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Using Technology to Enhance Learning of Digital Video Broadcasting

Editor — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:53:53 +0000

Components in a DVB system.

Using technology to enhance the learning experience is common in schools of engineering. There are many simulation tools (both hardware- and software-based) which can be used to teach various engineering topics. However, for some new and complex engineering subjects such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), securing a good learning tool at a reasonable cost is not easy.

The following paper talks about how we’ve used a self-developed DVB system customized to enhance student learning. Since students have easy access to the system, self-exploration is enabled and encouraged.

The paper was presented at a recent CDIO conference in Singapore.

Read the complete paper:

» Using Technology to Enhance Learning of Digital Video Broadcasting
[PDF, 10 pages, 119kB. Copyright © CDIO™. Used with permission.]

Authors

Eva Rosdiana

Chua Beng Koon

Eva and Beng Koon are lecturers in School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

What is CDIO?

CDIO stands for Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating.

According to CDIO.org,

The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The framework provides students with an education stressing engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating real-world systems and products. Throughout the world, CDIO Initiative collaborators have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment.

The 5th International CDIO Conference was held at Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, June 7 – 10, 2009.

Learning Design via Involvement

Editor — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:53:33 +0000

1. Designing a design curriculum

The Diploma in Product Design & Innovation (PDI) is a course offered by the School of Engineering at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

The PDI curriculum was designed on the principle that a good product is one that looks good, works well and sells well. A good product (e.g. mobile phone, printer, kettle, chair, vacuum cleaner or car) must be attractive, functional and marketable. This concept forms the foundation of the PDI curriculum.

The curriculum thus integrates the three important disciplines of product design: Arts, Engineering and Business. It focuses on the design process and methodology, from the conceptualization of creative ideas to the realization of innovative designs with quality design folios, mock-ups & models; computer models & presentations; and drawings & documentation for mass production.

The principal approach of PDI

Students graduate from the diploma with a design portfolio, complete with working prototype and business plan. They participate in overseas and local internships and immersion programmes at product design companies and institutions, and have access to facilities such as rapid prototyping, laser cutting and computer numerical controlled machines

2. Learning how to design

We believe that learning to design is something like learning to play a sport such as badminton, soccer or volleyball. The students are the players and the lecturer is the coach. The students need to practice designing, repeatedly, to hone their skills, knowledge and attitude; and the coach’s main role is to observe, evaluate and guide the students in order to continuously improve their design abilities.

Learning to design is about understanding the design process and the associated factors. There must not be too much emphasis on the results at the end of the design process. “Exploration” and “experimentation” are the key words. The lecturer’s role is to encourage the students to generate new and creative design ideas, instead of designs that have already proved to be working.

Are all designs successful? Inventor Thomas Edison once said:

"I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

Therefore, in design and innovation, mistakes are okay, except the designer must learn from them and pursue a better solution.

3. Teaching design: Variety! Variety! Variety!

One of the key success factors in teaching design is to use a variety of teaching and learning approaches. That is, besides the traditional modes of lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions, projects and assignments, there should be other appropriate ways to engage the students in learning. These include talks and seminars by practising designers, visits to design companies and design exhibitions, participation in design competitions, exchange programmes with other institutions, and so on.

Variety in teaching and learning approaches helps to avoid boredom and provide freshness in learning among the learners. More importantly, as different students have different preferred modes of learning, variety in learning approaches will satisfy every student in some ways.

The following sections outline some of the approaches we have used, and the outcomes.

4. Involve the students and make it real

a. Experiential Learning

“Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, I will understand.”

This proverb speaks of the power of involvement in the experience of learning. In PDI, learning via involvement is a key feature in the programme.

Wheelchair exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module

For instance, an exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design (EUCD) module required the students to design a wheelchair.

In order for the students to fully understand user needs and subsequently write the design specifications for the wheelchair design assignment, they were required to first sit and move around on a wheelchair and carry out some given tasks just like a real wheelchair user.

The tasks included getting to a meeting room and borrowing a book from the library.

Visually-impaired exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module

In another similar exercise, the students were asked to write the design specifications for a product designed for the visually impaired. In this case, the students were grouped in teams of two.

