Patent Application
20240402685
This application claims priority to Hong Kong Short-Term Patent Application No. 320230732556 filed on May 22, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a framework for certifying STEM industrial products related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM industrial products are products based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which can help students deepen their understanding of STEM knowledge in practical applications. With the development of STEM education, STEM industrial products have become more and more diversified. However, many school teachers lack industrial practical experience and cannot effectively judge industrial products. This is a huge obstacle to the use of STEM industrial products. In order to solve this problem, a certification framework for STEM industrial products is developed, in which we apply statistical classification algorithms to analyze the collected data of STEM industrial products according to product characteristics in order to more effectively develop the certification framework. This can help consumers more accurately identify STEM industrial products. In this section, the basic definitions of STEM education and industrial products are comprehensively reviewed and the components in STEM industrial products are discussed. The design, production and evaluation of training modules and functions of STEM industrial products are also proposed.
For the specific definition, STEM is a combination of four subjects' abbreviations: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. According to [1], the attributes of the four subjects in STEM can be generically defined as follows.
STEM education is the intentional integration of the above mentioned subjects and their associated practices [2]. A student-centered learning environment is created under STEM education approaches [3], advancing the learning practices of engineering solutions problem-solving, investigation, and the construct evidence-based explanation of various real-world phenomena, with the sharing corporation of educational institutes, families, and community partners (e.g., Education Bureau, STEM industrial products manufacturers).
STEM education prepares students for the future workforce. STEM education is positioned to develop thinking that is reconceptualized as plural and should be able to differentiate at multiple models of levels, which is an important aspect of competencies for the workforce in the future [3]. Manosuttirit [4] stated that students who have access to quality STEM learning, are able to think deeply and to think well, which are the most critical criteria to become educators, innovators, leaders, and researchers, who solve the most pressing national challenges and even the world. STEM education is specially designed to support students to pursue research and innovation in their career paths (e.g., physical science research and engineering [5]), as well as their formative education. Such education approach increases the interest of students in further studying the component disciplines of STEM, and STEM-related careers [6], hence helping to prepare our future generations to tackle our world's biggest problems (e.g., environment pollution, global health). Therefore, STEM education is critical for students' career development.
STEM education is important for 21-century national development. Scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly crucial in the 21-century [7]. Globalization and a knowledge-based economy bring benefits and challenges to a country's development at the same time. To better adapt to the highly technological and new information-based society, a better workforce with capabilities in STEM is preferred and demanded in a country's development [8]. The long-term potential productivity of an economy is shaped by the legal and economic framework [9], and one of the significant factors improving the framework is the efficiency of the educational system [9]. A quality STEM education advocates plural thinking (differentiates thinking into multiple models with levels) and a problem-solving approach [3], which improves the efficiency of the education. Barcelona suggested that innovation leads to the processes that ensure the sustainability of the economy, and it also depends on a solid base in the integrated STEM development. Thus, quality STEM education is beneficial to the economic development of an economy.
1.1.2. Industrial products
Industrial products are specifically called intermediate goods or producer goods [11]. Industrial products can also be generically defined as a generalized term for any man-made, durable goods purchased by businesses or producers [13], as an input in a manufacturing process, and it does not have any independent status [14]. Industrial products are input elements needed for rendering services or producing other goods, including final goods [15], that are sold to, or supplied for, other person or organizations [16]. Final goods, which are also known as consumer goods, are the end products of business production and are purchased by consumers that can be directly used to satisfy human needs [16, 17].
Although industrial products and final goods are contrasting, many products can be described by both terms. Therefore, to define whether a product is an industrial product, its intended usage must be considered.
A Power station and oil-drilling equipment are industrial products as they are used to produce electricity and oil for consumption respectively [15]. Products like cars could be both final goods or industrial products [15]. If cars are used for final goods transportation, they are identified as industrial products, private transportation, and final goods.
Before defining STEM industrial products, some STEM products should be defined first since these STEM products may not be produced through industrial process.
Definition of a STEM product: A STEM product is a product that helps users apply knowledge and skills from the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to design, use, develop, and innovate.
