Construction and Practice of PBL Teaching Model of Mechatronics Training Course for International Students in Higher Vocational Colleges based on STEM

With the deepening of education reform, traditional teacher-lead instruction has been gradually replaced by new teaching methods. As a new concept of global engineering education, STEM has become a hot spot of academic attention. Based on the concept of STEM, this paper constructs a PBL (Project Based Learning) teaching model for the course of mechatronics training for international higher vocational students. The model is composed of the target layer, preparation layer, implementation layer and guarantee layer, and takes the manipulator handling project as an example to carry out the implementation. In the process of project-based learning, students take the initiative to construct knowledge and focus on applying what they know to solve authentic problems, their knowledge transfer, engineering thinking, scientific literacy, collaborative innovation, and other advanced abilities are effectively cultivated. A multiple evaluation system consisting of self-evaluation, mutual evaluation and teacher evaluation has been established. As a result, PBL teaching model based on STEM could be an effective means of teaching training courses, and it can be successfully employed with students who have ever been exposed and subjected to a background of traditional forms of teaching and learning. After the course implementation, students’ learning investment has increased significantly, their comprehensive ability has been greatly improved, and their learning satisfaction was high.