scholarly journals Physical therapy using robotics: A project-based learning experience for undergraduate students

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
Edgar Lopez-Caudana ◽  
Christian Fernando López-Orozco ◽  
César Mendoza Bárbara ◽  
Germán Eduardo Baltazar Reyes ◽  
Pedro Ponce ◽  
...  

The dynamic society we live in requires constant adaptation and innovation on every aspect of our daily lives, allowing us to improve the necessities of different people by doing it. For this study, we used a new approach with project-based learning to go beyond the typical environment in higher education and bring solutions to real-life scenarios. The project was developed with undergraduate engineering students in collaboration with a rehabilitation institute in Mexico City to design a physical therapy routine using the NAO robot. It allowed interaction between young patients in real time and fostered empathy while developing a final usable product. The study measured the usability of the robotic platform during the rehabilitation sessions and the reproducibility of the project through Cronbach's alpha evaluation. The usability results show a higher interest in the project from both the patients and the medical staff involved while constructing the material needed to develop a product that matches the standards given by the rehabilitation institute. Implications for practice or policy: Therapists could change traditional approaches to caregiving while adopting new technological methodologies using robots. Higher education students could supplement their school curricula with real-case scenarios such as creating innovative therapy sessions for people with physical disabilities. Schools might need to collaborate with a wide range of institutions to provide technological solutions to real problems.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 180-210
Author(s):  
Shanizan Herman Mohd Radzi ◽  
Hoe Tan Wee ◽  
Amri Yusoff

This study proposes the use of board games for teaching and learning shipping management in higher education and examines its effects on cognition. It employs a game-based learning approach to engage students with real-life experience in shipping management so that students are able to experiment with the causes and effects of their decisions based on the theory they have learned. An instance of a shipping management game was developed from the board game framework which stands on the discreet event simulation of a realistic shipping process and activity. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted to measure the effectiveness of the board game in giving students some understanding of shipping operations. Data were gathered from a sample of 67 undergraduate students, using a non-equivalent control group design. Students who received the game-based method performed better in the post-test assessment. A performance comparison indicated that there was a difference in students’ achievement for the tramp services and liner services contents. The use of board game aims to expose students to the best learning experience when they immerse themselves in solving problems and making decisions in the game. Moreover, the board game provides a transparent learning space, which encourages students to make knowledge discovery at their own pace in a non-threatening environment.


Author(s):  
Katherine Mary Bissett-Johnson ◽  
David F Radcliffe

AbstractAuthentic learning is an approach to teaching where the learning is embedded in a real world context, in real situations or simulations, and offers students opportunities for problem solving challenges much like they will encounter in real life. This paper discusses and reflects upon the development a course designed to teach Socially Responsible Design approaches, methods and tools to Product Design Engineering students using global projects. Our research question was to investigate if this Socially Responsible Design course, it's structure, delivery, learning activities and assessments combined to deliver an authentic learning experience. Through informal interviews with staff, review of student reflections, review of university student feedback comments and consideration of final outcomes, all within the framework of Herrington and Oliver's nine elements of authentic learning, we found that this course did provide an authentic learning experience for many reasons. This study offers academics a frame work for reviewing existing and future courses with a view to creating or enhancing authentic learning experiences using project based learning


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Schwartz ◽  
Darcy Tessman ◽  
Daniel McDonald

Project Based Learning models present authentic learning opportunities with real-life situations, enabling students to set their own learning goals and forge their own relationships (Barab, et al., 2001). The autonomy inherent in this model allows youth to bring their skills and experiences to real situations and to be seen as valued community members. This article describes a project-based learning model involving “externs,” who developed and implemented sustainability projects in their communities. Externs worked with Cooperative Extension professionals on locally relevant community projects during the summer of 2011 in three Arizona counties. The project based learning experience had a positive impact on the lives of our three externs.


