Teaching and learning technology with mockups

Resumen

This paper proposes the use of mockups that are manufactured by a three-dimensional printer with the purpose of helping the master's degree students acquire the necessary knowledge of teaching technologies. The work focused on the subject of "Disciplinary Training Complements in Technology" that is taught in the " Master in Teaching of Obligatory Compulsory Secondary Education and High School Teaching, Professional Training and Language Teaching" at the University of La Rioja. Educators attempts to instill in students the capacity to acquire knowledge and to learn on their own. This goal entails greater teacher involvement, as opposed to an expository methodology, since, in this case, the lecturer must search for and provide a broad range of stimuli to foster student learning in variety of areas. To this end, lecturers must employ all of the teaching resources that are necessary to encourage and impel the student to acquire his or her own knowledge. One of these resources, and the basis of this study, is the use of mockups as an educational tool. Students learn in a more meaningful way when they plan, design and construct three dimensional mockups that represent a real project or object. Throughout history, mockups have been used as means of representation to show clearly the characteristics of a complex project so that it can be easily understood. Today, for engineers and other design professionals, mockups are essential and effective tools to project and show ideas. They also can be excellent educational material for teaching. This paper presents the experience of a problem-based learning approach in the context of teaching renewal energy. Groups of three students worked on a cooperative learning project for 10 weeks. The students created mockups of different renewal energy methods, with the instructor providing resource assistance and information at all stages of the work. The design and manufacturing process require that mockups be developed and provided to the students so that they could acquire knowledge of renewable energy methods in a simple and effective way The results show that students' academic achievement is greater and their interest in the subject changes from passive to active when their attention is captured. Creating mockups fosters students' creativity and imagination. Models also represent a tool that helps to achieve the course's objectives.