These products are often designed to solve real-world problems and are used in many areas such as systems engineering, the medical industry, agriculture, the military, and more.
Industrial products are products that are purchased and used for processing or business operations. The difference between consumer goods and industrial goods lies in their purchase purpose. There are many ways to classify industrial products, one of which is based on the perspective of the producer and the way in which the product is purchased, and the other is based on the perspective of the manufacturer, production methods and costs. The latter classification standard is more widely used in industry. STEM industrial products can be defined specifically by referring to industrial products that can apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related knowledge to promote related education, such as cultivating modern electronic processing capabilities, scientific and technological development capabilities, and socialized problem-solving capabilities, etc.
STEM industrial products cannot be derived from a sophisticated STEM education system [19]. In a generic definition, STEM industrial products are man-made, durable non-final goods [12], as input elements in a manufacturing process, that have educational value in the subject combinations of Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics.
STEM industrial products can be specifically defined to refer to STEM industrial products designed to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for STEM-related educational purposes, such as modern electronic computing skills, science and technology development skills, digital and data literacy, etc., in a way that they are accessible to students of all ages and abilities, taking into account the characteristics of the product, and developing general skills such as curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc.
Common STEM-specific industrial products include educational toys and games that support the learning process, advanced robotics, coding kits, 3D printers, construction kits and virtual reality headsets, technology-based tools, drones, smart planters, and more.
In a generic definition, STEM industrial products are products manufactured by industrial processes using raw materials and components and they have educational value in a combination of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics subjects. STEM industrial products cannot be derived from the sophisticated STEM education system. It may also refer to specific industry sectors and specific products such as solar cars, educational toys, games websites, educational software, video games, puzzles, and project kits.
Examples of applications for STEM industrial products include computers and electronics, architecture and engineering services, software development, healthcare products, physics, and life science products.
In STEM education, STEM industrial products might be STEM-oriented toys or supplementary exercises. These industrial products provide students with a comprehensive practical experience, which is one of the main learning approaches in STEM education [20]. There are a few features that STEM industrial products should include: apply knowledge in STEM, problem-solving skills, stimulate plural thinking [21], and arouse interest in STEM education [22].
STEM education is essential for science and technology-based innovation which is the key reform strategy in education for many countries that seek to improve their technical workforce and economy. Besides STEM education, there is other similar education discipline called STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), which is more comprehensive than STEM, since STEAM consists both science and art related learning parts. However, as the art learning part is subjective, diverse and immeasurable, and customized according to the needs of users at a later stage, STEAM will not be discussed and analysed in this invention.
Instead, this work thus focuses more on the qualitative study for STEM development. Previous patent documents associated with STEM education and industrial products include US2007/0269773A1, US2007/0269773A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,486 B2, U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,696B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,028B2, U.S. Pat. No. 8,015,039B2, CN107453872A, US2014/0370487A1, U.S. Pat. No. 9,691,294B2, JP3027583U, US2008/0233550A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,705B1 and WO2014/134633A2. Many of these studies showed the correlation between student learning and educational teaching aids including educational industrial products. Student's learning experience with STEM industrial products will improve learning efficiency. However, the current problem with using STEM industrial products is that many teachers lack of practical industrial engineering knowledge that limits their ability to provide effective STEM education to their students. And there is no common standard of STEM industrial products for the manufacturers to follow.
STEM industrial products are different from industrial products. The certification framework for STEM industrial products should be developed differently from the existing certification framework of industrial products. The existence of the above problems will also directly affect the effect of students using STEM industrial products. The quality of STEM industrial products on the market is uneven. Manufacturers do not have a unified standard to develop STEM industrial products. At present, there is no unified standard certification framework to help teachers and other consumers identify more effective STEM industrial products. This work attempts to establish a certification development framework for STEM industrial products, so that consumers can find suitable and effective STEM industrial products among the many products in the market.
