An Innovative Classroom that Produces

Innovative Students

Weixun Cao Hong Gao Shengri Chen

Arixin Electronics Inc. Association of Neimenggu Children’s STE Shanghai Qibao High School

Wuxi, China Neimenggu, China Shanghai, China

wxcao@ieee.org

Danhui Ying Yingping Chen Zhiqiang Xu Shanghai Xunyang Middle School Nanhu Primary School Arixin Electronics Inc.

Shanghai, China Wuxi, China Wuxi, China

Abstract—“BitLab” is an innovative classroom that

integrates scientific history, sensor technology with quick

prototyping and public speaking in a team-based

interactive learning environment. In order to inspire the

students' spirit of innovation, everything in this classroom

is built by small "Bit". Electronic sensor-based "BitLab

Bricks" enable the students to conceive their own

innovative design, which covers daily life applications. A

prototype is then built using geometric shapes. In the end,

each team writes up a description of their "product" and

gives a presentation on its features and functionalities. The

interactive learning platform is delivered through team-

based "BitLab Curriculum". The status and impact of

BitLab in Chinese schools are presented.

Keywords—Classroom teaching; Engineering Education; STEM;

Public Speaking; Innovation.

I. INTRODUCTION

In an increasingly globalized and technology-driven world of 21

st century [1], students need multi-dimensional abilities in

order to solve complex problems, such as the so-called “7Cs” [2], which consists of critical thinking and problem solving; creativity and innovation, collaboration and teamwork; cross-culture understanding; communications and information literacy; computing and ICT (Information & Communication Technology); career and self-learning. To address this challenge, innovative methods of teaching, learning and new-type classrooms are required to make the connection between theories and practical applications.

The traditional examination-based teaching method based on well-defined problems and formal definitions is still widely used at schools in China [3]. In general, such teacher-led approach consists of lecturing, doing exercises, and testing. This approach engages a low level of learning as students gather information from lectures and memorize facts and procedures in order to pass exams. These students often possess ineffective habits and skills, which hinder their future learning and working abilities in real life.

In this paper, we present a new type of classroom, called "BitLab", designed to foster effective problem solving skills under traditional learning environment. This innovative classroom integrates scientific history, sensor technology with quick prototyping and public speaking in a team-based interactive learning environment. In order to inspire the students' spirit of innovation, everything in this classroom is built by small "Bit". Electronic sensor-based "BitLab Bricks" enable the students to conceive their own innovative design, which covers daily life applications. Then, the students conceive a conceptual design to house the electronic components using transparent geometric shapes of different colors. In the end, each team writes up a description of their "product" and gives a presentation on its features and functionalities. The interactive learning platform is delivered through the team-based "BitLab Curriculum".

We will first describe the hardware, sensor bricks and geometric bricks. Then, we’ll describe the curriculum. In the end, we see that the curriculum is well-received by the students. More than 100 patents have been filed from ideas created by the students.

II. THE HARDWARE

The materials used in BitLab consist of three parts: (1) Self-assembled sensor-equipped chairs and desks with transparent desk surface for tablet computer use; (2) Sensor-based electronic bricks with real-life applications; (3) Eight transparent geometric shapes of different colors, used to build 3-D prototype of student inventions.

Fig. 1. The BitLab classroom with chairs and desks

978-1-4673-5261-1/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

A. Self-assembled sensor-equipped chairs and desks with

transparent desk surface for tablet computer usage

The desks and chairs in Chinese classrooms are individual-based units. It is not suitable for team-work activities. It is difficult to repair as the entire desk or chair is one piece and cannot be dissembled. We design desks and chairs in BitLab so that they are built using same-sized building blocks. The frames of desks and chairs are made of iron or wood, as shown in Fig. 1. The desk top is made of transparent acrylic material. Students can put textbooks and tablet computers under the transparent surface while doing the experiment on the table. Students can assemble their own tables and chairs for different team-work configurations.

B. Sensor-based electronic bricks with real-life applications

The electronic bricks contain different sensors, such as light sensor, sound sensor, ultrasonic sensor, motion detector, temperature sensor and so on. Some sensor-based electronic modules are shown in Fig. 2.

These electronic bricks can be connected together, using a common interface connection, to build real-life applications, such as a sound-activated light or a smoke detector. In BitLab, just by connecting electronic bricks together with standard wires and connectors, one can easily build a home safety monitoring system controlled by mobile phones. Students are much more motivated since school work is closely coupled with real life.

Fig. 2. The sensor-based electronic brick

The real-life applications built in BitLab can be categorized into four areas: energy saving and environmental protection (motion-activated light to save electricity), home security with smart control (smoke alarm and home monitoring system) game and entertainment (iPad or cell phone controlled car), sports and health (pedometer to measure the number of steps taken).

