15-year educational experience on autonomous electronic information devices by flipped classroom and try-by-yourself methods

摘要

Since 2001, the departments of Electrical and Electronics and Information and Communication Electronics Engineering of Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) have jointly given a lecture on autonomous electronic information devices for undergraduate students. According to the on-line questionnaire, 80% of students in 2010-2012 replied that the lecture was useful for their future career. The task given to students was to design and realise an autonomous electronic information devices (so-called `the IoT-gadgets') by themselves, and conduct a live demonstration in front of their colleagues. The device must have an `input', `output', and some `information processing'. Being aware of the speed of technology evolution as well as the short hours of the lecture, the professor tried give direct answers to students' questions on instantly build and program an information device. Instead, the students were told to beware of their `methods'. This refers to the deductive thinking introduced by René Descartes, and in the lecture's context students in order to realise the device. In this study, the backgrounds of various associated topics are discussed, such as the UTokyo's educational system, the world's rapid prototyping movement, open hardware, course design, students' reactions, and future directions.