In this study, a new education teaching material using a steam locomotive model to acquire technical skills of high accuracy and high-density assembly is proposed. The proposed teaching material is processed by hand finishing, a turning process, and welding. In this teaching material, the machining and assembling accuracy are evaluated by pressure values, which are required for running, as well as the travel distance of the steam locomotive model. Thus, this teaching material can be used for introductory education for acquiring manufacturing technologies, because the importance of the machining and assembling accuracy can be understood.

View full abstract

The need for a regional vitalization event to develop local society is increasing, and trials in cooperation with universities, communities, and self-governing bodies are performed actively to resolve this. In research seeking a solution to the problem of human resource education, which each local self-governing body holds, the education of enthusiastic and motivated leaders has been identified as a necessity. Authors planned and implemented the 10th commemoration event in the children′s science school for regional vitalization with university students. To continue this event, an enthusiastic and motivated leader is needed. This article reports on how students felt and grew after the implementation of this event.

View full abstract

This study aimed to validate relationship between Future Design and Time Orientation. It is believed that a workshop is an effective methodology to promote interactive risk communication while shortsightedly and optimistically thinking are obstacles to communicate with various stakeholders. High school students (N=52) are completed a questionnaire consisting of time orientation and disaster prevention scale before and after workshop combined Future Design. This study reveals that relationship five classification of time orientation and awareness of disaster prevention. Furthermore, it is revealed that Future Design has educational effects on disaster prevention.

View full abstract

Design and Drafting Education is originally an interactive lecture, because the product which a student designed or drew needs to be checked by a teacher or a teaching assistant. However there is the same number of original products as the number of students. Detail checks including design/drafting one-to-one correspondence of the all student products are too time-consuming, and discrepancies of design/drafting are sometimes overlooked. In this more interactive trial, Moodle system and individual interview with a rubric tables are introduced to design and drawing education. As a result, students could experience more high-quality design and drawing activities and the majority of them showed good review.

View full abstract

Recently, experience-based classes for primary and secondary students are carried out to expand manufacturing human resources. Because casting was often chosen as the educational tools, we developed new casting educational tools which could be carried out easily and quickly. In the casting method, a frozen oil clay was used as mold materials. The bending strengths of the frozen oil cray were evaluated, and the fluidity and surface properties of the oil clay frozen mold were compared with these of the sand mold. Finally, experience-based classes were conducted, and the usefulness as the educational tools was examined by a questionnaire. According to these results, it was revealed that the oil clay frozen mold was available as the educational tools.

View full abstract

A new group working program was planned and practiced for freshmen of mechanical engineering department with the aim of enhancing and maintaining motivation for specialized education. In this year, a wind car making contest for the introduction of fluid engineering field was carried out. Total of 14 groups was organized for all students of 87 members. Each group was assumed as a virtual company and made an attractive wind car development as a mission. In order to experience an industrial situation, not only the high-speed performance but also the cost of development and the sales presentation were evaluated. The satisfaction level of the lecture was good, and the importance of the lecture closely related to manufacturing was confirmed.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to consider the educational effect of managing community space ; “Omoshiro Lab.” in Hiroshima University, where the renovation plan and management system are mainly proposed by students. The primary findings are as follows : firstly, the process and the actual condition of management and operation of the space by students are clarified. Secondly, the educational significance for students being concerned with management and operation are also clarified by hearing survey. Finally, the role of the space is revealed, not only for students’ activity but also for university event.

View full abstract

Nowadays, even if individual engineers are aware of technical risk in their specialty fields, it is difficult to exhaustively and accurately grasp and recognize the technical risk of the huge, synthesized and complicated science and technology as a whole. “Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant” was taken up as a representative example of science and technology of hugeness, synthesis and complication, under uncertainty. From the analysis of the cause of the accident, ability required of future engineers was organized and improvement on engineers ability required by JABEE and engineering education was proposed. Therefore, Professional Engineer system in Japan is taken up and compared with the US PE system and the UK Chartered Engineer system. Engineers at the stage of becoming professional engineers are focused on and improvement on Professional Engineer system including engineer education in Japan is proposed.

View full abstract

Flip teaching was introduced into an experimental education for mechanical material engineering. Various ideas were come up in order to improve the classes and more serious attitude of the students and better report results were acquired as compared with the original classes. One of the ideas is strict time check of the video lecture for the students before the class to use a portal system of our university. One of the other ideas is to introduce group discussions regarding the experimental results instead of the lecture. How the students’ attitude was improved and the report evaluation comparisons between before and after the flip teaching introduction into the experimental classes are also described.

View full abstract

A can-sized model satellite, called CanSat, can be launched with a model rocket for educational use or student competitions. However, a model rocket with CanSat is often very heavy to use with rocket engines having a large amount of explosive materials, requiring us to submit an application form for launching to the local government office and selecting a spacious field for launch. We develop herein a CanSat-mounted model rocket using a single C-type engine and evaluate the model rocket launch performances. This lightweight CanSat and model rocket can provide more convenient launch opportunities. We also discuss the future educational use of the CanSat-mounted model rocket and report an example of our model rocket use in KOSEN Space Camp 2018.