The problem of insufficient integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is also reflected in STEM industrial products. Many STEM industrial products are not able to balance STEM well, which makes the products incomplete and fails to allow students to improve their comprehensive application capabilities. In the process of promoting and popularizing STEM education, some challenges have gradually emerged. The following two challenges have also affected the framework development for the certification of STEM industrial products.
The first challenge involves actively including technology and engineering in the program. STEM has been struggling with its identity since its inception and the most pressing challenge for STEM education is in recognizing the actual meaning of STEM. This identity problem can be seen from the misunderstanding that STEM concerns emphasizing a particular subject and the exclusion of others, which is not the intention. The purpose of STEM is to use the effectiveness of these critical subjects for integration into actual industrial applications.
Scientists study the question ‘WHY’ for scientific discoveries but engineers focus on ‘HOW’ to use scientific discoveries and design them into a product (technology). Therefore, technology and engineering subjects should not be treated as just additional subjects but as integrated subjects because technologies are the product of engineering design activity. Most current STEM strategies do not meet the requirements of design, iteration, and creation as part of their program. STEM program design should provide intentional support for students to build knowledge and skills across and within disciplines, but this is often missing currently [23].
Engineers need to use science and mathematics for the study of engineering but the same cannot be applied for scientists and mathematicians because there are no engineering requirements for the study of science and mathematics. This analogy could be used to explain the reason for academic teachers not having the experience and understanding of the means and methods used in industry. Therefore, a better partnership with industry is required to shift from a content-based to a skills-based paradigm [24].
Strimel et al. [25], proposed three pathways for engineering education. The first is to continue with the current method of teaching technology and engineering. Secondly, collaboration between the engineering and science educated professions is required to find the distinctions and differences between both fields. The third and most viable pathway is to establish engineering education with input from the engineering community in regard to engineering content and practice.
The problem of insufficient integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is also reflected in STEM industrial products. Many STEM industrial products cannot balance STEM well, which makes the products incomplete and fail to allow students to improve their comprehensive application capabilities.
A STEM education program should include the application of knowledge to actual STEM related applications. In general, STEM education is usually more focused on science or mathematics, and seldom refers to technology and engineering. This must be remedied for STEM education to have a positive influence on students, because engineering and technology can be difficult to grasp for academically minded teachers who have no industrial experience. Teachers are usually better at content knowledge, but lack the application of technology in actual situations. The biggest challenge in providing effective STEM education programs is the lack of engineering skills of the teachers in relating it with their students [23]. Teachers cannot lead students to use STEM industrial products satisfactorily, nor can they identify which STEM industrial products can help students more effectively.
Mathematical equations referenced in this Summary can be found in Detailed Description.
The present invention is concerned with establishing a STEM industrial product certification framework, which can be used by industry sectors (e.g., product manufacturers and suppliers) and consumers (e.g., educators, parents, and students) to identify and categorize STEM industrial products.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for certifying a STEM industrial product.
The method comprises: evaluating and scoring a STEM literacy level acquirable by using the product to thereby yield a first score for STEM literacy; evaluating and scoring product features findable in the product to thereby yield a second score for product features; evaluating and scoring general abilities learnable after using the product to thereby yield a third score for general abilities; making a final decision on a total score for the product according to the first, second and third scores; and awarding the product with a certification level according to the total score of the product.
If the product is hardware only, preferably the evaluating and scoring of the product features includes respectively evaluating the product under review categories of: ergonomics; aesthetics; functionality; safety and reliability; product price; weight and size; materials; durability; manufacturing quality; strength and stability; environmental properties; resources or accessories; regulatory compliance; and maintenance and repair services; whereby the second score is obtained.
If the product is software only, preferably the evaluating and scoring of the product features includes respectively evaluating the product under review categories of: usability; reliability; compatibility; portability; testability; scalability; flexibility; functional suitability; maintainability and repair services; interoperability; performance efficiency; product price; and security; whereby the second score is obtained.
