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Development of Web-based Environments to Support Self- Directed Learning of Industrial Technology – Instance in Micro Technology

Abstract

Most technological education relies on “cookbook”-oriented practice that provides students with a technical question, the procedure to address the question, the expected results of the experiment, and even an interpretation of those results. The purpose is to get familiar with the existing technologies. However, technologies are currently undergoing dynamic developments. The fundamental pedagogical approaches of technological education must change from “technology- practicing,” into “enhancing students’ problem solving ability,“ through practical activities. Self- directed learning is to encourage students to learn inductively with the help of teaching systems. This method gives students more freedom to come up with a question to investigate, devise an experimental procedure, and decide how to interpret the results.

Effective, or successful, self-directed learning depends on information gathering, information monitor students’ processing and other cognitive activities, and in the way they react to information. Thus, an e-learning system is developed to provide learning content with multimedia to the students, offer good support in asynchronous communication and information gathering. Further, virtual technology is applied to virtually represent the concept of frontal learning. The capability of the developed virtual environments is to offer experiential learning, simulation-based learning, and guided exploratory learning. Finally, a wireless sensor network was deployed in the laboratory to collect real-time information of students’ activities and machine operation conditions. The impact of the proposed methodology on student learning outcomes was examined. Generally, the proposed methodology is beneficial to the technological education.

Introduction

Microsystems, often referred to as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), are miniaturized mechanical and electrical systems with a dimensional range within a few micrometers. MEMS include a wide range of applications in the automotive [1-3], communications [4-6] and bio- medical industries [7-10], and in process control [11-12]. Some examples of current applications are crash sensors for airbag systems, ink jet print heads and pressure sensors. Several industry surveys have shown that the sales of microsystem-based technologies are growing at a rate of 16% per year and are expected to reach more than $25 billion by the year 2009 [13].

The fabrication of a microsystem requires a variety of physical and chemical processes performed on a semiconductor (e.g., silicon) substrate. In general, the various processes are used to make a microsystem fall into four categories: film deposition, patterning, semiconductor doping, and packaging. Films of both conductors (such as polysilicon, aluminum, and more recently copper) and insulators (various forms of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and others) are used to connect and isolate transistors and their components. Selective doping of various regions of silicon allows the conductivity of the silicon to be changed with the application of voltage. By

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Jou, M., & Wu, Y., & Zhang, H., & Wu, M. (2009, June), Development Of Web Based Environments To Support Self Directed Learning Of Industrial Technology: An Example From Microtechnology Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--15624