Effects of an android app on mechanical engineering students

This paper describes the development and assessment of a Native Android App for learning concepts related with Mechanical Engineering. The designed App, called MaqTest, is an interactive, easy to use and portable tool. The proposed application has been programmed with Android Studio, and it is presented as an executable file accessible for smartphones and tablets. It allows the student to auto-evaluate the conceptual understandings, increasing their level of knowledge and enhancing their academic results. The app has been test with students of the 3rd course of Mechanical Engineering Degree in the subject “Mechanism and Machine Theory.” Comparative results before and after using the app are presented. The assessment results show that there has been a significant improvement

MiniCERNBot Educational Platform: Antimatter Factory Mock-up Missions for Problem-Solving STEM Learning

Mechatronics and robotics appeared particularly effective in students’ education, allowing them to create non-traditional solutions in STEM disciplines, which have a direct impact and interaction with the world surrounding them. This paper presents the current state of the MiniCERNBot Educational Robotic platform for high-school and university students. The robot provides a comprehensive educative system with tutorials and tasks tuned for different ages on 3D design, mechanical assembly, control, programming, planning, and operation. The system is inspired to existing robotic systems and typical robotic interventions performed at CERN, and includes an education mock-up that follows the example of a previous real operation performed in CERN’s Antimatter Factory. The paper describes the learning paths where the MiniCERNBot platform can be used by students, at different ages and disciplines. In addition, it describes the software and hardware architecture, presenting results on modularity and network performance during education exercises. In summary, the objective of the study is improving the way STEM educational and dissemination activities at CERN Robotics Lab are performed, as well as their possible synergies with other education institutions, such as High-Schools and Universities, improving the learning collaborative process and inspiring students interested in technical studies. To this end, a new educational robotic platform has been designed, inspired on real scientific operations, which allows the students practice multidisciplinary STEM skills in a collaborative problem-solving way, while increasing their motivation and comprehension of the research activities

Developing a Mobile Application‐Based Particle Image Velocimetry Tool for Enhanced Teaching and Learning in Fluid Mechanics: A Design‐Based Research Approach

A robust and intuitive understanding of fluid mechanics—the applied science of fluid motion—is foundational within many engineering disciplines, including aerospace, chemical, civil, mechanical, naval, and ocean engineering. In‐depth knowledge of fluid mechanics is critical to safe and economical design of engineering applications employed globally everyday, such as automobiles, aircraft, and sea craft, and to meeting global 21st century engineering challenges, such as developing renewable energy sources, providing access to clean water, managing the environmental nitrogen cycle, and improving urban infrastructure. Despite the fundamental nature of fluid mechanics within the broader undergraduate engineering curriculum, students often characterize courses in fluid mechanics as mathematically onerous, conceptually difficult, and aesthetically uninteresting; anecdotally, undergraduates may choose to opt‐out of fluids engineering‐related careers based on their early experiences in fluids courses. Therefore, the continued development of new frameworks for engineering instruction in fluid mechanics is needed. Toward that end, this paper introduces mobile instructional particle image velocimetry (mI‐PIV), a low‐cost, open‐source, mobile application‐based educational tool under development for smartphones and tablets running Android. The mobile application provides learners with both technological capability and guided instruction that enables them to visualize and experiment with authentic flow fields in real time. The mI‐PIV tool is designed to generate interest in and intuition about fluid flow and to improve understanding of mathematical concepts as they relate to fluid mechanics by providing opportunities for fluids‐related active engagement and discovery in both formal and informal learning contexts

Improving the learning of engineering students with interactive teaching applications

Over decades, Mechanical Engineering students often find some difficulties to grasp some contents and/or struggle with some parts of the course. With the increasing development of new technologies, promising innovations can be implemented enhancing learning and improving success rates. In this study, a new learning interactive method is proposed and evaluated using the experience of over 600 students of Mechanical Engineering. This study describes a 4-year experiment based on new interactive applications for education. The experiment has been implemented using E-learning techniques and new technologies (a combination of remote and virtual examples, videos, quizzes, and theory). Specifically, several applications have been programmed to be executed on different devices, such as mobile phones and PC/laptops (Android and Windows). The experiment is applied using small applications that help the students identify the most challenging contents and guide them throughout step-by-step. The main objective of this interactive method is to help students find their lack of knowledge and offer them contents to cover it. These didactic applications are portable and intuitive. Thanks to these interactive applications, it is possible to accomplish better practices of “E-learning” and “Computer Simulation and Animation” together. Since they are portable applications, they allow the student to interact and check conceptual understandings at any place. Students really appreciate this aspect. The results of the course titled Mechanism and Machine Theory have been analyzed during these four last years in which these interactive applications have been offered to the students.The authors wish to thank the "Convocatoria De Innovación Docente 2017-2018" of the UC3M

Design of A Virtual Laboratory for Automation Control

In the past, only students who studied on campus were able to access laboratory equipment in traditional lab courses; distance learning students, enrolled in online courses, were at a disadvantage for they could learn basic lab experiment principles but could never experience hands-on learning. Modeling and simulation can be a powerful tool for generating virtual laboratories for distance learning students. This thesis describes the design and development of a virtual laboratory for automation control using mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic components for an automation and control course at Old Dominion University. This virtual laboratory application was implemented for two platforms — Windows personal computers and Android smartphones. The virtual lab serves as pre-lab session for on-campus students and a virtual lab tool for distance-learning students to gain some “hands-on” lab experience. Utilizing the virtual learning environment as a supplement to engineering-based laboratories is also beneficial for students to prepare for the physical experiment and obtain a “hands-on,” practical lab experience without the hazards present in the physical lab. Such a methodology can also be applied to experiments in different fields such chemistry, etc

2023 Projects Day Booklet

https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/projects-day/1002/thumbnail.jp