Each student took turns being blind-folded and they experienced the problems faced by the visually-impaired. The students needed to carry out some given tasks such as buying a cup of coffee from the canteen, or delivering a letter to an office.

At the end of the exercises, the students had a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of the target users of the products (i.e. wheelchair users and visually-impaired), and a more deep knowledge of the principles of user-centred design.

b. Field Trips: In the Product Form and Aesthetics (PFA) module, in order for the students to understand the contemporary design styling and trend in product designs, they were taken on a field trip to Orchard Road. As they visited various shops, the students were required to study and sketch various products that were on sale. They then had to propose their own improvements to these products and present their findings.

Field trip exercise presentation in the Product Form and Aesthetics module

c. Workshops by Experts: Another way to involve students in learning was to engage practising designers to give guest lectures or conduct design workshops for the students. Such sessions provided opportunities for the students to learn from the experiences of different designers. Following are pictures of a design workshop conducted by designers from the James Dyson Foundation.

Design workshop by James Dyson Foundation

d. Design Competitions: Another practice-oriented learning experience for PDI students was their involvement in various design competitions, In such competitions, a local sponsoring company provides some prizes for the best three to five designs. The advantage for the company is they see many new design concepts for their product range.

3D CAD images in the Singapore Mint souvenir design assignment

For instance, in the Product Form & Aesthetics module, the Singapore Mint sponsored the souvenir design competition assignment.

Design poster in the CyberInc mini computer design assignment

In the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module, CyberInc sponsored the mini computer mouse design competition assignment.

In these design competition assignments, students work according to the company’s real-life design requirements, and the students had the chance to interact and learn from the company’s designers or engineers. In general, students are very motivated in such design competition assignments.

In addition, the compulsory three-month internship allows each PDI student the opportunity to understand the design process and factors in real-life design projects.

e. Other approaches: Other learning designs that have been used in the PDI curriculum include critique sessions and off-campus project exhibitions.

5. What have the students designed?

With the help of the many practice-oriented ways to engage the students in learning as described in earlier sections, the students have produced many innovative designs, and some are shown in the following figures.

Water Skate – enablesthe user to walk or skate on water

Ice Stirrer – to cool drink without diluting it

Money Cleaner – preventing infection by killing germs on coins and notes

6. How did the students respond?

Feedback from the students on the various innovative applied learning approaches in PFA, EUCD and PDAI modules is very positive.

Surveys and focus group discussions were conducted at the end of each semseter to assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed, and students’ receptiveness to these approaches. The feedback provides good input from students, enabling us to work towards continuous improvement of the curriculum and to gauge the effectiveness of the various modes of teaching and learning.

Appendix A gives a summary of the survey results conducted for PFA and EUCD for the past semesters. Response to Question 2 in the survey clearly shows that the students have found the off-campus exercises to be extremely useful. In general, the module lectures, exercises, assignments and projects are appropriately structured to meet students’ expectations. Through the modules, they are able to understand more about consumers’ expectations and needs.

Focus group discussions have also been conducted to get students’ feedback on the innovative teaching and learning approaches adopted for the course.

Appendix B shows the positive outcome of these discussions.

7. Conclusion

Involving the students in every possible way in a variety of different learning approaches is key to the teaching of the Product Design and Innovation modules. Learning to design is like learning to play a new sport game – one has to actually play the game and practice constantly in addition to knowing the principles of designing. The favourable feedback of the students and their innovative design work indicates the approach used in the course has proved to be on the right track. The PDI course team believes in, and carries out continuous improvement and constant refinement to the approach in order to engage the new batch of students in learning every year.

