Jonathan Alvarez Ariza | Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios (original) (raw)

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Papers by Jonathan Alvarez Ariza

International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE), 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a challenge for higher education in terms to provide qualit... more The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a challenge for higher education in terms to provide quality education despite the lockdown periods, the transformation of the in-person classes to virtual classes, and the demotivation and anxiety that are experimented by the students. Because the basis of engineering is the experimentation through hands-on activities and learning by doing, the lockdown periods and the temporary suspension of the in-person classes and laboratories have meant a problem for educators that try to teach and motivate the students despite the situation. In this context, this study presents an educational methodology based on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and in-home laboratories in engineering. The methodology was carried out in two phases during 2020, in the academic programs of Industrial Engineering and Technology in Electronics with (n = 44) students. The in-home laboratories were sent to the students as part of ''kits'' with the devices needed in each subject. Besides, due to the difficulties in monitoring the learning process, the students made videos and blogs as a strategy to reinforce their learning and evidence the progress in the courses. The outcomes of the methodology show mainly the following points: (1) An improvement of the academic performance and learning of the students in the courses. (2) A positive influence of the usage of in-home laboratories in motivation, self-efficacy, and reduction of anxiety. (3) Positive correlations between the usage of in-home laboratories, the blogs and videos, and the teacher's feedback for learning, motivation, and self-efficacy. Thus, these results evidence that other alternatives that gather the cognitive and affective learning domains can emerge from engineering to deal with the educational problems produced by the crisis periods. Although the methodology and the lessons learned in this study are applied to the pandemic period, they can be extended in engineering education to the post-pandemic period.

Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 2020

In the last decade, Single-Board Computers (SBCs) have been employed more frequently in engineeri... more In the last decade, Single-Board Computers (SBCs) have been employed more frequently in engineering and computer science both to technical and educational levels. Several factors such as the versatility, the low-cost, and the possibility to enhance the learning process through technology have contributed to the educators and students usually employ these devices. However, the implications, possibilities, and constraints of these devices in engineering and Computer Science (CS) education have not been explored in detail. In this systematic literature review, we explore how the SBCs are employed in engineering and computer science and what educational results are derived from their usage in the period 2010-2020 at tertiary education. For that, 154 studies were selected out of n=605 collected from the academic databases Ei Compendex, ERIC, and Inspec. The analysis was carried-out in two phases, identifying, e.g., areas of application, learning outcomes, and students and researchers' perceptions. The results mainly indicate the following aspects: (1) The areas of laboratories and e-learning, computing education, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), and persons with disabilities gather the studies in the review. (2) Researchers highlight the importance of the SBCs to transform the curricula in engineering and CS for the students to learn complex topics through experimentation in handson activities. (3) The typical cognitive learning outcomes reported by the authors are the improvement of the students' grades and the technical skills regarding the topics in the courses. Concerning the affective learning outcomes, the increase of interest, motivation, and engagement are commonly reported by the authors.

IEEE Frontiers in Education, 2019

Recently, Electric Vehicles (EVs) have gained an important research relevance as a mean of transp... more Recently, Electric Vehicles (EVs) have gained an important research relevance as a mean of transport efficient and sustainable. In this full research to practice paper, we expose the educational experience to develop the different nodes such as lighting system, driver-focused Human Machine Interface (HMI), battery balancing and air conditioning with solar panels for EOLO, the first Colombian (EV) with an additional system of charge through wind for the auxiliary batteries which guarantees the autonomy of the vehicle. Twelve students (n=12) have been enrolled into the methodology of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to design and implement the mentioned nodes as part of a set of capstone projects. To technical level, each node has been designed using Digital Signal Controllers (dsPICs), the open-hardware platform Arduino or FTDI 32-bit microcontrollers as the FT900Q according to the design requirements. Also, it has designed several educational materials in the e-learning tool Xerte and an Algorithm Visualization (AV) tool called DSCBlocks that supported the educational process of the students. The outcomes show that the methodology is suitable to fulfill with the technical and educational requirements of the projects because they enclosed different stages such as problem definition, design strategy, usage of previous knowledge, implementation, debugging and team working. In addition, an assessment of the educational methodology is provided in the manuscript with the discussion of its implications for learning in the students.

Electronics 2019, 8(2), 228, 2019

DSCBlocks is an open-source platform in hardware and software developed in JavaFX, which is focus... more DSCBlocks is an open-source platform in hardware and software developed in JavaFX, which is focused on learning embedded systems through Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). These devices are employed in industrial and educational sectors due to their robustness, number of peripherals, processing speed, scalability and versatility. The platform uses graphical blocks designed in Google's tool Blockly that can be used to build different Algorithm Visualizations (AVs). Afterwards, the algorithms are converted in real-time to C language, according to the specifications of the compiler for the DSCs (XC16) and they can be downloaded in one of the two models of development board for the dsPIC 33FJ128GP804 and dsPIC 33FJ128MC802. The main aim of the platform is to provide a flexible environment, drawing on the educational advantages of the AVs with different aspects concerning the embedded systems, such as declaration of variables and functions, configuration of ports and peripherals, handling of Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), interrupts, among others, that are employed in several fields such as robotics, control, instrumentation, etc. In addition, some experiments that were designed in the platform are presented in the manuscript. The educational methodology and the assessment provided by the students (n = 30) suggest that the platform is suitable and reliable to learn concepts relating to embedded systems.

