oa Active engineering learning in a simulated environment

This work emphasizes novel ways to teach and learn which can be developed by most instructors provided that they have the patience and interest to produce class innovations using computers. The specific approach followed is known as “learning-by-doing in a virtual environment”. The basic idea is to train students to do sophisticated tasks in a way similar to what an expert would do, and the only way to verify if the learner has learned a lesson is to ask her to perform a task in a specific situation. The learning modules developed include a problem statement, with the specific tasks that the participant is required to accomplish. The system allows following of multiple paths in order to gather information and expert advice. There is a virtual library, in which literature related to the case is available; a computer room, in which computations can be carried out to obtain new data for the case; there is expert advice, in which typical questions related to the topic are responded by virtual experts in this field; and there is a navigation dimension, in which the participant can interact with the case by asking questions to virtual characters, exploring data specific for this case, going to a virtual field, and others. As a result, the participant should provide her response to the problem statement which originated the study. Construction of the navigation tool is made by means of a web-page with a tree structure. A number of simulations have been implemented, with differences in contents and also in complexity. This work addresses the National Academies Grand Challenge of “Advancing Personalized Learning”.