14 teaching mechatronics an innovative group project based approach

Teaching Mechatronics:

An Innovative Group

Project-Based Approach

WEN-JYE SHYR

Department of Industrial Education and Technology, National Changhua University of Education, No. 1, Jin-De Road,

Changhua 500, Taiwan, ROC

Received 15 March 2009; accepted 16 July 2009

ABSTRACT: This study presents an innovative group project-based approach to teaching mechatronics.

Mechatronics is a complex, highly technical and multidisciplinary field involving the design and manufacture of

integrated products. Mechatronics course at the undergraduate level is rapidly increasing across the world. Most

courses require student teams to design a product. The complexity of student projects can make administration of

mechatronics courses extremely difficult. Students develop both practical and theoretical understanding of

mechatronics while working on group projects. They also develop the interpersonal and communication skills

needed to work in a multi-disciplinary field. This study describes a group project-based approach for enabling

teams of students to complete mechatronics projects. A set of heuristic guidelines is also proposed. At the

National Changhua University of Education in the Department of Industrial Education and Technology, this

approach has yielded high student satisfaction and achievement.
2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng

Educ 20: 93
102, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.20377

Keywords: mechatronics; group project-based approach; engineering education

INTRODUCTION

Learning styles vary from person to person. Some might be very

efficient in learning from only reading well selected learning

material, while others absolutely need to experiment. However,

psychological investigations have shown that in general people

remember only about 10% of the content that they read, but 90%

of what they experience. It is well known that students learn and

retain more as they become more engaged with instructional

materials. Students typically learn 20% of the material taught by

hearing, 40% by seeing and hearing, and 75% by seeing, hearing,

and doing. Well-designed instruction modules offer the possi￾bility of achieving the 75% goal [1].

The mechatronics course sequence integrates the funda￾mental elements of mechanical, electrical, engineering and

information systems to culminate in a powerful, adaptable,

interdisciplinary approach to mechatronics. In the laboratory,

students are often provided with a rich supply of sensors,

actuators and data collection and control tools that allow for

multiple solutions to a given design problem. A broad based

approach, involving student built projects controlled using a

computer, encourages creativity and excitement about the subject

[2,3]. Consequently, a course on mechatronics will have to deal

with complex theoretical subject matters as well as the complex￾ity of managing a class project [4]. Shyr et al. [5] proposed web￾based mechatronics monitoring and control learning platform to

students using the actual mechatronics module.

Teachers are often expected to design instructional activities

that integrate theoretical knowledge and promote students’ creative

thinking [6]. The teacher should help students to integrate

knowledge from science and other disciplines into the design

processes [7]. It is evident that there is an important role for

technology education and that technology remains a crucial part of

general education; even where technology education has gone

beyond the ‘‘technology is applied science’’ paradigm. Technology

education is an equally valuable subject in science education, and

both subjects should be concurrently taught [8,9].

Teaching engineering design through project engineering

courses is becoming very common [10
13]. Project-based

learning (PBL) is a model for classroom activity that shifts away

from the typical classroom practice of short, isolated teacher￾centered lessons and instead emphasizes learning activities that

are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered. Project￾based learning centered on the learner provides learners with

opportunities for in-depth investigations of worthy topics.

Learners can autonomously construct personally meaningful

artifacts that represent their learning. Project-based learning is an

important recent development in technology education [14]. The

strength of project-based learning is that it simultaneously

facilitates both problem solving and self-learning. The literature

Correspondence to W.-J. Shyr ([email protected]).

2010 Wiley Periodicals Inc.

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