If the product has a hardware component and a software component, preferably the evaluating and scoring of the product features includes: (a) respectively evaluating the hardware component under review categories of: ergonomics; aesthetics; functionality; safety and reliability; product price; weight and size; materials; durability; manufacturing quality; strength and stability; environmental properties; resources or accessories; regulatory compliance; and maintenance and repair services; whereby a fourth score for product features related to the hardware component is obtained; (b) respectively evaluating the software component under review categories of: usability; reliability; compatibility; portability; testability; scalability; flexibility; functional suitability; maintainability and repair services; interoperability; performance efficiency; product price; and security; whereby a fifth score for product features related to the software component is obtained; and (c) obtaining the second score by averaging the fourth and fifth scores.
Preferably, the general abilities include: critical thinking; communication; creativity; collaboration; problem-solving; data literacy; digital literacy; initiative; curiosity; persistence; adaptability; leadership; and social and cultural awareness.
In certain embodiments, the total score for the product is computed as a weighted average of the first, second and third scores.
Respective weighting factors of the first, second and third scores may be unity in computing the total score.
In certain embodiments, the making of the final decision on the total score includes: normalizing the first, second and third scores to yield normalized scores of STEM literacy, of product features and of general abilities, respectively; and computing the total score by averaging the normalized scores of STEM literacy, of product features and of general abilities.
In certain embodiments, the normalized scores of STEM literacy, of product features and of general abilities are computed by EQN. (1) and the total score is computed by EQN. (2).
In certain embodiments, the awarding of the product with the certification level according to the total score of the product includes: determining that the certification level is 5 when 77%≤Y≤100% for describing that the product achieves an excellent level in quality, where Y is the total score in percentage; determining that the certification level is 4 when 60%≤Y<77% for describing that the product achieves a good level in quality; determining that the certification level is 3 when 50%≤Y<60% for describing that the product achieves an average level in quality; determining that the certification level is 2 when 40%≤Y<50% for describing that the product achieves a basic level in quality; and determining that the certification level is 1 when 0%≤Y<40% for describing that the product achieves a poor, unsatisfactory level in quality.
Other aspects of the present invention are disclosed as illustrated by the embodiments hereinafter.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been depicted to scale.
The research methodology (
The above steps 1, 2 and 3 address challenge (i) in Section 1.3.1 and the above steps 4 and 5 address challenge (ii) in Section 1.3.2.
The proposed framework (
As such, a systematic and detailed investigation of the framework development for the certification of STEM industrial products is needed.
In this invention, we have undertaken a study on the framework development for the certification of STEM industrial products, Step 3 (STEM Industrial Product Classification) through design, making and assessment (DMA), Step 4 (Integrated Product Development) and Step 5 (Certification Framework for STEM Industrial Products) are considered to be important for facilitating our preliminary evaluation of the basic training blocks, features, certification framework and process for STEM industrial products.
This section illustrates the proposed framework development for the certification of STEM industrial products.
The development of training blocks and features for STEM industrial products requires background investigation, comprehensive study and defining/classifying the building blocks of STEM industrial products, as described in sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2, and 2.1.3 respectively. Many STEM industrial products can be considered to be of modular architecture that follows the process of Design, Making and Assessment. The STEM domain with features that fit into particular training blocks in the Design, Making and Assessment process has been identified for the evaluation of STEM industrial product development. By definition, a design is the act of working out the form of something (such as by making a sketch or outline or plan); making of something is the act or process of producing or creating it. An assessment is a consideration and a judgment. Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2, and 2.1.3 can be viewed as the work required in the review of Design, Making, Assessment process of the STEM industrial products respectively.
Background investigation of STEM industrial products and related definitions The review examples for this section are described. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges on STEM industrial products, the first question that we need to address is the definition: What is the specific definition of a STEM industrial product? Extensive definitions of STEM education are available but not for STEM industrial products and tools. An extensive literature review, survey and conference were conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of STEM industrial products and the tools needed for the successful implementation.
The definitions and existing STEM education framework are reviewed and the relevancy in producing the framework for STEM industrial products is defined [26].
