Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit: 2D-CACSET

Abstract

Engineering education benefits from the application of modern technology, allowing students to learn essential Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related concepts through hands-on experiences. Robotic kits have been used as an innovative tool in some educational fields, being readily accepted and adopted. However, most of the time, such kits’ knowledge level requires understanding basic concepts that are not always appropriate for the student. A critical concept in engineering is the Cartesian Coordinate System (CCS), an essential tool for every engineering, from graphing functions to data analysis in robotics and control applications and beyond. This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit (2D-CACSET) to teach the two-dimensional representations as the first step to construct spatial thinking. This innovative educational toolkit is based on real-time location systems using Ultra-Wide Band technology. It comprises a workbench, four Anchors pinpointing X+, X−, Y+, Y− axes, seven Tags representing points in the plane, one listener connected to a PC collecting the position of the Tags, and a Graphical User Interface displaying these positions. The Educational Mechatronics Conceptual Framework (EMCF) enables constructing knowledge in concrete, graphic, and abstract levels. Hence, the students acquire this knowledge to apply it further down their career path. For this paper, three instructional designs were designed using the 2D-CACSET and the EMCF to learn about coordinate axes, quadrants, and a point in the CCS.

From Sensor Data to Educational Insights

“…The sensors of the game make the game experience much more immersive, and the experimental results reported positive outcomes, encouraging good behaviors of the children in terms of the road crossing. Last, the third article related to these topics implemented a Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit (2D-CACSET) to teach the two-dimensional representations as the first step to construct spatial thinking using multiple sensors [ 9 ].…”

“…The promise is to augment and improve the extent and quality of the analysis that can be performed with these new data sources [ 6 ]. Moreover, many new sensor-based tools, such as sensor-based games [ 7 ] or realistic laboratories [ 8 , 9 ], are being built to support the educational process. The challenge is embedding sensors and resulting data representations in authentic educational settings in pedagogically meaningful and ethical ways [ 10 ].…”

MEIoT 2D-CACSET: IoT Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit Align with Educational Mechatronics Framework

“…Adding media that allows interaction between students and the toolkit introduces a virtual level into the 2D-CACSET toolkit. Earlier work [16] emphasizes the possibility of installing the Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) technology in different mechatronics prototypes, such as mobile robots, drones, and manipulators; by taking advantage of this feature, students be able to use MEIoT 2D-CACSET. The proposed architecture for the MEIoT 2D-CACSET involves using 2D-CACSET, Mindstorms EV3 mobile robot as an interactive actuator (EV3IA), the OBNise framework, a Raspberry Pi, and a webcam, which is depicted in Figure 4.…”

“…Since this research is the extension of a previous work presented in [16], we decided to keep the same learning objective: improving the mechatronic thinking within the educational phase framework using modern IoT technology from a remote location. Then, this paper focuses on virtual learning for the two-dimensional space concept using the MEIoT 2D-CACSET, including the three learning levels of the EMCF: virtual concrete, virtual graphic, and virtual abstract level.…”

“…IoT can drive the transformation to turn physical laboratories into online remote laboratories connected to the internet. A complete and flexible IoT setup solution was developed to transform the Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinates Toolkit (2D-CACSET) [16] into the Educational Mechatronics (ME for its acronym in Spanish) and the Internet of Things 2D-CACSET (MEIoT-2D-CACSET), allowing a remote hands-on-learning (HOL) laboratory. It is flexible since different educational kits can be transformed into smart educational kits, allowing new online remote scenarios for more advanced topics and/or interaction methods.…”