSTAGHFIR
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Activation Process ◽  
Technology Entrepreneurship ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Research Training Program ◽  
Develop Technology ◽  
Market Solutions

The pervasiveness of scientific developments has raised the role of entrepreneurship as a driver of socio-economic value. Higher education institutions are thus asked to create entrepreneurial mindset and competencies with the purpose to make students people able to proactively identify opportunities and transform them in market solutions. In particular, engineering education programs can be of relevance to develop technology entrepreneurship competencies through hands-on and experiential approaches. In such vein, this paper proposes a model of entrepreneurship education as an "activation" process which uses four critical levers with the purpose to infuse the essence of entrepreneurship in tomorrow's engineering professionals. The application of the model is exemplified through the analysis of a research training program grounded in the aerospace domain. The key features of the initiative are discussed in the perspective of exploring new models of entrepreneurial engineering education.

scholarly journals ROLE OF TEAMWORK FOR ACTIVE LEARNING IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Hale BÜTÜN BAYRAM ◽  
Erhan BÜTÜN
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Extra Information ◽  
Electrical Engineering Education ◽  
Laboratory Manuals ◽  
Higher Order Learning ◽  
Clear Idea

In engineering education, a project can rarely be completed without the involved students having to read extensively and search for extra information not available in their textbooks, lecture notes, or laboratory manuals. Students have to find extra information for their research-projects and combine them with their knowledge from the other courses. This important objective opens students’ eyes to the realization that the degree by which they have digested the fundamental ideas of their core lessons will dictate their ability to access more knowledge because they appear to face paradoxes when confronting new situations. The merits of teamwork have been sacrificed for the sake of giving the student a very clear idea of the meaning of scientific research and significance of published material. It is expected to aid the student in a future research-oriented career. Teamwork will increase the amount of time spent on out-of-class learning as defined by the student, can be more effective than in-class time, particularly if the focus is learning on higher order learning. The authors believe that the student will be sufficiently exposed to teamwork values during their future design projects.

scholarly journals ByeLab: An Agricultural Mobile Robot Prototype for Proximal Sensing and Precision Farming

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Vidoni ◽  
Raimondo Gallo ◽  
Gianluca Ristorto ◽  
Giovanni Carabin ◽  
Fabrizio Mazzetto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Precision Farming ◽  
Controlled Environment ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Proximal Sensing ◽  
Bionic Eye ◽  
Outdoor Environments

At today, available mechatronics technology allows exploiting smart and precise sensors as well as embedded and effective mechatronic systems for developing (semi-)autonomous robotic platforms able to both navigate in different outdoor environments and implementing Precision Farming techniques. In this work, the experimental outdoor assessment of the performance of a mobile robotic lab, the ByeLab — Bionic eYe Laboratory — is presented and discussed. The ByeLab, developed at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Free University of Bolzano (I), has been conceived with the aim of creating a (semi-)autonomous robotic system able to sense and monitor the health status of orchards and vineyards. For assessing and measuring the shape and the volume of the canopy, LIDAR technology coupled with ad-hoc developed algorithms have been exploited. To validate the ByeLab different experimental tests have been carried out. In addition to the in-lab and structured environments experimental tests that allowed to tune the algorithms, in this work the assessment of its capabilities — in particular the sensoric system — has been made outdoor controlled environment tests.

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