Appendix A: Summary of survey results of past semesters

PFA and EUCD Modules

85 respondents (Mar 06 to Apr 08)

(i) Survey Results

No.	Question	Strongly Agree (%)	Agree (%)	Disagree (%)	Strongly Disagree (%)
1	I have understood the topics taught in the PFA & EUCD modules.	17.65	64.71	11.76	5.88
2	The Orchard Road, Vivo City, etc lessons helped me to increase my understanding of the modules	11.76	70.59	11.76	5.88
3	I was able to do the exercises & projects on my own most of the time	11.76	76.47	11.76	0.00
4	There is a good progression of exercises & assignments from simple to more challenging.	5.88	70.59	23.53	0.00
5	Sufficient time is allocated for each topic.	11.76	52.94	29.41	5.88
6	The modules have a good balance of “theory’ and “practical”.	5.88	70.59	17.65	5.88
7	I was able to relate what was taught to the real-world situations/problems	5.88	70.59	23.65	0.00
8	The lecture notes / text book are useful and clearly written.	5.88	64.71	23.53	5.88
9	The MeL website for the modules is helpful for me to obtain updates on the modules	5.88	70.59	17.65	5.88
10	The MeL website for the modules provide sufficient materials for self-learning	0.00	76.47	17.65	5.88
11	The workload is just about right.	11.76	70.59	17.65	0.00
12	The distribution of marks among the various components (e.g. assignment, exercises, projects. etc) was consistent with the amount of work and effort I had to put into each component.	5.88	70.59	23.53	0.00
13	My lecturer has been helpful and approachable.	5.88	70.59	23.53	0.00
14	Constructive and timely feedback have been given along the semester so that I am able to improve my performance.	11.76	64.71	17.65	5.88
15	Overall I have enjoyed this module.	5.88	82.35	11.76	0.00

(ii) Analysis of the Survey Results

No.	Feedback
1	82.4% of the students felt that they understood the topics taught in the PFA & EUCD modules. It shows that the teaching approaches are appropriate.
2	82.4% of students liked to have some lessons conducted outside the campus. This type of lessons helped students to understand the lessons better. It gave students the opportunity to work close to the centre of actions i.e. the products and the consumers.
3	88.3% of the students able to do exercises and assignments on their own. This shows that they understood the lectures and knew where to source for information.
4	76.5% of the students agreed that the exercises and assignments progressed from simple to more challenging. It helped them to learn and understand the lessons better.
5	64.7% of the students felt that sufficient time was given to each topic. About 30% felt otherwise. This could due to the more difficult topic such as rendering in which students find it difficult to understand at the beginning. We have allocated more times to this topic now to ensure that students have sufficient time to learn the skill.
6	76.5% of the students agreed that the modules have good balance of “theory’ and “practical”. This helps them to understand the modules better.
7	76.5% of the students able to relate what were taught to the real-world situations/problems. It shows that the lectures, exercises and assignments are appropriately structured.
8	70.6% of the students felt that the lecture notes / text book are useful and clearly written.
9	76.5% of the students found the websites useful and helped them to updates on the modules.
10	76.5% of the students found the Mel websites for the modules provide sufficient materials for self-learning.
11	82.4% of the students considered the workload just right. This shows that the syllabus is appropriately pitched to suit students’ expectation.
12	76.5% considered the marks are appropriately distributed to the various components of the modules.
13	76.5% of the students agreed that the lecturers are helpful and approachable.
14	76.5% of the students agreed that lecturers provided constructive feedback to them regularly about their performance.
15	88.3% of the students enjoyed this module and happy with the lessons.

Appendix B: Focus group feedback

Listed below are student responses during focus group discussions (September 2009, at the Design Studio). The feedback clearly demonstrates their strong endorsement of the off-campus lessons, projects with industry input, design competition, involvement of practising designers and off-campus project exhibitions.

(a) What do you think of the Off-Campus lessons?

The lessons are very good as we can see many incredible products in the market that we can learn from.
We can learn more about different types of product that are designed for different users.
The lesson is an experience. It can be enhanced by having the lecturers giving some insights into the products we seen.
I love it. It’s really a good idea having off campus lessons and exercises because students have the freedom to express themselves while doing their work outside, instead of just sitting in the classroom, racking our brains to find inspiration.
It is rather interesting but the exercise could be done by student alone.
Not too bad. It was pretty interesting and fun.
It gives a different way of lesson that allows us to understand the existing products.
It is something new as we can go outside the school for lessons.
Should do more if it. The best way of learning product design to go see, examine and explore the products themselves.
It can be improved. Certain shops do not allow us to snap photos of their products due to copyright.
Places to visit should be more specific otherwise we do not know what products are good to draw. Lots of places do not allow photograph taking.
Should be more often.
Transport should be provided.
I think it is interesting but students need to spend time to travel there on their own.

