Mechatronics as a challenge for teaching technology in secondary education

Teaching of technology in Slovenian lower-secondary schools has, in the past, been primarily focused on design and construction of simple everyday objects. The technology curriculum was renewed in 1999 emphasizing project based teaching. The changes in teaching technology were significantly influenced by positive experiences at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. The challenge of mechatronics, an interdisciplinary field, was to integrate electronic, mechanical, control and computer engineering into selected projects and to transfer these to secondary education practice. Some examples of these projects are summarized in this paper. One example is a control system for light intensity, utilizing computers. Transient phenomena are demonstrated by sudden changes in the required intensity of light; the required changes being mostly caused by the time delay in heating of the bulb´s filament. Another example project involves the control of vehicle motion; this project begins with mechanical switches, continues with digital control and concludes with infrared remote control