Educational Project – Virtual World Simulation for C Programming Instruction

Many students find programming challenging and are not engaged with simple command line programs and classic “average these numbers” types of problems. Engineering technology students find that these types of problems are not relevant to their fields of study and this leads to a lack of engagement.

Virtual World Simulation for C Programming Instruction seeks to engage students by providing a relevant virtual simulation environment that the students can control via their C programs.  The simulation also provides immediate feedback in a very visual way to strengthen the learning of core programming structures.

A desire to control the virtual world is a motivating factor for the students. With the same simulation it is possible to set varying levels of challenge in order to keep advanced students interested.

The simulation has the added benefit that it demonstrates what can be accomplished by programming as it is itself a program.

Leadership Project

In early 2016, I guided a student team participating in OACETT’s National Engineering Month Student Challenge.  My team chose to bring a hands on green technology lesson to grade 5 students.   They placed 3rd out of 13 teams, but more importantly they fostered some excitement for electronics and technology.  Take a look at the video below for some highlights.

 

Courses

I have taught the following courses:

ELIC 515 Transform Methods

ELIC 628 Control Systems

ATMN 152 Mechatronics 1

ATMN 151 Robotics 1

ATMN 251 Microcomputer-based Automation (Laboratories)

ATMN 220 Programming

ATMN 253 C++ Programming for Automation

TECH 156 AC Circuits

TECH 104 Programming Fundamentals

TECH 158 Digital Electronics

TECH 150 Electronic Devices and Circuits