International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE), 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a challenge for higher education in terms to provide qualit... more The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a challenge for higher education in terms to provide quality education despite the lockdown periods, the transformation of the in-person classes to virtual classes, and the demotivation and anxiety that are experimented by the students. Because the basis of engineering is the experimentation through hands-on activities and learning by doing, the lockdown periods and the temporary suspension of the in-person classes and laboratories have meant a problem for educators that try to teach and motivate the students despite the situation. In this context, this study presents an educational methodology based on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and in-home laboratories in engineering. The methodology was carried out in two phases during 2020, in the academic programs of Industrial Engineering and Technology in Electronics with (n = 44) students. The in-home laboratories were sent to the students as part of ''kits'' with the devices needed in each subject. Besides, due to the difficulties in monitoring the learning process, the students made videos and blogs as a strategy to reinforce their learning and evidence the progress in the courses. The outcomes of the methodology show mainly the following points: (1) An improvement of the academic performance and learning of the students in the courses. (2) A positive influence of the usage of in-home laboratories in motivation, self-efficacy, and reduction of anxiety. (3) Positive correlations between the usage of in-home laboratories, the blogs and videos, and the teacher's feedback for learning, motivation, and self-efficacy. Thus, these results evidence that other alternatives that gather the cognitive and affective learning domains can emerge from engineering to deal with the educational problems produced by the crisis periods. Although the methodology and the lessons learned in this study are applied to the pandemic period, they can be extended in engineering education to the post-pandemic period.

Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 2020

In the last decade, Single-Board Computers (SBCs) have been employed more frequently in engineeri... more In the last decade, Single-Board Computers (SBCs) have been employed more frequently in engineering and computer science both to technical and educational levels. Several factors such as the versatility, the low-cost, and the possibility to enhance the learning process through technology have contributed to the educators and students usually employ these devices. However, the implications, possibilities, and constraints of these devices in engineering and Computer Science (CS) education have not been explored in detail. In this systematic literature review, we explore how the SBCs are employed in engineering and computer science and what educational results are derived from their usage in the period 2010-2020 at tertiary education. For that, 154 studies were selected out of n=605 collected from the academic databases Ei Compendex, ERIC, and Inspec. The analysis was carried-out in two phases, identifying, e.g., areas of application, learning outcomes, and students and researchers' perceptions. The results mainly indicate the following aspects: (1) The areas of laboratories and e-learning, computing education, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), and persons with disabilities gather the studies in the review. (2) Researchers highlight the importance of the SBCs to transform the curricula in engineering and CS for the students to learn complex topics through experimentation in handson activities. (3) The typical cognitive learning outcomes reported by the authors are the improvement of the students' grades and the technical skills regarding the topics in the courses. Concerning the affective learning outcomes, the increase of interest, motivation, and engagement are commonly reported by the authors.

IEEE Frontiers in Education, 2019

Recently, Electric Vehicles (EVs) have gained an important research relevance as a mean of transp... more Recently, Electric Vehicles (EVs) have gained an important research relevance as a mean of transport efficient and sustainable. In this full research to practice paper, we expose the educational experience to develop the different nodes such as lighting system, driver-focused Human Machine Interface (HMI), battery balancing and air conditioning with solar panels for EOLO, the first Colombian (EV) with an additional system of charge through wind for the auxiliary batteries which guarantees the autonomy of the vehicle. Twelve students (n=12) have been enrolled into the methodology of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to design and implement the mentioned nodes as part of a set of capstone projects. To technical level, each node has been designed using Digital Signal Controllers (dsPICs), the open-hardware platform Arduino or FTDI 32-bit microcontrollers as the FT900Q according to the design requirements. Also, it has designed several educational materials in the e-learning tool Xerte and an Algorithm Visualization (AV) tool called DSCBlocks that supported the educational process of the students. The outcomes show that the methodology is suitable to fulfill with the technical and educational requirements of the projects because they enclosed different stages such as problem definition, design strategy, usage of previous knowledge, implementation, debugging and team working. In addition, an assessment of the educational methodology is provided in the manuscript with the discussion of its implications for learning in the students.

Electronics 2019, 8(2), 228, 2019

DSCBlocks is an open-source platform in hardware and software developed in JavaFX, which is focus... more DSCBlocks is an open-source platform in hardware and software developed in JavaFX, which is focused on learning embedded systems through Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). These devices are employed in industrial and educational sectors due to their robustness, number of peripherals, processing speed, scalability and versatility. The platform uses graphical blocks designed in Google's tool Blockly that can be used to build different Algorithm Visualizations (AVs). Afterwards, the algorithms are converted in real-time to C language, according to the specifications of the compiler for the DSCs (XC16) and they can be downloaded in one of the two models of development board for the dsPIC 33FJ128GP804 and dsPIC 33FJ128MC802. The main aim of the platform is to provide a flexible environment, drawing on the educational advantages of the AVs with different aspects concerning the embedded systems, such as declaration of variables and functions, configuration of ports and peripherals, handling of Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), interrupts, among others, that are employed in several fields such as robotics, control, instrumentation, etc. In addition, some experiments that were designed in the platform are presented in the manuscript. The educational methodology and the assessment provided by the students (n = 30) suggest that the platform is suitable and reliable to learn concepts relating to embedded systems.