Developing and Analyzing a Modular, Online Mechatronics Curriculum with Hands-on Laboratories to Prepare the Skilled Manufacturing Workforce

该项目将有助于满足国家对生产工程中受过良好教育的工程师和技术人员的需求。它将通过支持机电一体化在线课程的设计、开发和评估来实现这一目标。项目团队包括俄勒冈州立大学和克拉克马斯社区学院的教育工作者，以及与行业和其他组织的合作伙伴。总体目标是开发一套包括现场实验在内的在线课程模块。每个模块将建立一个特定的机电一体化概念的能力。亲自动手的实验将采用“盒子里的实验室”的方法，这将使学生选择在俄勒冈州立大学或就近的社区学院进行实验。课程模块将被组织成四组，可以在机电一体化课程中堆叠。这些分组将使两年制和四年制院校的学生以及在职专业人员能够获得机电一体化方面的认证。该项目将调查模块化课程和远程实验室如何影响学生的学习和成功。这一分析的结果将有助于理解提供高质量在线教育的最佳实践，以满足学生的职业目标，以及机电一体化和制造业的需求。该项目将有助于使全国范围内更广泛的学生更容易接受机电一体化教育。该项目的总体目标是提高对生产工程重要的关键领域的现有和未来的工程师和技术人员的准备。该项目将追求五个目标：1)识别和确认机电一体化的基本内容领域和学习目标；2)为当前机电一体化领域的认证或再认证开发模块化在线程序；3)扩大社区学院和大学学生在专业认证之外的教育机会，以及开放教育的交付；4)研究和评估模块化课程交付和远程实验室的学生学习成果；5)向后续用户分发课程资料、绩效分析方法和匿名数据。课程模块将被结构化和垂直整合，以提供机电一体化职业路径证书或机电一体化工程证书。有关学生与课程组件互动的数据将被收集和分析，包括网站导航工作流程、通过预测分析的学生进度和学习者参与度。感兴趣的具体变量包括：时间和完成率；总体成就;学习者的满足感;以及雇主满意度。将探讨人口统计变量，以确定所提出的混合在线方法对谁最有效。学生在远程实验室的表现将与学生在传统实验室的表现进行比较，以确定远程选项是否等效和可行的替代方案。这项研究将为不同的学习者如何在模块化课程中取得成功提供更深入的见解。项目成果将通过教师培训、会议演讲、同行评议的出版物和为期一天的研讨会来公布，以扩大该项目在俄勒冈州以外的范围。该项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR核心研究：生产工程教育与研究（ECR: PEER）项目资助，该项目旨在改善未来和当前生产工程专业人员的教育。它还旨在研究这些项目所采用的创新教育策略的有效性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated engineers and technicians in production engineering. It will do so by supporting the design, development, and evaluation of online courses in mechatronics. The project team includes educators at Oregon State University and Clackamas Community College, as well as partnerships with industry and other organizations. The overall goal is to develop a set of online course modules that include in-person labs. Each module will build competence in a specific mechatronics concept. The in-person, hands-on labs will use a "lab-in-a-box" approach, which will give students the option of conducting labs at Oregon State University or at community colleges close to their own location. The course modules will be organized into four groupings that can be stacked within a mechatronics curriculum. These groupings will enable students at two-year and four-year institutions, as well as working professionals, to obtain certifications in mechatronics. The project will investigate how modular courses and remote labs influence student learning and success. The results of this analysis will contribute to understanding best practices for delivering a high-quality online education that meets the professional goals of students, as well as the needs of mechatronics and manufacturing industries. The project will help make mechatronics education more accessible to a wider range of students across the country.The overall goal of this project is to improve the preparation of current and prospective engineers and technicians in key fields that are important for production engineering. The project will pursue five objectives: 1) Identify and confirm essential content areas and learning objectives in mechatronics; 2) Develop a modular online program for certification or re-certification in current areas of mechatronics; 3) Expand educational opportunities beyond professional certification for community college and university students, and for open-education delivery; 4) Research and evaluate student learning outcomes resulting from the modular course delivery and remote laboratories; and 5) Distribute course materials, performance analysis methods, and anonymized data for subsequent users. The course modules will be structured and vertically integrated to offer a Mechatronics Career Pathway Certificate or a Mechatronics Engineering Certificate. Data about students' interaction with course components will be collected and analyzed, and will include site navigation workflows, student progress via predictive analytics, and learner engagement. Specific variables of interest will include: time and rate of completion; overall achievement; learner satisfaction; and employer satisfaction. Demographic variables will be explored to identify for whom the proposed hybrid online approach works best. Student performance in remote labs will be compared to that of students in traditional labs, to determine whether the remote options are equivalent and viable alternatives. The research will provide greater insights into how different learners achieve success within the modularized curriculum. Project results will be made available through faculty training, conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and a one-day workshop to scale the program beyond the state of Oregon. This project is funded by NSF's EHR Core Research: Production Engineering Education and Research (ECR: PEER) program, which seeks to improve the education of future and current professionals in production engineering. It also aims to study the effectiveness of the innovative educational strategies adopted by these projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.