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Development of a Manufacturing Web-Based Learning System for Promoting Practice Ability

Min Jou Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University

1. Introduction Since the early 1980s, computers have entered the manufacturing educational arena. Increasingly, general purpose tools, such as computer-aided drawing and design packages, computer-aided manufacturing and simulation packages, and computer-aided analysis packages, were developed as valuable computer environments for improving manufacturing productivity1,2. The emerging technologies require new knowledge and skills. This places a serious responsibility on engineering educators to provide students with the scientific principles of new technologies, and familiarize them with their impact on the modern manufacturing processes. Manufacturing science includes these technical areas: manufacturing technique, manufacturing systems, design and analysis of manufacturing process planning, material handling, monitoring and control, automated inspection, sensors and interfaces, and management. The manufacturing technique covers: turning, milling, drilling, holing …etc. Much time and cost are used to teach these techniques. Particularly, computerized machines are continuously increasing in use. The development of educating engineers on computerized machines becomes much more difficult than with traditional machines. This is because of the limitation of the extremely expensive cost of teaching. The quality and quantity of teaching cannot always be promoted in this respect. The traditional teaching methods cannot respond well to the needs of the future.

The evolution of computer and Internet technologies has made it easy to access learning contents from almost anywhere, anytime, and at user pace3,4. In 1994, Bengu5,6 developed a suite to provide comprehensive engineering education for freshmen in manufacturing processes and systems, and in concurrent engineering. The focus was to develop a support mechanism to deliver the courseware of manufacturing through the www. Since manufacturing education is so vital to the creation of the engineer, Bengu & Swart7 created a learning process based on total quality management (TQM) and critical thinking (CT) concepts (Figure 1). Their study takes advantage of computer and information technology to enhance the delivery of education through computer-aided teaching and learning tools. A basic proposed framework for the course brings together assembled subject material using various media. In order to achieve the effective use of this new teaching and learning methods, the course proposed includes: on-line lectures, audio-video education tools, interactive computer software, on-line assignments and exams, information about faculty, on-line evaluation tools to obtain student feedback, and to improve teaching quality.

The advance in the optical-fiber network makes real-time transmission of a large amount of data, such as three-dimensional models or video images, possible between remote places. In particular, by connecting virtual environments through the broadband network8, a three-dimensional virtual world can be shared between remote places.

2. System Architecture In order to provide students an e-learning system as realistic as possible and expandable to the entire system, the developed system is based on N-tier architecture, as shown in Figure 2. The application tier side consists of a web server and a Java application server. A presentation tier is a client-side that comprises the HTML, XML, and 3D Web player plug-in. The client, which runs in a Web browser, provides a student interface that handles input (allowing students to enter data, access to course materials, make decisions, and interact with 3D virtual laboratory), and output (displaying results, simulation). The web server performs actions and computations based on student input by using XML and JSP language. The application server reads and writes to the databases by JavaBean, and interfaces with external software packages (CAD/CAM and CAE). Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Jou, M. (2004, June), Development Of A Manufacturing Web Based Learning System For Promoting Practice Ability Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--14028