Dr. Antonio SoaresCollege of Engineering Sciences, Technology, and Agriculture

Electronic Engineer TechnologyJune 13

The Integration of Software- and Hardware-based Instructional Technologies into the

STEM Curricula at Florida A&M University and Surrounding

Middle and High Schools

Outline

• Introduction• FAMU MSEIP Programs

– CASE– LEARNS– IRIS

• Middle and High Schools• An Example Project – The Boebot• Conclusions

Introduction

• STEM Degree Programs at FAMU• Ph.D. Programs

– Engineering (6), Physics, Environmental Sciences

• Master’s Programs– CS, Biology, Chemistry

• Bachelor’s Programs– Engineering Technology, BASE, and Mathematics

• Issues in STEM Disciplines

MSEIP Programs at FAMU • FAMU – CASE (2007)

– Center for Academic Support in Engineering– Housed in College of Engineering

• FAMU –LEARNS (2007)– Multimedia Learning Resource Management System– Housed in College of Arts and Sciences

• FAMU-IRIS (2010)– Interdisciplinary Remote Instructional Support Center– Housed in College of Engineering Sciences,

Technology, and Agriculture

CENTER FOR ACADEMIC SUPPORT IN ENGINEERING

FAMU-CASE

CASE Overview

• Provide Peer-to-peer academic support

Develop online content to supplement face to face instruction

Software Packages

• Camtasia Studio 7 by TechSmith– Screen Recording and Video Editing Software

• Captivate 5 by Adobe – Application Simulation Software

• Articulate Presenter 9 by Articulate– E-Learning Software Tools

• All packages produce a Flash SWF file

Software Usage• Camtasia

– Useful for general screen recording • Non-Powerpoint Applications• Can annotate with voiceover/camera

• Captivate– Useful for recording the individual software

steps • Can easily annotate instructions without the need of

audio

• Presenter– Useful for Powerpoint Applications– Annotation, Voiceover, with Programming

Hardware Setup

Blue SnowBall

Logitech Webcam

Wacom Bamboo

MULTIMEDIA LEARNING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM

FAMLEARNS

Motivation - Goal

• How to leverage existing technologies to reduce failing rate?

• Create and share multimedia resources -Captured Learning Resources (CLRs)– of entire lectures– of single topics– of tutoring sessions

• Must be easy for instructors to use• Must be accessible to all students• Should be affordable

Technologies• CAMStudio - free video recording software

– Created custom version (FAMStudio) that simplifies publishing/editing

• Livescribe - Pulse Smartpen ($180 - 8GB)– Used in conjunction with document camera and

projector, can be used to record entire lectures– Great for recording tutoring sessions– Very easy to publish

• MIMIO Capture ($800 educational)– Allows anything written on any whiteboard to

be recorded.– Wireless

INTERDISCIPLINARY REMOTE INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

CENTER

FAMU-IRIS

FAMU-IRIS Overview

• Provide Supplemental Instruction– Bottleneck courses in Engineering and

Engineering Technology– STEM Gatekeeper courses

• Provide online academic support– Tutoring, Webinars, and Peer Coaching

• Unite existing STEM academic support programs – IRIS, CASE, LEARNS, STEM-LC, etc.

FAMU-IRIS Operation

FAMU-IRIS Operation

server

Tablet PC

Smart BoardSmart Document Camera

HD Camera Smart Slates

HP Z 400

FAMU-IRIS Blackboard

FAMU-IRIS Elluminate

FAMU-IRIS Blackboard

•Initial Implementation

FAMU-IRIS Webpage

FAMU-IRIS Elluminate

FAMU-IRIS Elluminate

Middle and High Schools

Teacher CollaborationRemotely collaborate in

Grant Writing Laboratories

Provide Academic SupportRemotely assist students

- Assignments- Papers

Sample Project – The Boebot

The Boebot

By ParallaxThe Microcontroller – BS2

•PBASIC – specifically for the BASIC Stamp

• common instructions (GOTO, FOR...NEXT, IF...THEN…ELSE)

• specialized instructions (SERIN, PWM, BUTTON, COUNT and DTMFOUT).

Getting Started

Basic Stamp EditorRun your BASIC Stamp Editor by

double-clicking the shortcut on your desktop

Connect your Serial Cable

Testing Connection

• Click the Run menu, then select Identify to check for connectivity

Your First Program

• Click the Run menu, then select Identify to check for connectivity

Basic Stamp Math

• First, save the program under a new name by clicking File and selecting Save As

• A good new name for the file would be HelloBoeBotYourTurn.bs2.

• √ Modify the comments at the beginning of the program so that they read:

• ' Robotics with the Boe-Bot - HelloBoeBotYourTurn.bs2

• ' BASIC Stamp does simple math, and sends the resultsto the Debug Terminal.

Basic Stamp Math

• √ Add these three lines between the first DEBUG command and the END command:

DEBUG CR, "What's 7 X 11?"DEBUG CR, "The answer is: "DEBUG DEC 7 * 11

• √ Save the changes you made by clicking File and selecting Save.

The Result

Programming with ASCII

• ASCII is short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

• Most microcontrollers and PC computers use this code to assign a number to each keyboard function.

Programming with ASCII

• Example

Tracking Time

• Servos need a message that repeats 50 times per second

PAUSE command tells the BASIC Stamp to wait for a while before

PAUSE Duration PAUSE 1000 – pause 1 second

Tracking Time

• Example

Commands

• Over and OverDODEBUG "Hello!", CR PAUSE 1000LOOP

• Servo Control PULSOUT Pin, Duration

• Duration units that are two millionths of a second!

PULSOUT 12, 750

Commands

• Counter

FOR Counter = StartValue TO EndValue {STEP StepValue}…NEXT

myCounter VAR Word

FOR myCounter = 1 TO 10DEBUG ? myCounterPAUSE 500NEXTDEBUG CR, "All done!"END

SAMPLE PROGRAM

SAMPLE PROGRAM

Conclusions

• Future Work– FAMU eTutoring

• Online STEM Collaboration is Possible– Research– Academic Support – Workshops