The literature review using the Reche et al. [27] approach is as follows:
Study on individual STEM components for industrial STEM products (S=Science, e.g., sensors; T=Technology, e.g., Basic AI; E=Engineering, e.g., Electronic/Electrical/Mechanical/Industrial processes; M=Maths, e.g., Data clustering & Analytics) is made as follows.
A generic building block of STEM industrial products means a basic element or part that can regard as a unit together with many other things to form a whole STEM industrial product. All the building blocks are components for STEM industrial products. Generally speaking, the components of all STEM industrial products, as illustrated in
Note: For any additional parts or supplementary tools required for the use of STEM industrial products, they are classified as accessory.
Hardware can refer to a physical component of any computer or telecommunications system. It is a manufactured item and may refer to tools, machinery, and other durable equipment. The hardware part can be divided into functional and structural components. For functional components, they are four major categories of blocks: Sensors, Operators, Actuators, and Utilities. Sensor blocks sense signals from the environment including light, sound, touch, motion, and distance from objects, and they then pass signals to connected neighboring blocks. Operator blocks apply functions to those signals including arithmetic functions that compute a number from two or more numbers, such as sum, maximum, minimum, inverse, and threshold. Actuator blocks convert signals they receive into various types of action. Utility blocks include a power source block, including a battery, such as a lithium-ion or solar powered battery, that must be included in each construction. Structural components refer to some supporting structures such as columns, posts and beams.
Software can refer to a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers, device systems, and execute specific tasks. For example, assembly language, C language, C++, App Inventor, etc. Software is different from hardware, which describes the physical aspects of a computer or a device system. Software is a generic term used to refer to programs, scripts, and applications that run on a device system. It can be viewed as the variable part of a computer or a device system, while hardware is the invariable part. There are different categories of software such as application software, system software, programming software, and middleware. An application is software that fulfills a specific need or performs tasks. System software is designed to run a computer's hardware and provides a platform for applications to run on. Programming software provides the programming tools software developers need. A middleware sits between system software and applications, and a driver software operates computer devices and peripherals.
2.1.3. (Review of assessment) STEM Industrial Product Classification:
Defining generic building blocks in STEM industrial products and classifying STEM industrial products by function is given as follows.
A product consists of its physical and functional terms. The overall performance of a product depends on the convergence of individual operational functions and the physical elements of the product such as its parts, components and its assembly that enable the execution of the product function. Generally, the physical elements of a product consist of a few major physical building blocks. Each of these blocks is a compilation of components that execute certain functions and could consist of interchangeable components to produce similar functions. The buildup of the product is a result of the arrangement of the functional elements into building blocks [28].
After obtaining a clear definition of STEM industrial products and characteristics, we can start defining the key building blocks for STEM industrial products. This is achieved by using both the literature review and surveys among STEM teachers. The qualitative research method is an important supplement to the traditional quantitative research.
Many STEM industrial products that use coding have a block-based programming structure where novice coders are able to make functional programs by dragging and dropping blocks onto a workspace that reduces tedious commands and syntax requirements [29]. This simpler representational system allows for ease of use for these types of products.
Critical attributes for a good framework for STEM industrial products (e.g., toys) are developed. The generic building blocks for STEM industrial products should include essential skills that are being developed, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication, collaboration, data literacy, digital literacy and computer science [26].
Further, STEM industrial products can be divided into three major categories according to their functions [30]. For the first category, its function is to understand and learn theories (T). For the second category, its function is to establish a bridge (B) role for display, exchange and cooperation. As for the third category, its function is to develop solutions and realize (R) specific goals.
Some product examples in each category are listed as follows:
Some STEM industrial products may involve more than one category in their functions, so the functions of the STEM industrial products can be expressed as a proportion of different categories, for example, programmable soccer robots, which can be used to understand the principle of programming, but also can equally realize the function of robots playing football. So it can be divided into category (T) of 50%, and category (R) of 50%. In theory, category (T), category (B) and category (R) belong to low level, intermediate level and high level in terms of the product function. STEM industrial products with low-level category (T) can be transformed into intermediate level or high-level components after the assembly of some higher-level category components, and STEM industrial products with high-level components can also be split into several low-level components after the disassembly of some lower-level category components.
