Title: Educational activities around a car park scale model

Authors: Pedro J. Navarro, Pedro Sanchez, Cristina Vicente-Chicote, Barbara Alvarez, Andres Iborra

Addresses: DSIE Research Group, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202, Cartagena, Spain. ' DSIE Research Group, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202, Cartagena, Spain. ' DSIE Research Group, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202, Cartagena, Spain. ' DSIE Research Group, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202, Cartagena, Spain. ' DSIE Research Group, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202, Cartagena, Spain

Abstract: It is of fundamental importance that the training which university students receive during their education is perceived as being as relevant to real life situations as possible. This is often achieved by using scale models. The use of scale models can lead to increased student motivation as well as improving the process of learning and the quality of the results obtained. In this sense, scale models offer a compromise between purely virtual environments and the real systems, which are rarely a viable option within educational contexts. This work demonstrates the benefits of using a scale model of a car park, as the working environment for studies that fall between the fields of electronic engineering and computer science. The use of this scale model has allowed the development of activities related to the integration of combined hardware/software systems, the use of robots, the design and development of software programmes, and the use of communication standards, among others. It should be pointed out that the activities developed around the scale model have been matched carefully to international recommendations. This work describes the structure of the scale model, the integrated elements, and the most notable educational activities.

Keywords: computer science; curriculum issues; scale models; educational activities; car parks; universities; higher education; student training; relevance; real life situations; student motivation; virtual environments; real systems; educational contexts; electronic engineering; systems integration; software systems; hardware systems; robots; software development; software design; software programmes; communication standards; Technical University of Cartagena; teaching; case studies; computing education; Spain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTCS.2011.038678

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 2011 Vol.3 No.1, pp.63 - 75

Published online: 28 Feb 2015 *

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