View full abstract

In this report, we introduce a case study of student laboratory handled by Learning Management System (LMS) in National Institute of Technology, Gifu College. In this system, students can get textbook and information of student laboratory from LMS and can submit their report (PDF file) through LMS. Teachers score student’ s report by using iPad and return it to students though LMS. It was found from a questionnaire for students that 99% of students have positive opinion for management of student laboratory by using LMS.

View full abstract

The generic skills are important capabilities for engineers. We can measure them in the PROG competency test that is accepted as an objective evaluation method for the generic skills in society, but it costs every time and takes time to feed results back to students. On the other hands, in a student achievement survey method by a questionnaire survey, we can measure the generic skills of students easily and feed results back to them quickly, but it lacks in objectivity. In this paper, we analyze correlations between the generic skills and the total capabilities for working members of society in the student achievement survey method by students themselves and the PROG competency scores. As a result, we could find some relationships between the generic skills and the total capabilities for working members of society and ‘the fundamental competency to deal with the people around him/her’ , ‘the fundamental competency to face oneself ’ , and the PROG competency total score.

View full abstract

This report introduces an international education and research cooperation carried out between the FIT (Fukuoka Inst. of Tech.) graduate school of engineering and its foreign agreement universities against the backdrop of the regional characteristics of FIT. The results of consideration to a difficult problem with an internationalized education in the graduate school of engineering and the higher education for the next-generation information-based society are shown. In the report, we explain about an acceptance situation of overseas students admitted to the FIT graduate school of engineering from its agreement universities and internationalized curriculum for the engineering graduate students of FIT formed through international education cooperation with agreement universities. Finally, problems with an internationalization of engineering education and a human resource training for globalization are considered.

View full abstract

This paper describes introductory education for mechanical engineering with application of experience-based learning at a Japanese National Institute of Technology. For first-year students, a cross-discipline class designated as ‘Introduction to Engineering’ was introduced. In classes managed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, students learned experience-based lessons that included experiments and manufacturing in addition to conventional lectures. Responses to questionnaires administered to students indicated that almost all had enhanced interest in mechanical engineering. This report describes that experience-based learning gives National Institute of Technology students opportunities to learn proactively in pursuit of their goal.

View full abstract

The Curriculum of the Department of Media Arts and Design was revised in 2014, following the reorganization of HUS (Hokkaido University of Science). In this curriculum, the “Cycle of Learning” was introduced. The cycle has three steps, “acceptance”, “co-creation” and “recall” and learners can make themselves grow by repeating these steps. In this paper, the importance of PBL (Project Based Learning) classes was described. Because these are the essential elements of the Cycle of Learning. The class practice of “Project Skill III” was described, as an example of the Cycle of Learning.

View full abstract

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a comprehensive design method to translate the voice of the customer into engineering characteristics of a new product. The author designed a problem based learning seminar for identifying the customers’ requirements, classifying the importance of those requirements, and finding the engineering characteristics which will be highly relevant to these requirements using QFD. In a seven times seminar, students conceived of the complaints and desires for the product, a handy cleaner, formed the voice of the customer, and defined the customers’ requirements. Then they extracted engineering characteristics from the requirements, composed a quality matrix, calculated the strength of influence between the requirements and the engineering characteristics, and determined the important characteristics for improving the customers’ satisfaction. The results of a post seminar questionnaire showed that ninety-six per cent of students felt improvements of their design ability.

View full abstract

This report describes the results of social implementation education program through the product development in collaboration with agriculture, industry, academia, and government from 2016-2017. As many as 10 groups of these organizations were involved in this program. Embarking students in this program led to improve and accelerate the collaboration of agriculture, industry and government. As a result, the students participated in this program realized the necessity of engineering for industry. Furthermore, this program contributed to change the consciousness of students that some of them decided to deepen their study by entering further education or take employment in the home-grown company participated in this program. In this report, I discussed about the process, methods and important points when collaborating with students and showed the effectiveness of collaboration on social implementation education.

View full abstract

As an approach for improving the mathematical capability of students, visualization of mathematical expressions is considered to be effective, thus being employed in academic programs so far. Unless the students, however, get actively involved in this program, the visualization approach is not as effective as expected. Here, we have made an attempt to introduce a new approach using MATLAB/MuPAD, where each student can vary arbitrarily the range of variables or parameters in mathematical expressions based on its visualized 2D or 3D outputs and may repeat this process to the satisfaction of each. As a result, a number of students can intuitively grasp the behavior of mathematical expressions and the sensitivity to parameters in use. In this paper, we present several examples of the above new approach applied to mathematical and engineering subjects for the first and second year students of Kanazawa Institute of Technology; the results of comprehension tests and questionnaires obtained in these subjects suggest an educational effect.

View full abstract