E-Learning

Technology development, mainly for telecommunications and computer systems, was a key factor for the interactivity and, thus, for the expansion of e-learning. This book is divided into two parts, presenting some proposals to deal with e-learning challenges, opening up a way of learning about and discussing new methodologies to increase the interaction level of classes and implementing technical tools for helping students to make better use of e-learning resources. In the first part, the reader may find chapters mentioning the required infrastructure for e-learning models and processes, organizational practices, suggestions, implementation of methods for assessing results, and case studies focused on pedagogical aspects that can be applied generically in different environments. The second part is related to tools that can be adopted by users such as graphical tools for engineering, mobile phone networks, and techniques to build robots, among others. Moreover, part two includes some chapters dedicated specifically to e-learning areas like engineering and architecture

The development of design guidelines for educational programming environments

Introductory programming courses at university are currently experiencing a significant dropout and failure rate. Whilst several reasons have been attributed to these numbers by researchers, such as cognitive factors and aptitude, it is still unclear why programming is a natural skill for some students and a cause of struggle for others. Most of the research in the computer science literature suggests that methods of teaching programming and students’ learning styles as reasons behind this trend. In addition to the choice of the first programming language taught. With the popularity of virtual learning environments and online courses, several instructors are incorporating these e-learning tools in their lectures in an attempt to increase engagement and achievement. However, many of these strategies fail as they do not use effective teaching practices or recognise the learning preferences exhibited by a diverse student population. Therefore this research proposes that combining multiple teaching methods to accommodate different learners' preferences will significantly improve performance in programming. To test the hypothesis, an interactive web based learning tool to teach Python programming language (PILeT) was developed. The tool’s novel contribution is that it offers a combination of pedagogical methods to support student’s learning style based on the Felder-Silverman model. First, PILeT was evaluated by both expert and representative users to detect any usability or interface design issues that might interfere with students’ learning. Once the problems were detected and fixed, PILeT was evaluated again to measure the learning outcomes that resulted from its use. The experimental results show that PILeT has a positive impact on students learning programming

Child programming: an adequate domain specific language for programming specific robots

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia InformáticaDue to the limited existence of dedicated robot programming solutions for children (as well as scientific studies), this work presents the design and implementation of a visual domain specific language (DSL), using the Model-Driven Development approach(MDD), for programming robotics and automaton systems with the goal to increase productivity and simplify the software development process. The target audience for this DSL is mostly children with ages starting from 8 years old. Our work implied to use the typical Software Language Engineering life cycle, starting by an elaborate study of the user’s profile, based on work in cognitive sciences, and a Domain analysis. Several visual design paradigms were considered during the design phase of our DSL, and we have focused our studies on the Behavior Trees paradigm, a paradigm intensively used in the gaming industry. Intuitive, simplicity and a small learning curve were the three main concerns considered during the design and development phases. To help validating the DSL and the proposed approach, we used a concrete robotic product for children built with the Open Source Arduino platform as target domain. The last part of this work was dedicated to study the adequacy of the language design choices, compared to other solutions (including commercial technologies), to the target users with different ages and different cognitive-development stages. We have also studied the benefits of the chosen paradigm to domain experts’ proficient on robot programming in different paradigms to determine the possibility to generalize the solution to different user profiles

Using Project Based Learning to Engage Third -Fifth Grade Students in Robotics Education

Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-40)The purpose of this graduate project was to examine the engagement of third through fifth grade students using Lego?? robotics as the catalyst in project based learning. Robotics educations has been on the rise in the last 10 years, but in the elementary schools it has been the driving force for many teachers on how to engage students in todays??? technological advances. Using project based learning and Lego?? robotics creates an engaging environment for students and teachers to cover Common Core States Standards along with the Next Generation Science Standards. This project was created to help guide teachers, administrators and after school counselors with the materials and resources needed in order to start a robotics program at their own location

