Motivating STEM Studies Through a Space Exploration Robotics Summer Camp

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sida Du ◽  
Tom Ebert ◽  
Ismayuzri Bin Ishak ◽  
Jihang Li ◽  
Xiaoyang Mao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Original Work ◽  
Summer Camp ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Spatial Systems ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Institute Of Technology

In order to motivate the pursuit of and interest in a STEM curriculum for 12–17 year olds, an interactive space exploration robotics camp was developed by the Robotics and Spatial Systems Laboratory at the Florida Institute of Technology. The camp incorporated hands-on activities to explain robots and their practical uses. Problem solving with the versatile robot became the underlying theme of the camp under the guise of a space mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Team building exercises were designed and executed during the camp to teach about engineering and problem solving. Through teamwork, discussions, patience, and dexterity the two teams of the camp successfully completed the simulated mission to save the fictitious base on Europa. The summer camp curriculum was original work developed by RASSL to provide young people with an introduction to robotics. This paper discusses the robot kit development, the activities created for the week, the group competitions, the insight learned by RASSL, and the participant feedback about the camp. This work may be used as a template for creating a small scale robotics camp hosted by a university or high school robotics lab or club.

scholarly journals A Small-Scale Concept-based Laboratory Component: The Best of Both Worlds

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Gould Halme ◽  
Julia Khodor ◽  
Rudolph Mitchell ◽  
Graham C. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Method ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Laboratory Component ◽  
Biological Concepts ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Concept Framework

In this article, we describe an exploratory study of a small-scale, concept-driven, voluntary laboratory component of Introductory Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We wished to investigate whether students' attitudes toward biology and their understanding of basic biological principles would improve through concept-based learning in a laboratory environment. With these goals in mind, and using our Biology Concept Framework as a guide, we designed laboratory exercises to connect topics from the lecture portion of the course and highlight key concepts. We also strove to make abstract concepts tangible, encourage learning in nonlecture format, expose the students to scientific method in action, and convey the excitement of performing experiments. Our initial small-scale assessments indicate participation in the laboratory component, which featured both hands-on and minds-on components, improved student learning and retention of basic biological concepts. Further investigation will focus on improving the balance between the minds-on concept-based learning and the hands-on experimental component of the laboratory.

Soft Skills among Students: A Case Study of UiTM Cawangan Kelantan

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Muhammad Faizal Samat ◽  
Norazlan Annual ◽  
Raznee Atisya Md Rashidi
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Education System ◽  
Communication Skill ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Leadership Skill ◽  
Quality In Education

This article contributes to ongoing debates about soft skills among students. In 2017, the unemployment rate in Malaysia was at 3.42 percent as compared to 2.85 percent in 2014. Education system must aim towards employability and ensure quality in education to reduce the percentage of unemployment. Thus, this study aims to investigate the development of soft skills among students through co-curriculum activities in UiTM Cawangan Kelantan. The sample were 113 students from UiTM Cawangan Kelantan. Questionnaires adapted from previous research to measure the communication skill, problem solving skill, team building skill, leadership skill and soft development of soft skills among students through co-curriculum activities. SEM-PLS 3.0 were employed in this study. The findings revealed only team building skill has significant influence on developments of soft skills among students through co-curriculum activities. However, the study indicates that communication skill, problem solving skill and leadership skill are not significant towards development of soft skills among students through cocurriculum activities.

scholarly journals An advance in transfer line chilldown heat transfer of cryogenic propellants in microgravity using microfilm coating for enabling deep space exploration

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Chung ◽  
Jun Dong ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
S. R. Darr ◽  
J. W. Hartwig
Keyword(s):  
Space Exploration ◽  
Fluid Management ◽  
Microgravity Condition ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Deep Space ◽  
Deep Space Exploration ◽  
Quenching Efficiency ◽  
Proper Perspective

