Collaborative Research: Constructionism in Learning: Sustainable Life Cycle Engineering (CooL:SLiCE)

将可持续性或人类活动对自然环境的影响纳入消费产品的设计是消费者和行业的重要目标。然而，工程项目一直在努力寻找有效地将可持续性分析纳入工程设计教育的方法。该项目将通过开发一个网络学习环境，通过基于团队和个性化的设计活动来支持对环境负责的产品设计，从而应对这一挑战。该方法将3D建模和产品设计数据库与用于环境影响分析的集成制造和供应链分析引擎联系起来。以团队为基础的设计活动将挑战学生使用熟悉的产品（如滑板、滑雪板和MP3播放器）进行可持续产品设计问题。该项目的成功实施将有助于为学术机构开发一种新的和负担得起的方式，将可持续发展主题纳入其课程，并培养一支满足现代工业和消费者对可持续产品开发需求的熟练劳动力。该项目的学习平台——学习中的建构主义：可持续生命周期工程（CooL:SLiCE）——基于学习中的建构主义理论，支持多阶段问题解决技能的发展，这些技能将被构建到现实世界的问题环境中，在这个环境中，基本的设计、定制和可持续性问题将与一个可能对学习者个人有意义的工件相结合。这种方法将使学习者有机会认识到他们作为消费者的选择的含义，特别注重对环境负责的设计。这项工作将探索这样一个假设，即CooL:SLiCE平台将为学生提供一个对环境负责的生命周期产品设计进行深入学习的媒介。与CooL:SLiCE平台一起开发和交付的可持续生命周期工程学习模块将有助于调查不同程度的自主性对学生学习可持续发展的影响。在CooL:SLiCE制造分析引擎中，将采用单元过程建模概念来量化过程和供应链绩效指标。已经确定的是，可持续发展的主题吸引了目前在STEM学科中代表性不足的群体的学生的兴趣。因此，该项目将有助于通过将可持续性分析纳入工程课程来扩大STEM的参与。此外，本研究将有助于理解电子学习平台作为教育学习者进行环境负责设计的媒介的作用。结构化的学习活动将提供信息，将进一步研究工作，寻求开发一个基于网络的分析工具，为可持续的生命周期工程。

Including the consideration of sustainability, or the impact of human activity on the natural environment, into the design of consumer products is an important goal for both consumers and industry. However, engineering programs have struggled to find ways to effectively include the analysis of sustainability into engineering design education. This project will address this challenge by developing a cyberlearning environment that supports environmentally responsible product design through team-based and personalized design activities. The approach links 3D modeling and a product design database with an integrated manufacturing and supply chain analysis engine for environmental impact analysis. Team-based design activities will challenge students with sustainable product design problems using familiar products, such as skateboards, snowboards, and MP3 players. Successful implementation of the project will help to develop a new and affordable way for academic institutions to integrate sustainability topics into their curricula and prepare a skilled workforce that meets modern industry and consumer needs for sustainable product development.The project's learning platform - Constructionism in Learning: Sustainable Life Cycle Engineering (CooL:SLiCE) - is based on the constructivist theory in learning and supports the development of multi-stage problem solving skills that will be built into a real-world problem context in which fundamental design, customization, and sustainability issues are integrated with an artifact likely to be personally meaningful to the learners. This approach will give learners an opportunity to realize the implications of their choices as consumers by specifically focusing on environmentally responsible design. The work will explore the hypothesis that the CooL:SLiCE platform will provide a medium for deeper learning in students of environmentally responsible life cycle product design. Sustainable life cycle engineering learning modules to be developed and delivered along with the CooL:SLiCE platform will facilitate investigations on the impact of different levels of autonomy on student learning of sustainability. A unit process modeling concept will be employed in the CooL:SLiCE manufacturing analysis engine for quantifying process and supply chain performance metrics. It has been established that the topic of sustainability attracts the interest of students from groups currently underrepresented in STEM disciplines. Consequently this project will contribute to broadening participation in STEM by helping to integrate sustainability analysis into the engineering curriculum. Moreover, this research will provide an understanding of the role of the e-learning platform as a medium to educate learners in environmentally responsible design. The structured learning activities will provide information that will further research efforts seeking to develop a cyber-based analysis tool for sustainable life cycle engineering.