CREATING INTERACTIVE WEB-BASED ENVIRONMENTS TO SCAFFOLD CREATIVE REASONING AND MEANINGFUL LEARNING : FROM PHYSICS TO PRODUCTS

With the evolution of the surrounding world market, engineers have to propose innovations in products and processes. Industrial innovation frequently results from an improved understanding of basic physics. In this paper, an approach to accelerate inventive preliminary design is presented. This method combines the main advantages of CBR (Case Based Reasoning) and TRIZ (Russian acronym for Theory of Solving Inventive Problem) to transfer physics to industrial technology. Based on this synergy, interactive web-based environments are developed. These systems are intended not only to enhance students to become familiar with basic physics, but also to support students in building meaningful links between basic physics and industrial technologies. The evaluation was conducted in a “Special Project Design” course requiring students to design a robot that could carry out several functions. Robotics, an interdisciplinary engineering subject, has been a recurring theme in engineering education. Project-based learning provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. With project-based learning approaches, planning activities and investigations play a critical role in the project process. Through the web-based environments, students can explore the essence of basic physics, design technologies, and the integration of mechatronics. Further, web-based reasoning and meaningful learning modules are developed to scaffold creative design and to enhance student participation, motivation, and learning effectiveness. Quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the effects of the developed system. Findings showed that inquiry modules were able to facilitate investigation and planning activities in product design stages. The responses obtained were very encouraging. Students in the course were appreciative of these on-going changes and indicated that these were indeed helping them to develop their engineering thinking and design skills, increasing their motivation to study. INTRODUCTION In every engineering field, engineers provide solutions, knowledge, and development, to improve and develop products. Consequently, all these trends and demands increase the need for innovation and anticipation of future trends in products and processes. In response, educators have developed a variety of pedagogical tools and curriculums to increase engineering student ability and competence. Robotics, being an interdisciplinary engineering subject, plays a key role in achieving this goal. Robotic design involves the application of a wide range of physics concepts. For example, to understand mechanism technology, students should have knowledge of mechanics. One of the more difficult aspects of teaching physics is helping students develop an appreciation for physics applications. In the field of physics education, many studies developed a variety of methods to improve students’ physics achievements. The consequences of the studies range from increased awareness and appreciation of good teaching and learning principles and practices, to strategic programs for increasing student interest and participation in physics (Tobias and Birrer, 1999; McDermott, 2001; Coletta et al., 2008). Many research projects have concentrated on the factors effecting students’ achievements in science and physics. Reasoning ability has been established as one of the important factors in science and physics achievement (Lawson, et al., 2000). In recent years, studies in physics education have concentrated on students’ conceptual understandings yielding important results in physics education. One of these results is that traditional teaching does not help or improve meaningful understanding in introductory mechanics. Employing instructional strategies involving inquiry methods have proven promising in helping students construct meaningful understanding (Lawson, 2007; Lawson, 1985; Lawson, 1992; Cavallo, 1996; Enveart, et al., 1980; Cohen, et al., 1978; Clement, 1993; Kahle and Damnjanovic, 1994; Thijs, and Bosch, 1998; Marshall and Dorward, 2000; Ates and Cataloglu, 2007, Liu, et al., 2010). The inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach engages students in exploring meaningful questions TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology – October 2010, volume 9 Issue 4 Copyright  The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology 50 through a process of investigation and collaboration (Thomas, 2003). In the IBL environment, students build their own knowledge through active learning, interacting with the environment as suggested by the constructivist approach, and working independently or collaborating in teams, while the teacher directs and guides and them in making a real product (Meng and Yang, 2003). The emergence of the Internet has reformed the concept and methods of engineering education. Online learning, utilizing Web features, is increasingly important for education. In general, online learning environments have shown potential in promoting thinking skills (Saba, 2000; Isman, et al., 2010). Furthermore, Dockrill (2003) found students through interactive teaching and learning facilitates acquisition of critical thinking skills. Despite the many benefits of e-learning, there is a risk of low motivation due to lack of face-to-face communication. In order to make the learning process effective, we need to motivate students in learning activities. Therefore, this study adopted a project-based learning (PBL) approach that is based on the creative problem-solving (CPS) model, to provide motivation, self-learning, and collaborative learning for students through the Web environment. The project-based learning approach engages students in exploring meaningful questions through a process of investigation and collaboration (Krajcik, et al., 1999). In the PBL environment, students build their own knowledge through active learning, interacting with the environment as suggested by the constructivist approach, and working independently or collaborating in teams, while the teacher directs and guides and them in making a real product (Thomas, 2003). DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED ENVIRONMENTS FOR CREATIVE DESIGN In this study, we propose a methodology to help students accelerate complex design and propose creative ideas. Generally, when we face a new problem, we use our early experiences and try to adapt them in order to produce a solution. This analogical reasoning is the most often used process during problem resolution. In artificial intelligence (AI), case-based reasoning (CBR) is one approach to manage knowledge. The main idea in CBR is that: similar problems have similar solutions. The CBR process uses and adapts earlier successful resolutions and solutions in order to solve new problems. This method is useful for repetitive design. For inventive design, its usefulness is more limited. In inventive design, problems are totally new and require solutions that are very distant from those already known. For this reason, CBR is coupled with the TRIZ theory (Russian acronym for Theory of Solving Inventive Problem). TRIZ is a problem solving method that increases the ability to solve creative problems. TRIZ is based on the analysis of knowledge used in technical domains. TRIZ has numerous advantages but some drawbacks. Each time one faces a new problem, to the process of resolution must be redeployed, which is time consuming. The proposed synergy eliminates this drawback by coupling TRIZ with CBR. CBR brings a way to model knowledge and accelerate the resolution. TRIZ offers the ability to eliminate barriers between technical domains and propose inventive solutions. The model is presented in Figure 1. The central notion of the proposed model is a case. The initial step is to collect data that describes the handling problem and to fill the target problem features with specific values. After filling of the target problem features, the next step is to retrieve the case or a subset of cases, stored in the case base, that are relevant to solving the target problem. We need to adjust some features of the retrieved solution in order to answer the target problem; reused step. Next, the adapted solution is implemented, tested and repaired if necessary; the revised step. If the case base does not have any similar solved case or sufficiently similar case, the system offers inventive principles associated with general physics. One advantage of this model is its ability to learn with the incorporation of new cases in the case base; retain step. Failure like success can be stored in memory, because we also learn from failures. With this step, the system evolves, enlarging its coverage of problems and increasing its performance by extending the case base. This system allows rapid resolution of problems through the use of past experiences in the domain of application but also in other domains through TRIZ. The transdisciplinarity between domains allows access to the best solutions, methods, and practices in all technical domains, leading to more inventive solutions. With this system, the students are not restricted to a domain, but are more open-minded. This system is able to allow users to perform more activities online. The application tier side consists of a web server and a Java application server. A presentation tier consists of a client-side terminal 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 and output (displaying results and simulations). The web server performs actions and computations based on student input by using XML and JSP languages. The application server reads and writes to databases through a JavaBean. The content of the course is primarily presented with Web pages that are written in HTML. In order to move courses from one system to another, and extract and/or perform automated processing on documents, standardized definiti