(b) What is your view of doing an industrial project as the module project that doubles up as a design competition?

It is good as students can fully demonstrate their skills as well as ability in order to do well in the company.
It is challenging and gives us that extra motivation to do well.
We can learn from the company on our designs.
It is a great learning experience and challenging at the same time.
Great opportunity and challenging.
Company will know me if I win.
It motivates students to work more serious.
It gives a bit more edge and feeling about the project. Not only being a project but a competition as well.
It’s good and should be continued.
I can learn many things from the company.
It is good stepping stone for us to be more exposed as a product design student.
Can win awards.
It is great as students can find out the company expectations.

(c) What is your view of the involvement of practising designers to critique your work?

It is a new experience. Through them, we can improve ourselves and know about the outside world such as company requirements and how to please the consumers.
It is useful and I have learnt many things from their comments.
Not a bad idea. It allows us to see how the outside world works.
It is good as we can learn from them.
They gave constructive feedback. They are the professional and their comments are important to us. They come from the workforce and they know what the market wants.
Very stressful. They criticized our work and gave no chance.
It is a good experience for us. However, some comments were too vague, e.g. this project is too big for you to handle.
Their standard is very high. It is difficult for us to meet their standard.
They helped to point out ur weakness in the design.
I find it rather useful because the practicing designers able to provide valuable comments on our projects.
As it was the first time they see our work, they were able to give better comments. They were straight forward in their comments which help us to become better.
Good. They gave us details on how to improve our designs.
I find the comments very useful. They told us to do more research such as going to the website to see how other designers are designing their products so, we can learn from them and apply to our future projects.
I acquired lots of knowledge from the practicing designers. We should hire more practicing designers to come and critique our projects.

Authors

Dr Tan Ah Kat

Richard Lim

Tan Ah Kat is Deputy Director and Richard Lim Chiok Ngee is senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Division, School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Resources for teaching engineering

Editor — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:18:39 +0000

Author: Chai Kwee Siew, Deputy Director, Teaching and Learning Centre

You may wish to consider some of the following approaches when planning your next engineering lesson.

You are invited to share your own favourite resources. Please use the comment box below.

Wiki-based engineering learning

The Design Decisions Wiki (DDWiki) was established by the Design Decisions Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University as a…

“…central resource for sharing information about design and tools to analyze and support decision-making”.

Weed whacker
[Image Source]

The wiki enables students to share what they have discovered and to reflect on what they are learning. It allows instructors to monitor students’ work and to provide feedback or early intervention if needed. It also allows the instructor to assess contributions of individual team members.

Example page: Weed whacker analysis, where students re-design a lawn trimmer and make conclusions about costs and power supply.

Categories: Go here for a list of all the projects organised in categories.

Hands-on Mechanics

Hands-on Mechanics contains descriptions of many 3-Dimensional, hands-on teaching aids and how they can be used by instructors in their lessons.

A parabolic mirror is a useful teaching resource [Source]

Disciplines: Mechanical, Materials and Civil Engineering

Examples: Paper Stress Concentrations, Creepy Plastic, Tower of Torque, Bending a Knife Blade like a Paper Clip, A Day at the Races – Moment of Inertia.

The following paper talks about the use of such physical models by faculty at West Point:

An Online Database and User Community for Physical Models in the Engineering Classroom by Ronald W. Welch & J. Ledlie Klosky, Journal of Advances in Engineering Education, 2007, 25 pg, pdf

NSF and the Birth of the Internet

NSF and the Birth of the Internet is an informative multimedia offering produced by the National Science Foundation about the birth of the Internet. Unlike other resources which are mostly passive, this site is interactive and comprehensive in terms of describing how the Internet and its related technologies have evolved since the 1960s.

Disciplines: Electronics & Computer Engineering, Network Systems & Security, Electrical Engineering