Norikane Kanai

USING THE LEGO ® MINDSTORMS IN JAPANESE EDUCATION TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF DISINTEREST IN SCIENCE

The education process is the main factor to develop and improve our life. It is also the base of any community. However, the education in Japan facing several crises that may threaten the education sites. One of the crises is “disinterest in science” that attract the attention recently. There are different movements that searching for keys to solve this problem. In this thesis we focused on the practical or hands-on learning by introducing systems that deal with the control engineering technology. The control engineering technology with it is different fields of studies has been one of the important pillars of development process. Since the establishment of the control system, there were different researches and studies had been held on this technology. Unfortunately, the practical learning materials that deals with the control engineering technology are insufficient. In this thesis we introducing a practical learning material that deals with several types of control to support the student.

Development of an Instrumentation and Control System Learning Material Using LEGO Education System

The control engineering technology is a huge field of study. Above all, the instrumentation and control, likewise the plant automation has been classified as a special field of this technology. In this thesis we are introducing a practical learning material system that deals with instrumentation and plant control theory using LEGO Mindstorms and LEGO Bricks. There are different parts in the plant such as field instruments, controllers and analyzers, which are linked together to maintain a stable level of production. We are assuming that colleges and new employer will be able to use the developed system.

Programs of Company Cooperation Learning and Career Education

97 1.はじめに 18歳人口の減少,若者の理系離れなど工科系大学を 取り巻く環境は厳しい状況が継続している.また,学 生の企業理解不足から生じる企業側とのミスマッチが 指摘されている.2006年度から経済産業省は「前に踏 み出す力」,「考え抜く力」,「チームで働く力」の3つ の能力を細分化した12の能力要素を「職場や地域社会 の中で多様な人々と仕事をしていくために必要な基礎 的な力」として提唱している.企業や学生を取り巻 く環境変化により,「基礎学力」「専門知識」に加え, それらを活用していくための「社会人基礎力」を意識 的に育成していくことが,今後さらに重要と考える. 大学生に対するキャリア教育には,キャリア関連の授 業による知識やスキルの習得,大学の教育資産を活用 した教育が行われているが,学生が十分な就業力を身 に付け,社会参画できるとは言えないのが実情である. 各大学が専門分野の学習と連動し,キャリア教育を検 討している中で,工科系大学としても新しい教育体系 のブレークスルーが必要と感じる. このような環境下で神奈川工科大学創造工学部ホー ムエレクトロニクス開発学科では,高校生にとって身 近なエレクトロニクス機器である家電製品を学習の切 り口として電気電子分野,情報分野,機械工学の基礎 などを学習する斬新な教育を指向している.座学のみ の講義は少なく,ミニ実験や調査などを大幅に取り入 れ,学生主体とした体験学習を行っている.また実践 的な学習手法として,家電関連企業と積極的に連携し ている.このような企業連携学習は,学生のモチベー ション向上やキャリア教育に繫がることが,学科教員 のFD活動やカリキュラム検討の情報交換の中で明ら かになっている. 本報告は,平成20年度設置した本学科の第一期学生 が入学から来春の卒業に向けて取り組んだ一連の企業 連携学習内容を紹介し,特に企業連携プロジェクト学 習とキャリア教育との関わりについて報告する.

Mechatronics Education Curriculum for Nurturing Consumer Electronics Engineers Using LEGO Education Tools

We developed a new mechatronics education curriculum for nurturing consumer electronics engineers that consists of eleven courses, divided into four grades, in which LEGO education tools were actively applied to various projects. During each of these courses, students are required to complete specific projects using various LEGO education tool components and kits. These projects included fabricating prototype consumer electronics products such as a CD player, a home security system, and an HEMS module. After four years of implementation, it was demonstrated that the planning ability, manufacturing sense, and creative power of students had been extended significantly.

Development of the Home Energy Management System Learning Materials Using LEGO MINDSTORMS

Technique and also education for energy saving is attracted attention in Japan. The suggestion about the energy management system utilized embedded technology using microcomputer control and a network system has been proposed. Home energy management system can be produced in replacing with ideas of robot control system. In this paper, we report the project to producing of model of Home Energy Management System utilizing a robot control technology with the LEGO MINDSTORMS Experimentally in PBL and it is developed the teaching and learning materials for high school students who could understand a flow of the energy management and energy saving.

Development of Study Aids and Project Activity Procedures for STEM Educatio

It is important to develop a student’s awareness to enable them to understand and apply the basics of sciences, mathematics, and engineering. In this study, we aim to implement STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education by enabling students to gain awareness on their own. We propose study aids and procedures for a project activity using study aids for STEM education. To enable students to gain awareness, teachers should provide a study environment that empowers students to develop their own solutions and plans and to actively develop and test their models. The project-based learning (PBL) system provides an appropriate study environment. Based on this viewpoint, we developed study aids using LEGO MINDSTORMS Set and Simple & Powered Machines Set as materials and procedures for a project activity using the study aids for PBL education. We also give examples of project activities implemented in our education system for students in various fields and we report the responses of students who participated in these project activities.