Research Experiences for High School Teachers and College Instructors in Mechatronics, Robotics and Industrial Automation

U.S. manufacturers are seeking highly skilled workers to hire in industrial automation and control jobs. Encouraging active participation of secondary school teachers and two-year college faculty in university research allows them to learn about recent discoveries and innovations, share about them in the classroom, and thereby encourage and stimulate students to pursue engineering and computer science careers such as industrial automation. The paper will describe program activities, research projects, outcomes, and lessons learned from a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Teachers program. Participants were recruited from science, technology, engineering and math departments in high schools and colleges throughout the U.S. Special effort was made to recruit teachers and instructors from districts and two-year colleges with large numbers of underrepresented minority students. Program objectives were to 1) provide opportunities for participants to actively participate in research and then translate their research experiences and new knowledge into classroom activities; 2) establish long-term collaborative relationships with the Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation research community at Texas A&M University; and 3) disseminate findings and instructional materials developed for this program. Participants spent six weeks working on a research project with a mentor and a graduate student. Opinion survey data suggests that participants enjoyed the program and learned from the research experience Overview and Objectives Automation has a profound effect on the way we do work, and mechatronics and robotics are the building blocks for industrial automation. U.S. manufacturers are seeking highly skilled workers to hire for industrial automation and control jobs [1]. To help cultivate a future workforce, it is important to expose students to automation and control concepts at an early age. Encouraging active participation of secondary school teachers and two-year college faculty in university research allows them to learn about recent discoveries and innovations, share about them in the classroom, and thereby encourage and stimulate students to pursue engineering and computer science careers such as industrial automation. Recent research has studied the characteristics of professional development that effect change in secondary science teachers' classroom practices. Results suggest that the number of teachers providing opportunities for their students to conduct full inquiry increased significantly after their participation in inquiry based research program [2]. In addition, evaluations of National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programs have suggested that research experience helps high school teachers to convey engineering concepts in their classroom teaching [3,4,5]. This paper describes an NSF funded RET site focusing on Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation theory and applications in different engineering disciplines and presents survey results and lessons learned from hosting the program in the first year. The site allows twelve high school and two-year college faculty involved in career and technology education (CATE) to actively participate in Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation research P ge 26331.2 and curriculum development at a Tier 1 research university during a six week summer research program with follow-up activities during the academic year. The goals of the site included: 1) provide opportunities for CATE faculty to actively participate in research and then translate their research experiences and new knowledge into classroom activities.; 2) establish long-term collaborative relationships between CATE faculty and the Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation research community at Texas A&M University; and 3) disseminate findings and instructional materials developed for this program. Teachers/Instructors Recruitment and Selection The program targets teachers/instructors who 1) are teaching math, science, or career and technology education (CATE) and/or involved in robotics-related activities such as Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology (BEST) competitions. Instructors from institutions with high percentages of minority and socio-economically disadvantaged students were encouraged to apply. A flyer was designed and direct emailed to over 800 STEM teachers and administrators at school districts and two-year colleges in Texas. In addition, information about the program was distributed via ASEE’s Engineering Technology Division’s listserv (ETD-L) and at the annual High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC). A web page was created to allow applicants to see the research projects, mentors, and activities. The application package needed to include (1) a personal information data sheet, (2) an essay describing the applicant’s curriculum design experience, and (3) a recommendation letter. The personal data sheet allowed the project director to group applicants based on their research interests. The project director then worked with each individual mentor to select participants. General Program Information As described earlier, the program’s goals included: (1) to participate and learn about a research project with a graduate student and mentor; (2) develop a lesson plan for disseminating the research experience into the classroom. To achieve these goals, the following activities were provided: Presentations on research methods and areas To learn about research methods, teachers/instructors had the opportunity to attend presentations offered by the college on topics such as how to write an abstract, how to do a literature review, how to set up a working hypothesis, and how to conduct statistical testing. Teachers/instructors also attended presentations on mechatronics, MEMS, micro/nano manufacturing, robotics, and automated system design. The presentations were given by the mentors and other faculty members. Team research experience Participants were formed into teams based on their interest, teaching subjects, and affiliation. Each team worked on a research project or area of common interest with a designated faculty mentor and graduate student. First, the program matched teachers/instructors to projects based on the interest as indicated in the application package. Second, the mentor talked to applicants to P ge 26331.3 verify their interest and background. Third, the participants were notified about their project and mentor. To ensure each team would receive sufficient attention, each mentor supervised up to two participants per summer and two participants worked as a team with a mentor and graduate student. In addition, the project scope and depth were adjusted by the mentor based on participants’ performance. The first-year research projects included: Camera Calibration in Computer Vision 3D Object Reconstruction through the use of Projective Geometry Remote control of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)-based automated system Experimental Bipedal Walking Robots Graph Theory in Everyday Life Bridging the Gap: Sensor-Based Automation Across Grade Levels Using Piezoelectric Film to Capture Voltage Project topic areas ranged from theory understanding to practical applications. The research domains included MEMS, computer vision, walking robot design, and PLC-based automated system design. The research tasks included modeling, algorithm design, conducting experiments, and building automated systems using a PLC as the controller. Also, the engineering disciplines included manufacturing, mechanical, computer science, and electrical engineering. The RET program had a very strong interdisciplinary flavor which allowed participants to learn from each other. Community of active learning Several actions were taken to facilitate the formation of a community of active learners. First, most RET participants were housed in a dormitory with students from other Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs. Therefore, they can interact and learn from each other; since they are most likely in different research projects and from different programs. Most importantly, they all have the similar goal: to learn how to do research. Second, at “brownbag” lunch meetings, RET teams and REU students would present about their project, progress, and difficulties. Third, they were required to write a lesson plan using templates from TeachEngineering.org and prepare a poster and presentation about their research projects. They also attended campus lab tours and presentations related to robotics and industrial automation.