正如andréknooesen博士和Marina Radulaski，UC Davis的Mathworks告诉Mathworks
InEngineering Problem Solving那first-year engineering students at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) learn programming basics and solve problems in which the problem statement is only partially defined. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced a transition to online learning, we found ourselves doing some creative problem-solving of our own. How would we keep the students engaged when the course moved online?
我们决定去强调考试和课堂评估，并给予最终项目的更多时间和重量，其中学生团队使用他们的matlab®建立自己选择的技能（图1）。我们注册成立Matlab Mobile™和ThingSpeak™课程,以便学生could capture data from their mobile devices and interact easily with team members at different locations. ThingSpeak also enabled the students to build apps that would themselves facilitate remote interaction. Despite the difficulties imposed by remote learning, end-of-course surveys and the high quality of the apps confirmed that students were enjoying the class and were actively engaged in learning the material.
图1.学生创建的Matlab应用程序Engineering Problem Solving.
Groundwork for Online Learning
We’ve been teachingEngineering Problem Solving与Matlab有几年，部分原因是Matlab使学生能够快速学习编程，即使他们没有先前的经验。基于Matlab的材料和工具，我们在大流行前奠定了在线学习过渡的基础。例如，当教授人员时，我们在每周阅读时Matlab介绍ZyBook.1。Each reading was followed by exercises testing comprehension of the concepts covered (Figure 2). Student work was automatically graded withMatlab Grader™,使我们能够提供即时,个性化feedback.
Figure 2. Array indexing exercise. Image credit: Introduction to MATLAB zyBook.
在讲座中，我们从阅读中审查了材料并使用交互式MATLAB直播脚本通过示例。与之直播编辑打开，我们展示了课程中涵盖的每个主题的简单编码示例，包括阵列处理，数据分析，流量控制，程序和面向对象的编程和UI设计。
本季度末，学生在最终项目中申请他们在整个课程中学到的内容。这些项目涉及使用App Designer创建应用程序。用户界面设计强化面向对象的编程概念，因为图形元素全部以编程方式控制为对象。它还让学生有机会在传达信息中表达他们的创造力。
Easing the Transition with ThingSpeak and MATLAB Mobile
The zyBook and live scripts eased the transition to online learning because they support interactive, self-paced learning. We knew, however, that some course changes would be necessary. We supplemented our group of nine graduate teaching assistants (TAs) with two undergraduate TAs who had recently taken the course. In online forums, the undergraduate TAs shared tips and offered guidance based on their experience. We also offered a combination of asynchronous (recorded) and synchronous (live) lectures, using live scripts to introduce and demonstrate material.
In addition to allowing students more time to design and implement their applications, we wanted to make the experience interesting for the teams, even though social distancing requirements prevented them from working closely together. We found our solution in ThingSpeak and MATLAB Mobile.
Designed as an IoT analytics service, ThingSpeak provided a convenient and easy-to-implement mechanism for first-time programmers to store and share data in the cloud. More importantly, it enabled our students to interact with each other remotely on a group project. MATLAB Mobile, meanwhile, enabled teams to acquire GPS and other real-world data such as position, velocity, and acceleration from the built-in sensors in their mobile devices.
Students could choose their final project from within three categories: a card game, a dice game, or a sensor-based app. Card and dice games were required to use ThingSpeak to exchange information between players, such as the suit and number of the card played or the number of the dice rolled. The students used MATLAB Mobile to obtain sensor data from a mobile device, MATLAB Drive to store sensor data in the cloud, and ThingSpeak to store and retrieve data segments for implementing a web- based game. Students read and wrote data in ThingSpeak channels usingoritepeakread.andoritepeakwrite.职能。有些学生还使用符合截止行动的东西，例如发送推文和创建可视化。学生通过使用App Designer创建的互动应用程序沟通。
除了构建应用程序外，每个团队还必须创建一个视频来演示应用程序，并解释他们的代码如何工作。最近的项目包括疯狂的八个纸牌游戏，Yahtzee和追踪用户位置，速度和加速度随时间的应用程序的实现（图3）。我们对应用程序和视频的创造力和复杂性留下了不断深刻的印象。显然，学生发现直接在高度激励的现实应用程序上直接工作。
图3.学生创建的Matlab应用程序，捕获和跟踪GPS传感器数据。
One team integrated a map visualization into their channel view to show live results from real data (Figure 4, left). The team was able to use their own personal data and see the processed results right away. Another team used numerical display widgets on the ThingSpeak channel (Figure 4, right), enabling them to debug their shared game quickly.
Figure 4. ThingSpeak channel views from student final project video presentations.
准备返回人的指导
When, as a step toward a full reopening, UC campuses adopt a hybrid model that combines classroom and online learning, we plan to retain many of the course changes we have implemented. For example, we will retain the undergraduate TA program, which was overwhelmingly well-received by the current students, and will probably continue to have students complete some lab work and final projects remotely using MATLAB Mobile and ThingSpeak. With these technologies, we can offer students exposure to hardware in what is essentially a theoretical programming course. The tools work well in classes with hundreds of students; since students can use the sensors in their own devices, we don’t have to supply sensor hardware, and because these tools do not require any hardware setup, students can get started with data acquisition quickly. As ever, our primary goal is to continue building our students’ self-confidence by showing them that in just 10 weeks they can create sophisticated, interactive applications that collect, exchange, and analyze real-world data.
我们本科TA的评论
Mostafa Ibrahim and Teodora Petrovic served as undergraduate TAs forEngineering Problem Solving。最近完成了课程并建立了图3所示的应用程序，他们通过创建视频来帮助同学，其中他们解释了他们设计了他们的应用程序，他们如何将其作为团队合作，他们被困在那里，他们找到了他们的答案技术问题。（论坛上Matlab Central.那they noted, were extremely useful sources of information.)
Ibrahim and Petrovic continue to apply the MATLAB skills they learned in the course and while serving as TAs. “Having a background in MATLAB has helped me as part of the UC Davis Formula Racing team, where we use MATLAB for data analysis and visualization,” Ibrahim says.
Petrovic补充道，“我们已经学到了很多关于Matlab，我们可以在俱乐部和其他课堂上使用。我们还学会了如何搜索并找到答案 - 更重要的是，我们学会了在不起作用时继续尝试，因为当你终于得到它，它非常令人满意。“
1Dr. André Knoesen co-authoredMatlab介绍。
