The present article reports a computer-aided teaching strategy, which is novel, using a MATLAB toolbox (i.e. SimMechanics) for project-based learning in a mechanical engineering robotics course (i.e. robot analysis). The effectiveness of the proposed teaching strategy was evaluated using multiple lenses of critical reflection such as student-reflection using numerous students’ surveys, and students’ grades comparison. Furthermore, the performance of this new teaching strategy was compared with a traditional teaching method, during which, traditional MATLAB solvers (e.g. ODE) were employed rather than SimMechanics. The results showed that the proposed teaching strategy helped students more than traditional teaching method to better understand and visualize ‘robot analysis’ concepts such as 3D drawing, dynamic modelling, and solving differential equations. The majority of students were more involved in learning, were able to achieve better learning outcomes, and performances.

本文介绍了一种计算机辅助教学策略，该策略是新颖的，它使用MATLAB工具箱（即SimMechanics）在机械工程机器人课程（即机器人分析）中进行基于项目的学习。拟议的教学策略的有效性是通过多角度的批判性评估来评估的，例如使用大量学生的调查以及学生的成绩比较来进行学生的反思。此外，将该新教学策略的性能与传统教学方法进行了比较，在传统教学方法中，采用了传统的MATLAB求解器（例如ODE）而不是SimMechanics。结果表明，与传统的教学方法相比，拟议的教学策略不仅可以帮助学生更好地理解和可视化“机器人分析”概念，例如3D绘图，动态建模，并求解微分方程。大多数学生更多地参与学习，能够取得更好的学习成果和表现。