Multi-threaded Instruction: Forming Multi-disciplinary Research Groups to Improve Undergraduate Education

创建机器人学院的首要目标是为本科生形成一个新的多学科、基于项目的教学环境，让来自不同学科的学生参与发现过程，并通过与现实世界问题的亲身体验，让他们接触到研究和设计的喜悦。该学院将包括来自多所大学(塔夫茨大学和内华达大学雷诺分校)的学生(和教师)，使学生和教师有机会从其他大学的专业中受益，并通过互联网与其他人远程协作。在拟议的系统下，来自多个学科(即机械工程、电气工程/计算机科学、人类因素、生物化学/化学和儿童发展/教育)的大三学生将加入机器人学院，通过预定义的“机器人线程”完成他们的主要学习计划。每门学科的“机器人主题”由一套课程组成，这些课程向学生介绍机器人技术，以及如何将其应用于他们选择的领域。在学院的两年里，他们将在一个由来自不同学科的四名学生组成的团队中，就一个共同的机器人项目进行工作。这个项目将构成他们的本科生荣誉论文。每个多学科学院团队都将在以下四个领域中的一个领域从事机器人项目：医疗机器人、远程机器人、纳米机器人和机器人玩具。医疗机器人项目将由学院负责的教职员工与外科医生(塔夫茨医学院和新英格兰医学中心)、兽医(与塔夫茨兽医学院合作)或职业治疗师(塔夫茨大学波士顿职业治疗学院)共同领导。通过他们的机器人解决方案，这些项目的学生将致力于改善患者的生活质量，或提高特定医疗应用的安全性和生产率。远程机器人项目将向学生介绍远程控制和操纵的概念和应用。这项工作将与NASA的科学家一起完成，并将向学生传授远程探索的知识。纳米机器人项目将把学生放在现代机器人技术的前沿，让他们参与到纳米制造和控制技术的前沿。最后的项目领域将是教育机器人玩具的设计。该项目将建立在与乐高公司的高度成功合作的基础上，并在塔夫茨开发机器人实验室。作为一个团队，每个团队成员都将从机器人解决方案的生命周期过程中学习并做出贡献。例如，机械工程专业的学生将从事机器人的设计和制造；计算机科学/电气工程专业的学生将设计电路，并对机器人的智能进行编程。以人为本的学生将设计用户界面，以确保安全和有效的使用，而团队中的职前教师将实施工程教育外展工作。此外，学院的高年级学生将担任另一学科低年级学生的导师。这种安排允许学生接受个人的关注，同时鼓励跨学科的交流。每个高年级学生还将负责教授一次学院实践研讨会，这是一堂下午的课程，内容是机器人学的一些实用方面，对学院的所有学生都有用。例如，一名机械工程专业的高年级学生可能会开设一门ProEngineering和CAD课程，而一名儿童发展专业的学生可能会开设一门关于认知和学习策略的课程。第一年计划有五个机器人项目，随后的每一年都会有两个新项目推出。拟议方案的进展情况将在拟议资金的三年期间进行评估。机器人项目的结果将记录在学院的网站上，并在会议上传播。预计学院将在三年后通过对个别项目的工业支持实现自给自足。

The primary goal of the creation of the Robotics Academy is to form a new multi-disciplinary, project-based teaching and learning environment for undergraduate students, involving students from different disciplines in the discovery process and exposing them to the joy of research and design through hands-on experience with real world problems. The Academy will include students (and teachers) from multiple universities (Tufts University and University of Nevada, Reno), giving the students and teachers the opportunity to benefit from specialties at other universities, as well as to collaborate with others remotely over the Internet.Under the proposed system, junior students from multiple disciplines (i.e., mechanical engineering, electrical engineering/computer science, human factors, biochemistry/chemistry, and child development/education) will join the Robotics Academy, completing their major program of studies through a pre-defined "robotics thread". The "robotics thread" in each discipline consists of a set of courses that introduces the students to robotics and how it applies to their chosen fields. During their two years in the Academy, they will work in a team, composed of four students from different disciplines, on a common robotics project. This project will constitute their undergraduate honors thesis.Each multi-disciplinary Academy team will work on a robotic project in one of 4 areas: MedicalRobotics, Tele-robotics, Nanorobotics, and Robotic Toys. Medical robotic projects will be led by the responsible faculty in the Academy, in conjunction with surgeons (Tufts School of Medicine and the New England Medical Centre), veterinarians (with Tufts Veterinary School), or occupational therapists (Tufts University Boston School of Occupational Therapy). Through their robotics solution, students in these projects will aim to improve the quality of life of the patient, or improve the safety and productivity for a particular medical application. Tele-robotics projects will introduce students to concepts and applications of remote control and manipulation. This work will be done in conjunction with NASA scientists and will teach students about remote exploration. The Nanorobotics project will put students at the forefront of modern robotics, involving them in the cutting edge of nano-fabrication and control techniques. The final project area will be in the design of educational robotic toys. This project will build on the highly successful collaboration with the LEGO Corporation and the development of ROBOLAB at Tufts.As a team, each team member will learn from and contribute to the process in the life cycle of the robotic solution. For instance, the mechanical engineering student will work on robot design and fabrication; the computer science/electrical engineering student will design the circuitry and program the intelligence of the robot. The human factors student will design the user interface to ensure safe and effective use, while the pre-service teacher on the team will implement the engineering education outreach efforts.In addition, senior students in the Academy will act as mentors to junior students from another discipline. This arrangement allows for the students to receive individual attention, while encouraging communication across the disciplines. Each senior will also be responsible for teaching one Academy Hands-On Seminar, an afternoon class in some practical aspect of robotics that will be useful to all students in the academy. For instance, a mechanical engineering senior might offer a course in ProEngineer and CAD, whereas a child development student might offer a class in cognition and learning strategies.Five robotics projects are planned for the first year, with two new projects being introduced in each subsequent year. Progress of the proposed program will be assessed throughout the three years of proposed funding. Results of the robotics projects will be documented on the Academy website and disseminated at conferences. The Academy is expected to be self-sustaining after three years, through industrial support for individual projects.