RELC Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-226
Author(s):  
Saeedeh Jafari Pazoki ◽  
Minoo Alemi

Needs analysis is the key step to designing relevant and useful courses in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), but finding ways to deliver needs in a motivating and interesting way is also paramount. Therefore, investigating students’ motivation to learn ESP is central in needs analysis. Few studies have investigated needs from the perspective of ESP learners’ motivation. Focussing on engineering fields at three Iranian state universities, this study aimed to identify factors that affect engineering students’ motivation for learning technical English in ESP courses. Using a mixed method design, this study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews with 40 undergraduate students helped to identify motivational variables, select a theoretical framework and develop instruments for the second phase. In the second phase, a survey using a 28-item questionnaire with 152 students, semi-structured interviews with 60 students, in-depth interviews with eight ESP practitioners and non-participant observation in seven ESP classes were done in parallel. Principal Component Analysis on survey data resulted in five motivational components of main sources of engineering students’ motivation to learn technical English: 1) ideal-self, 2) ought-to self, 3) instrumentality promotion motivation, 4) learning conditions, and 5) learning experience. These components were in agreement with Dӧrnyei’s L2 Motivational Self-system. Further quantitative and qualitative data analyses revealed that long-term goals and the practicalities of using technical English in every day life promote motivation more than a sense of obligation to learn technical English. Moreover, the results showed that Engineering students had negative attitudes towards elements of ESP learning experience, which best explained the reasons for students’ low motivation. The findings also supported the significant effect of academic levels on motivation. The factors that motivated students call for modifications in ESP courses which are discussed as pedagogical implications.


Author(s):  
Michael G. Mauk ◽  
Richard Y. Chiou ◽  
Carlos Ruiz ◽  
Dharma Varapula ◽  
Changchun Liu ◽  
...  

Point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostics tests based on instrumented microfluidic chips are instructive and highly-multidisciplinary projects for undergraduate research and Senior Design. Students can apply their knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, optics, electronics and microcontrollers, materials, prototyping and systems engineering in translating and adapting a laboratory-based test for use in non-traditional venues. We discuss the design, prototyping, and testing of POC lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems in an educational setting, where undergraduate students develop and demonstrate novel and practical POC tests. This application area serves as an effective gateway to the medical diagnostics field for engineering students, with opportunities for providing sustainable, appropriate, and ‘green’ technology to the developing world where healthcare infrastructure is lacking.


Author(s):  
Pramod Rajan ◽  
P. K. Raju ◽  
Chetan S. Sankar

Understanding the real-world issues in the global industry is one of the ways of enhancing the learning experience of engineering students. This paper describes such an experience. This was a collaborative weld design project between Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, India and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Tiruchirappalli, India. The main problems BHEL faced were (1) Inspection time of the welds, (2) Inaccessibility of the welds, and (3) Detection of kissing bond or pasty weld. Three possible solutions to these problems were identified by the practitioners. In order to bring this real-world issue into engineering classrooms, the authors developed a case study. The authors also developed a multimedia CD-ROM which brings the problem live into class rooms using video, audio and pictures. This case study has been tested with mechanical engineering students. The majority of the students found the use of case studies to be beneficial, particularly because of the group work and applicability to real life situations. The details of the case study and its implementation in an engineering class room at Auburn University are discussed in the paper.


Author(s):  
Nazmul Islam

Most of the engineering courses focus more on theory and very little on hands-on, project-based learning in the classroom. Integration of real-world engineering problems and applications in lower division engineering courses will produce engineering students, who will be technically sound and be able to execute and manage real-world projects, when they will do senior design projects in their final year of engineering study. To overcome the engineering design challenges we have developed iHOP (Ingenieŕia Hands on Project) and integrate it with our lower division engineering courses. iHOP has been developed to emphasis the design component at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) Engineering Physics curriculum and the project is now an integral part of Introduction to Engineering class. The iHOP project is one that is challenging, fun, requires teamwork, associated with the engineering material being studied, low cost, and doable in a limited amount of time. The experience from iHOP project motivates our freshman students to choose a better senior design project in senior year of their college career. The objectives of the iHOP projects are — to have students develop teamwork skills, and to teach students basic engineering design concepts in a complementary format to the traditional lecture. Various techniques related to team selection, encouraging teamwork, incorporation of engineering topics, keeping costs down, project results presentations, and gathering feedback from students will also be presented in this paper. Integrating iHOP Project with Introduction to Engineering class helped us to improve our retention effort in the engineering department.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Curry ◽  
Tim Dempster ◽  
Cristina Persano