Training blocks are defined as a series of quantitative structures for the users of STEM industrial products to acquire certain capacities connected with the features of STEM industrial products.
People who use the STEM industrial products can utilize training blocks to gain general abilities like critical thinking, communication skills, collaboration skills, creativity skills [31], innovation skills, information technology skills, numeracy skills, spatial thinking skills, problem-solving skills, management skills, self-study skills, team-working skills, organization of work skills, improving own learning and performance skills [32], data literacy skills, digital literacy skills, and so on.
The features of STEM industrial products can be classified as tangible or intangible. Tangible features may refer to the packaging and warranties of a product. Intangible features are symbolic of a product, such as brand image. Intangible features can include things like images as well as the level of the relationship between a service provider and a customer. People make decisions about which products to buy after considering both tangible and intangible features of a product.
The features of STEM industrial products include tangible features, which are size, color, weight, volume, smell, taste, touch, quantity, material composition, observability, spatial relationships, and the like, and intangible features, which are price, quality, reliability, beauty or aesthetics, safety, functionality, economy, durability, maintainability, applicability, practicability, controllability, robustness, etc.
The Integrated Product Development (IPD) approach is the paradigm for new product development due to its many advantages as compared to traditional methods [33]. IPD uses the interaction in overlapping, parallel execution, and concurrent workflow for evaluating STEM industrial products. It is used to view the coordination of systems within STEM industrial products such as interdependent conflict mitigating and interpretation-aligning elements that involve the 4 components of STEM; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Both the quality and IPD characteristics are evaluated in relation to STEM industrial products Additionally, factors that deteriorate IPD characteristics are identified to reduce their impact on the effectiveness of the STEM industrial products [33, 34].
IPD is a framework based on the integrated design of products and manufacturing and support processes. It suggests the consideration of all of the competitive factors or “-ilities” from the preliminary stage of product development and design into the product [35].
The word “-ilities” refers to different kinds of software quality (e.g., testability, reliability [37]), often informally called “ilities” since most of their names end in “-ility”. The main goal is to help management and active project teams reach innovation goals [38].
By using a formal, structured approach to implementing IPD for new product design and development, these costs can be decreased, product quality and performance can be improved, and time-to-market can be shortened. Using the concept of IPD can make the design of STEM industrial products more scientific and more cost-effective.
The essential principles of integrated product development can be summarized as follows.
There is still no research directly on the integrated product development (IPD) of STEM industrial products. A procedure for IPD product synthesis is shown in
In the third step, search for solution principles and their structures. Considering the scientific knowledge principles involved in the realization of the function, and make the product structure reasonable, safe and reliable by rationally arranging the realization steps. In the fourth step, organize into realizable modules. In this part, the feasibility of each option is analyzed. Establish as many shared module units as possible to achieve specific functions in a combined manner. The fifth step is the embodiment design of the relevant modules. In this part, it is mainly the analysis of the completed functional modules. The sixth step is designing the entire product. Integrate the entire product according to achievable functions. The seventh step is the preparation of execution and usage documentation. In this part, what we need to do is to undertake the previous function, and then specify the product manual. These seven steps can be performed repeatedly as required, or steps can be skipped to achieve good product properties in the end. The above steps can be summarized into four major areas, plan, devise, design, and preparation. Product demand affects the solution space. The knowledge used and the solution patterns limit the solution space. Finally, all the principles and rules are used in the solution space to evolve and optimize into a product.
Besides the development of training blocks and features mentioned in section 2.1, the development of a certification framework for STEM industrial products also requires the consideration of the integrated product development as described in section 2.2, statistical methods for the two online surveys of STEM product manufacturers and STEM educators, the required framework and process for STEM industrial products as described in the below sections 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.
18 purchased STEM industrial products were used in the test bed of this work. Two online questionnaires for STEM product manufacturers and educators were prepared. The questionnaires were sent to the STEM product manufacturers and educators for the collection of the required information for the development of the certification framework of STEM industrial products to be done in section 2.3.2.