By using BitLab’s electronic bricks, the time and effort one needs to build these real-life applications is greatly reduced. With different combinations of these electronic modules, it enables students to quickly build an electronic prototype for various applications. It also enhances the students’ interest in the design of electronic systems, and stimulates students' creative thinking and hands-on abilities.

C. Eight transparent geometric shapes of different colors,

used to build 3-D models.

In order to allow quick prototype of students’ creative design, eight basic geometric shapes are used. The electronic bricks are affixed onto the geometric shapes, which resemble a house, a helicopter or any form from the students’ imagination. These eight basic geometric shapes consist of

square, triangle, quarter circle, rectangle, circle, small rectangle, small square and angle, as shown in Fig. 3. These bricks are made from colorful acrylic material. Specially designed push-pull rivets and plastic screws and nuts are used to connect acrylic plates into 3-D models.

The 3D body design provides an innovative hands-on design platform that enable students to transform their abstract ideas into a physical prototype without much effort.

Fig. 3. 3D building blocks of BitLab

III. CURRICULUM

The interactive learning platform is delivered through team-based "BitLab Curriculum", which consists of four components: inventor’s story, technology introduction, design and prototype, and product presentation. Each team consists of 3 to 4 students of various abilities and both genders.

A. Learning inventors’ story

The purpose of this part is to stimulate students’ desire for knowledge and curiosity and to inspire students’ spirit to explore and innovate. There are some great inspiring stories such as: How did Edison invent the electric lamp? Who discovered the infrared light? What is the history of the invention of the thermometer?

B. Building electronic sensor-based systems

Students assemble the electronic bricks into a real life application, such as a door bell with a voice recorder or an infrared activated radio receiver or a light-sensor activated LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp.

C. Building 3-D body

It gives students a good exercise to conceive and implement their design for real-life applications. The students build different kinds of prototype with electronic systems, such as “Penguins radio”, “World Expo China Pavilion”, “Intelligent Home”, “Environmental Protection Car”, “Animal House” and even “Space Shuttle”. Some creations made by students are shown in Fig.4.

D. Presentation and public speaking

Each team writes up a description of their "product" and gives a presentation on its features and functionalities.

It encourages the students to give a speech to talk about his own design in front of other people, including the naming and creative process, comment on other people's ideas. As the students have made their own product in a team, they feel

proud of themselves and speak out more naturally. This greatly increases student’s speech confidence and leadership ability.

A student once said: “I'll never forget the first time

speaking: shyness, the second time：improving, and the third

time：excellent.”

Fig. 4. Student’s creationresult

In China，there are 30 BitLabs built since 2009, including

13 primary schools, 12 secondary schools, 3 tech museums and 2 public youth centers. A survey is conducted at Nanhu Primary School, where a total of 228 students, including 116 boys and 112 girls, attended fifteen BitLab lessons over one semester. Each lesson is 45 minutes; which sums up to 11.25 hours in one semester.

At the start of the course, each student filled out a self-evaluation score chart for ten abilities. After a semester study each student filled out the score chart again. Each ability is measured on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent).

Fig. 5 shows the percentage of improvement of ten abilities. For example, a student has a score “2” of creativity at the beginning, and a score “6” at the end. The percentage of the improvement of creativity can be calculated as (6-2)/10 x 100% = 40%.

Analysis: As seen from the bar graph, for boys, the hands-on ability and creative ability are generally improved; for girls, the innovation ability, leadership ability and hands-on practice ability are generally improved.

We have collected hundreds of creative ideas from the students who had BitLab lessons. The students are encouraged to first find problems in daily life and then try to solve these problems with his/her inventions. Among them, more than one hundred patents have been filed.

IV. CONCLUSION

BitLab is an innovative classroom that integrates scientific history, sensor technology with quick prototyping and public speaking in a team-based interactive learning environment. The interactive learning platform is delivered through the team-based "BitLab Curriculum", which consists of four components: inventor story, technology introduction, design and prototype, and product presentation.

BitLab has made a great impact on education in China, but it still faces the barrier of the traditional examination-based education. Most Chinese parents think that college entrance examination is the only way to success. So it is necessary to set up a new evaluation standard for Chinese students in order to find talented students.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to thank Yan Huang, Liang-Fang Chao, Jinping Lu and Scott Carpenter for their valuable support in preparation of this manuscript.

REFERENCES

[1] B. Trilling and C. Fadel , 2009, 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, Jossey-Bass.

[2] D. Pink, 2006, A Whole New Mind, Pengun Group

[3] The downside of exam-based education in China, MarketPlace.org, June 7, 2011

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