What we have learned from our experience from TMIT-Stanford shared class

This paper describes our experience at Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology in sharing a Mechanical Engineering Design class with Stanford University through the network. These classes are taught on the principle of project based learning and students are expected to form a team and to find a way to solve a problem by themselves. Although Stanford has a long experience in PBL, most of their experiences are on the campus. The shared class this time was one of the first in expanding this class across the national boundaries by the full use of computer capabilities. The purpose of this class is for the students to learn how to form a design team and how to come up with a good design plan. Students have to demonstrate how good their design plan is by producing a prototype. Thus, real manufacturing of a prototype is involved in the class activities and in addition, it has to be done across the national boundaries, and with time difference. This paper discusses how physical entity is necessary for ME classes and how a physical world should be combined with a virtual world