AbstractThe extension of human space exploration from a low earth orbit to a high earth orbit, then to Moon, Mars, and possibly asteroids is NASA’s biggest challenge for the new millennium. Integral to this mission is the effective, sufficient, and reliable supply of cryogenic propellant fluids. Therefore, highly energy-efficient thermal-fluid management breakthrough concepts to conserve and minimize the cryogen consumption have become the focus of research and development, especially for the deep space mission to mars. Here we introduce such a concept and demonstrate its feasibility in parabolic flights under a simulated space microgravity condition. We show that by coating the inner surface of a cryogenic propellant transfer pipe with low-thermal conductivity microfilms, the quenching efficiency can be increased up to 176% over that of the traditional bare-surface pipe for the thermal management process of chilling down the transfer pipe. To put this into proper perspective, the much higher efficiency translates into a 65% savings in propellant consumption.

scholarly journals Contextualizing technology in the classroom via remote access: Using space exploration themes and scanning electron microscopy as tools to promote engagement in multidisciplinary geology/chemistry experiments

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Rodriguez ◽  
Veronica Jaramillo ◽  
Vanessa Wolf ◽  
Esteban Bautista ◽  
Jennifer Portillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Remote Access ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Technology In The Classroom ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Hands On ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Scanning Electron

A multidisciplinary science experiment was performed in K-12 classrooms focusing on the interconnection of technology with geology and chemistry. The engagement and passion for science of over eight hundred students across twenty-one classrooms, utilizing a combination of hands-on activities to study the relationships between Earth and space rock studies, followed by a remote access session wherein students remotely employed the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to validate their findings was investigated. Participants were from predominantly low-income minority communities, with little exposure to the themes and equipment used, despite being freely available resources.  Students indicated greatly increased interest in scientific practices and careers, as well as a better grasp of the content as a result of the lab and remote access coupling format.  

Hands-On Graduate Courses in Lean Manufacturing (LM) Emphasizing Green and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey J. Peter
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Lean Manufacturing ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Total Productive Maintenance ◽  
Initial Product ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Institute Of Technology

The author developed and taught the second hands-on graduate course in a series of three Environmentally Friendly Manufacturing (EFM) courses offered at the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering and Technology (MMET) Masters Program at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT), Portland Center. Courses in this series include Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing (ECM-1), Lean Manufacturing (LM) emphasizing Green and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and Emission Control in Manufacturing (ECM-II). The first two-thirds of the course curriculum consisted of regular classroom lectures, limited homework, two case studies, discussions, videos, and visits to two companies that were implementing or had implemented LM. In addition, a guest lecturer from Washington State Department of Ecology discussed relevant LM and environmental case studies. The final third of the course curriculum consisted of hands-on industry-based case studies. Students gained real-world experience in the manufacturing facilities of the four companies that elected to participate in the pilot project. The LM course, taught from an engineer’s point of view, emphasized the engineer’s role at the initial product design stage, and or manufacturing process design, including building design. This paper describes the course content of the LM curriculum, the innovative methods developed to teach the course, and the methods used to teach LM to graduate students with different undergraduate educational backgrounds including individuals with no prior industrial experience. It discusses three industry-based case studies, company profiles, and the benefits derived by participating companies and graduate students. Curriculum effectiveness was determined at the end of the course in part through students’ and industry participant’s comments. Future publication will describe the contents and case studies of the third ECM II in the EFM course curricula.

scholarly journals The Effect of Problem Solving Course on Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about Problem Solving in School Mathematics and Themselves as Problem Solvers

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-159
Author(s):  
Ljerka Jukić Matić
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Heuristic Strategies ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Problem Solvers ◽  
Positive Effect

Problem solving in schools begins with mathematics teachers. The degree to which mathematics teachers are prepared to teach for, about and through problem solving influences on their implementation of problem solving in school. We conducted a small scale study where we examined the effect of implementation of heuristic strategies and Polya’s steps in mathematics method course. We assessed pre-service teachers’ knowledge and attitudes about them as problem solvers before and after the course. Moreover we assessed their beliefs of problem solving in school mathematics. Those beliefs were assessed in two occasions: right after the course and after finished teaching practice. Although students’ knowledge on problem solving was improved, the results of students’ beliefs show that it is important that pre-service teachers, and consequently in-service teachers, are constantly reminded on the positive effect of constructivist and inquiry-based approach on teaching mathematics.

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