Selected NSF projects of interest to K-12 engineering and technology education

The National Science Foundation (NSF) portfolio addressing K-12 engineering and technology education includes initiatives supported by a number of programs. This list includes projects identified by searching lists of awards in the respective NSF programs as well as projects suggested for inclusion by researchers, practitioners, and program officers. The list includes projects concerned with standards in technology education, teacher professional development, centers for learning and teaching, preparation of instructional materials, digital libraries, and technological activities in informal settings, as well as small numbers of projects in several other areas. This compilation provides current information on projects of interest to educators, instructional designers, consultants, and researchers who are concerned with the development, delivery, and evaluation of instruction to develop technological literacy, particularly in K-12 engineering and technology education. Projects are grouped under headings for each program providing primary funding. Within each program, the award numbers determine the order of listing, with the most recent awards at the beginning of the list. Each award entry includes the project title, NSF award number, funding program, amount of the award to date, starting and ending dates, the principal investigator (PI), the grantee institution, PI contact information, the url of the project Web site, a description of the project’s activities and accomplishments, relevant previous awards to the PI, products developed by the project, and information on the availability of those products

Matching mental models : the starting point for authentic assessment in robotics

This paper discusses the matches and mismatches that occur between the mental models held by the teacher and students undertaking a robotics activity in an Australian school. It proposes that an understanding of participants’ mental models of learning and assessment plays an important role in planning for, and reporting, on authentic assessment of a technology-based activity. The longitudinal project, over 20 months, was an empirical qualitative study centred within information processing theory and linked with the introspection mediating process tracing paradigm. It involved students and their teacher in a socio-economically diverse urban Australian primary school and aimed to establish how the identification of participants’ mental models can assist in the authentic assessment of learning through a richer understanding of the cognitive development taking place in a technologybased learning experience. Robotics, as a component of the Queensland Technology Years 1 to 10 Syllabus published in 2003, provides a rich, multi-disciplinary environment in which to engage middle years students in Australia. The syllabus document provides guidance on planning and assessment for design and technology activities and provides a specific module for robotics. However, engagement is not enough to ensure learning. All participants, students or teachers, bring to such activities their own mental models of robotics, learning, and assessment. Can understanding the matches and mismatches of such mental models provide a greater understanding of the individual’s learning journey and the suitable assessment practices required to map the journey? This paper explores the participants’ mental models at the halfway point of the project

Real-time programming and the big ideas of computational literacy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-121).Though notoriously difficult, real-time programming offers children a rich new set of applications, and the opportunity to engage bodily knowledge and experience more centrally in intellectual enterprises. Moreover, the seemingly specialized problems of real-time programming can be seen as keys to longstanding difficulties of programming in general. I report on a critical design inquiry into the nature and potential of real-time programming by children. A cyclical process of design, prototyping and testing of computational environments has led to two design innovations: a language in which declarative and procedural descriptions of computation are given equal status, and can subsume each other to arbitrary levels of nesting [and] a "live text" environment, in which real-time display of, and intervention in, program execution are accomplished within the program text itself. Based on children's use of these tools, as well as comparative evidence from other media and domains, I argue that the coordination of discrete and continuous process should be considered a central Big Idea in programming and beyond. In addition, I offer the theoretical notion of the "steady frame" as a way to clarify the user interface requirements of real-time programming, and also to understand the role of programming in learning to construct dynamic models, theories, and representations. Implications for the role of programming in education and for the future of computational literacy are discussed.by Christopher Michael Hancock.Ph.D

Mechatronic Systems

Mechatronics, the synergistic blend of mechanics, electronics, and computer science, has evolved over the past twenty five years, leading to a novel stage of engineering design. By integrating the best design practices with the most advanced technologies, mechatronics aims at realizing high-quality products, guaranteeing at the same time a substantial reduction of time and costs of manufacturing. Mechatronic systems are manifold and range from machine components, motion generators, and power producing machines to more complex devices, such as robotic systems and transportation vehicles. With its twenty chapters, which collect contributions from many researchers worldwide, this book provides an excellent survey of recent work in the field of mechatronics with applications in various fields, like robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, unmanned vehicles, manufacturing, and education. We would like to thank all the authors who have invested a great deal of time to write such interesting chapters, which we are sure will be valuable to the readers. Chapters 1 to 6 deal with applications of mechatronics for the development of robotic systems. Medical and assistive technologies and human-machine interaction systems are the topic of chapters 7 to 13.Chapters 14 and 15 concern mechatronic systems for autonomous vehicles. Chapters 16-19 deal with mechatronics in manufacturing contexts. Chapter 20 concludes the book, describing a method for the installation of mechatronics education in schools