<p>Rock Around the University (RAU) is a teaching resource made up of 16 large (~2.5m) blocks of “local” Scottish rock which have been transplanted and orientated into carefully planned locations and elevations between the buildings of the University of Glasgow to look like natural exposures. RAU mimics a real-life fieldwork experience, on-campus, with the aim of enhancing the learning experience of undergraduate geoscience students. </p><p>RAU allows progressive, reflective, and effective on-campus outdoor training of a wide-range of geological field skills and concepts, including: the description, analysis and measurements of rock features and structures; geological mapping; the use of structure contours to predict geological boundaries in terrains lacking abundant exposures; construction of cross-sections; and, the interpretation and reconstruction of 3D structure and geological history.  Students visit the RAU exposures both during timetabled supervised ‘lab’ sessions and in their own time, providing an authentic fieldwork experience in a controlled location where key geological skills can be developed at the optimal rate for individual students.  Being located on the campus means that there are no travel or expenses for students, fewer timetabling issues, and fewer general logistical complications and natural complexities than in remote fieldwork locations.  In addition, students benefit from receiving ‘instant’ on-site feedback from staff on the challenges, problems and pedagogic issues that they encounter.</p><p>RAU allows us to introduce rigorous field-based teaching at an early stage in geoscience courses and to stimulate and encourage reflective learning. Students locate, analyse and synthesise information in the field to provide effective solutions to problems and use RAU as a self-directed learning experience where they build confidence while working independently in a familiar environment. Hence the students reinforce their field skills before experiencing independent work in remote areas.  In effect RAU uses the campus as a sustainable geoscience teaching resource. </p><p>Experiences with all levels of undergraduate students over the eight years since RAU was established at the University of Glasgow have demonstrated that this on-campus resource is an ideal complement to the traditional programme of fieldwork classes.  Students are much better prepared for their first major residential fieldwork having completed the RAU programme, and are much more confident in their field skills. RAU has allowed us to address more effectively the disconnect between laboratory and fieldwork skills, and remote fieldwork classes are now more focussed on the application, rather than the development, of field skills.  RAU has also had the effect of enhancing the awareness of geoscience among the entire University community, due to the presence of students carrying out fieldwork on campus. </p><p>Rock around the University is also used in recruitment and outreach, and is open to schools, amateur geoscientists, and anyone interested in Earth history.  Printed leaflets are available and more information is available at https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/community/rockaround/ .</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-365
Author(s):  
Katie Dray ◽  
Kristy Howells

The contribution of higher education to the development of the coaching workforce worldwide has been most recently emphasised by the development of the ICCE’s Coaching Degree Standards (2016). These standards recognise the increasing value of learning technologies, suggesting that the use of technology in such coaching programs should aim to a) “enhance the learning experience of the student-coach” and b) “gain relevant theoretical and practical knowledge to make the most of technology whilst coaching” (p. 23). This article presents one coach developer’s experience of using e-portfolios with undergraduate students on a BSc. Sport Coaching Science undergraduate program that represents an effort to address both of these aims simultaneously. Drawing from a broader field of education research and through the provision of examples, it is suggested that e-portfolios might afford the coach learner a number of benefits including their accessibility, the role they play in developing meta-cognition, and their ability to provide a space that can bring together the different communities that influence the learner. Lastly, the benefits and challenges are presented through the eyes of the academic tutor and the relevance for coach education contexts outside of HE are discussed.


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