In order to determine the product functions for the development of modular products, different statistical analysis methods are used. The reliability and validity, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, and Pearson correction analysis are found to be four suitable statistical analysis methods in this work for determining the significant influence of each concerned product function based on the collected responses from the two online surveys of manufacturers and educators. The SPSS and Minitab software are used in this work for the statistical analysis.
Framework and process for the certification of STEM industrial products is given as follows.
Based on literature review and the work done in this project, a certification framework for the certification of STEM industrial products is proposed as follows:
If a product passes all the required tests and fulfils the relevant requirements in accordance with the definitions of the STEM industrial products (refer to section 1, section 2.1 and
After satisfying all the requirements in the evaluations, STEM industrial product certification will be issued and a certification report presented. The certification report will indicate the STEM product component analysis, function analysis, STEM teaching suggestions, usage, report, etc.
The certification process is expected to be conducted using the outline approach below as illustrated in
The first step of awarding certification is “submission”. In order to reduce the workload of the concerned laboratory and certification personnel, various documents need to be submitted along with the STEM industrial product. A client or a manufacturer needs to explain which STEM attribute is covered and how the product is going to provide the learning experience. This provides guidelines and direction for the certification personnel to examine and evaluate the product. The operating procedure should also be submitted for reference, so that extra time does not need to be taken in knowing how to use the product. The documents are intended to case the workload of the laboratories and make the certification framework better fit the working procedure of the certifying authorities.
In the second step, “checklist and examination”, the review personnel will use and examine the product/checklist based on the provided operating procedure. They will then review the Design, Making and Assessment (DMA) and the Integrated Product Development (IPD) of the STEM product. The personnel will try to use the product and understand its features. Since it is too time consuming for the testing personnel to assemble the product during the certification process, for STEM product that requires assembly, the manufacturer should provide the assembled product along with the original product. This practice is designed to coordinate with the working routine of a testing laboratory. The manufacturer should also submit a description form indicating the designed education content for each STEM attribute, such that the personnel can try those particular parts only. It is another measure to prevent inducing extra workload to the laboratory.
The third step is “Evaluation”. After trying out and understanding the product, the testing representative will evaluate the competence of delivering STEM education to the students. Evaluation and scoring on the STEM literacy, product features and general abilities will be performed. The testing personnel will compare the actual experience with the description form to assess whether the stated educational content is effective and how the product is providing the experience as stated in the form. The effectiveness of the product in providing the educational content will be the main point of assessment. The laboratory is mainly responsible for auditing the product by cross checking the product description and the actual experience. This helps minimize the time required to certify a product.
The fourth step is “Certification”. If the product is evaluated for passing under all requirements, it will be certified as a STEM industrial product. It means the product is an effective STEM learning tool in both the coverage and level of competence. This certification framework is not intended to increase the workload of the laboratory. The cycle time to get a product certified is minimized and expected to be similar to other certification frameworks. Therefore, time-consuming processes are required to be done by the manufacturers, such as the work in the assembly of products and studying the educational value of the products.
The fifth step is “Announcement and Grant”. The results will be announced to the client. The legal right of use will be granted to the client to display the certification mark on their product.
It should be noted that the detailed marking schemes for the three review categories, (1) STEM literacy, (2) Product features, and (3) General abilities in Step 3 have been defined by the inventors of this work. Also, the review of the three categories is related to the methods described in 2.2 (
The Step 3 and Step 4 mentioned above are two crucial steps for the certification of STEM industrial products. More elaboration on the required work in Step 3 and Step 4 is illustrated as follows:
For Step 3, some major steps are highlighted as follows: As described in Table 1, there are 3 possible cases to be considered for STEM industrial products. For Case 1, the product has hardware only. For Case 2, the product has software only. For Case 3, the product has both hardware and software. The detailed score calculation and formulas for each case are shown in Table 1.
