Wei-Fan Chen

Development and evaluation of web service‐based interactive and simulated learning environment for computer numerical control

Multimedia technology and Internet applications are important tools for teaching and learning in engineering education. Nowadays online simulative environments are indispensable tools for teaching computer numerical control (CNC) course in mechanical engineering. Nevertheless, past studies seldom designed CNC code or program error handling mechanisms, and failed to use new emergent technologies and applications. This study proposed a design for a WSISLE‐CNC (web service‐based interactive and simulated learning environment for CNC) based on Web service technology. A questionnaire survey from vocational school instructors and students revealed a high degree of enthusiasm for this proposed approach. In summary, the main contributions of this study to engineering education are: (1) development of several types of CNC code or program error handling mechanisms and applications, and (2) use of Web service concepts and technology to develop various kinds of CNC simulation services.

Assessing Virtual Laboratories in a Digital-Filter Design Course: An Experimental Study

One hundred thirty-three undergraduate students in a digital filter design course participated in an experimental study. Two independent variables which occurred in a virtual laboratory environment were studied: 1) instructional treatments (online text-only materials, online texts with illustrations, and online texts with simulations); and 2) prior Internet experience (high and low). Three dependent variables were measured: 1) a knowledge achievement test; 2) intention to use instructional treatments; and 3) interaction levels with instructional treatments. The experimental research design of the study was a 3 times 2 randomized posttest design. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze collected data. The main effects and the potential interaction of the two independent variables were examined. Results indicate that the presentation of waveform variations and the change of parameters in the course content renders significant higher learning outcomes than online text-only materials and online texts with illustrations (Lambda (8,248) = 0.637, p < 0.05).

Work in progress - a game-based learning system for software engineering education

This study develops and evaluates a game-based learning system for a software engineering course. The game-based system adopts a role-playing strategy proposed by a digital game-based learning model and is designed based on the educational theory of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge that integrates pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and technological knowledge. By using the system, students learn about the process of software development in a team-based environment. In this learning environment, learners play different characters, such as a project leader, a system analyst, a system designer, or a programmer. The learners are also able to conduct collaborative activities with other team members during the software development process. To evaluate the effectiveness of the system, thirty-four undergraduate students in a software engineering course were recruited to evaluate the system via a questionnaire. The survey results indicated that students had a positive learning attitude toward the system usage.

Effect of Digital Games on Children's Cognitive Achievement

Technologies’ rapid advance in developing digital media has been extensively applied in contemporary play materials to enrich children’s play, such as electronic or computerized toys, electronic story books, television, personal computers, and game consoles. Recently, studies about digital games in these areas have begun to appear. Some educators have a vision that these games have the potential to become powerful motivating digital environments and they study digital games in order to determine how motivational components of popular digital games might be integrated into instructional design. This study investigated whether digital games facilitate children’s cognitive achievement in comparison to traditional computer-assisted instruction. One hundred and fifteen third-graders from a middle/high socio-economic standard school district in Tainan City, Taiwan participated in the study. Results indicate that digital game playing not only improves participants’ fact/recall processes, but also promotes problem-solving skills by recognizing multiple solutions for problems.

An investigation of a mobile learning system in a digital filter course

In the field of mobile learning, very few studies focused on the interaction between varied types of instructional devices and different types of instructional messages. This study explored the effects of instructional devices (Desktop PC vs. PDA) and instructional messages (text-only vs. text with a simulation tool) on undergraduate Electronic Engineering students. Results showed that students expressed a significant higher intention to learn in a Desktop PC environment, not in the PDA (F[1,21]=17.32, p<0.05). Results also indicated that students who used a MATLAB simulation tool performed significant better scores on their learning achievement test than those who did not use it (F[1,21]=10.96. p<0.05). In addition, the students who used MATLAB expressed a significant higher intention to learn than those who did not use it (F[1,21]=41.86, p<0.05).

Pre-service Teachers’ Perspectives on One-to-one Computing: A Mixed Method Study

This study aims at exploring pre-service teachers’ perspectives on one-to-one (1:1) computing in teaching and learning. It gathered data regarding various aspects of 1:1 computing from 145 pre-service teachers at a public university in USA. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in data analysis. Findings show that pre-service teachers consider the use of 1:1 computing in the classroom changes interactions between instructors and students. The positive influence includes enhanced communication and providing medium for presenting materials. Significant difference was found in time spent using 1:1 computing in varied types of settings (F(3,576)=37.70, p<.05). In addition, pre-service teachers believe that technology can influence teaching in a positive way; the use of 1:1 computing increases engagement and facilitates knowledge transfer.

Peer evaluation in an undergraduate database management class: A quasi-experimental study

This study is to evaluate whether peer evaluation increases student participation and thus improves learning achievement in an e-learning 2.0 environment. We first implemented an e-learning 2.0 platform and then collected data from student participants, including RSS, blogs, Wiki, and other online forums. A quasi-experimental design was used in the study. The student participants were divided into an experimental group (N=52) and a control group (N=60). The results indicated that the e-learning 2.0 platform had a positive effect on student learning process. When comparing the academic performances of the control group and the experimental group after using e-learning 2.0 for a period of time, students in the experimental group had significantly better academic results than those in the control group.

Work in progress - creating expert systems in engineering education

This study presented a model of constructing expert system knowledge base for an undergraduate computer networking class. This model included (1) identifying a suitable problem, (2) defining the problem domain, (3) specifying goals or solutions, (4) specifying problem attributes and values, (5) generating rules and examples, and (6) selecting the right tool. In addition, the effectiveness of this problem-based learning approach was verified by an experimental study. Results indicated that students creating their own expert decision-making system based on IF-THEN rules achieved significantly higher scores than students guided by an expert system already developed by experts (F=5.042, p≪ .05) when they were solving story problems. The same instructional technology can be applied to other disciplines that focus on teaching engineering problem solving.

Correction to "Assessing virtual laboratories in a digital-filter design course: An experimental study"

Summary form only given, as follows. The authors of the above-named work report failed to originally report that their work was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Contract NSC94-2516-S-151-005.

Work in progress - assessing web service-based learning environments for a digital-filter design course

This study assessed varied types of Web service- based learning environments in a digital-filter design course. Ninety-one undergraduate students participated in an experimental study. Two independent variables were studied: (1) Web service-based simulations (batch-based, comparison-based, and interval change-based simulations); and (2) prior Internet familiarity (high and low). Two dependent variables were measured: (1) a knowledge achievement test, and (2) a problem-solving belief test. The experimental research design of the study was a 3 x 2 randomized post-test design. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze collected data. The main effects and the potential interaction of the two independent variables were examined. Results indicate that, if not considering extraneous variables, Web service-based simulation with a simple batch-based design yielded a significantly better learning performance than the other two complex simulation designs (comparison-based and interval change-based simulations) (F[2,85] = 4.274, p<.05).