Design and Implementation of an Educational Technology Kit Aligned to the Conceptual Framework of Educational Mechatronics

Educational systems continuously seek new educational technologies that improve their students' knowledge and help them acquire the necessary skills for the new industrial era. Studies indicate that technology plays a significant role in student performance when implemented correctly, stimulates better interactions between instructors and the students, and encourages cooperative learning, collaboration, problem-solving, and communication competencies. A necessary skill for a good learning process is spatial thinking. Studies show that students who do not have good spatial thinking will have more trouble passing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel educational kit to aid in the development of spatial thinking, specifically applied to the two-dimensional Cartesian Coordinate Systems (2D-CACSET) designed, from its conception, to apply the Educational Mechatronics Conceptual Framework (EMCF). This innovative 2D-CACSET comprises two Tags, four Anchors, and a Listener that use a real-time location system based on Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology as a cornerstone of operation. In addition, it has a 2D dashboard and a Graphical User Interface that allow mechatronic concepts from the concrete, graphic and abstract levels of thinking. Thus, in this practice, students acquired knowledge and developed skills to apply when working with more complex prototypes throughout their lives.