This scoring formula is used to investigate the correlation between product parts identification and the difference in total score calculation through the analysis of three distinct cases. Case 1 pertains to products that solely comprise hardware components, while Case 2 involves products that are dependent solely on software. Case 3 is characterized by products that consist of both hardware and software components. The aim of this analysis is to identify the specific factors that contribute to the scoring calculation in each of these cases. Whichever case is considered. The calculation method for the total score on STEM literacy and general abilities would remain same. However, Case 1 is assessed based on only hardware product features, whereas Case 2 is assessed solely on software product features. In contrast, Case 3 considers the average of both hardware and software product features. To determine the overall score of each case, the average marks of STEM literacy, product features, and general abilities are calculated.
As shown in Step 3.1 (831,
An example for a product having a score on STEM literacy is shown in
As shown in Step 3.2 (832,
There are 3 cases to be considered for the marking scheme of the product features.
For Case 1, it refers to a product with hardware only. For this case, the 14 review category of the product features can be specified based on the (1) Ergonomics, (2) Aesthetics, (3) Functionality, (4) Safety and reliability, (5) Product price, (6) Weight and size, (7) Materials, (8) Durability, (9) Manufacturing quality, (10) Strength and stability, (11) Environmental properties, (12) Resources/accessories, (13) Regulatory compliance, and (14) Maintenance and repair services respectively.
For Case 2, it refers to a product with software only. However, some basic hardware equipment systems must be used in accordance with the instruction manual of the product. The hardware systems are regarded as universal equipment and the total score of the systems would not be assessed. For this case, the 13 review category of the product features can be specified based on for (1) Usability, (2) Reliability, (3) Compatibility, (4) Portability, (5) Testability, (6) Scalability, (7) Flexibility, (8) Functional suitability, (9) Maintainability and repair services, (10) Interoperability, (11) Performance efficiency, (12) Product Price and (13) Security respectively.
For Case 3, it refers to a product with both hardware and software. For this case, there are two total scores for the product features on hardware and software respectively. The scoring criteria on hardware and software can be referred to the same procedure for Case 1 and Case 2 mentioned above respectively.
Some descriptions of product features are given in
As described in Step 3.3 (833,
As described in Step 4 (
As described in Step 4 (
As described in Step 4.2 (842,
Assume (1) STEM literacy, (2) product features, and (3) general abilities are equally important for the certification of a STEM industrial product.
The weighting factors for STEM literacy, product features, and general abilities are all set as 1.
The simplified formula above, namely, EQN. (2), is used to calculate the total score for a STEM industrial product where: Xi is a score for STEM literacy, product features and general abilities, i=1,2,3, respectively; X(j)norm is a normalized score for (1) STEM literacy, (2) product features and (3) general abilities, j=1,2,3, respectively; Xmax is the corresponding maximum value; Xmin is the corresponding minimum value; and Y is the total score of the STEM product in percentage.
For the example product's operation process, the following formulas are obtained:
The detailed formulas above are used to calculate the total score in percentage for the product:
As described in Step 4.3 (843,
Based on the total score, Y, calculated in Table 1, the total score in percentage is given by the formula (i.e. (Total score÷5)×100%). By comparing the total score in percentage to the certification level from Table 2, the relative certification level of the product can be determined. Regarding product evaluation, any product with a score below 40% will be certified as having a poor level of quality. A product that scores below 50% will be considered basic, while a score below 60% will indicate an average level of quality. A product that scores between 60% to 77% will be certified as good, and any product that scores above this threshold will be deemed excellent.
Total score in percentage, certification level, and certification status for the STEM industrial product (Case 1: hardware only) are described as follows:
Another example for total score and certification level of a product from Case 3: Product with both hardware and software is described as follows.
The product is evaluated based on three review categories: STEM literacy, product features (hardware+software), and general abilities. After analyzing each category, it was found that this product is rated excellent in STEM literacy, product features performance, and general abilities effectiveness. As indicated in Table 3, this product is classified as excellent in terms of certification level based on a total score in percentage of around 84%.
There follows a list of references that are occasionally cited in the specification. Each of the disclosures of these references is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32023073255.6 | May 2023 | HK | national |
