Initiative, work ethic, independence & inquiry....the puzzle pieces falling together...

Ah..the pieces have finally fallen together for many of the TTJ3 students.  The components I refer are the routine and systematic approach , the diagnois, the process, the documentation of your process, the inquiry, the trouble tree, the repair and the verification of the repair.  All completed with an awesome blend on student knowledge, skill and technical literacy; not just memory based but more importantly were and how to access the vehicle data, the dtc's, the operation of the system in question, how to identify the faulty component and the specifications.  It is important to point out that it is impossible to know every process, every step, every dtc and every spec.  But knowing how, when and were to access all of the puzzle pieces is an astonishing accomplishment.

Brief over view...today...

  " keys please.  I need to get my coveralls, I drove the escape (ford) today.  I need to determine where the exhaust leak is and measure the pipes to order replacement sections. I also need to scan for dtc's, the engine light is on and it is running rough.  It is sitting in front of bay 1, can I use the hoist and can you drive it in?"  Student said.

I turned to my colleague and he looked at me and inquired who is that student. He was awestruck and I will admit my jaw too dropped a little, not that I let onto the student.  I should also mention that this was before the first bell of the day.

So long story short ( I won't bore you with all the tidbit data) 

  Employability skills , check

  Initiative , check

  Verification of problems, check

   Set hoist up, check

   Inspect physical condition and measure, check & document with pics, check

   Lower hoist, check

   BT1 & Ipad, scan dtc's and view data, check

   Access service literature, determine conditions for setting dtc, prioritize dtc's, diagnosis dtc's, check

   Repair faulty components and/or order and price parts, check

      Clear dtc's and run up vehicle to meet dtc setting requirements....

      Dtc did not reset, verified repair...double check.

   Remove vehicle from hoist, teacher move vehicle outside

   Sweep floor, wash up, complete additional documentation of job and complete work order.

Ah...that's a pretty complete "puzzle" for a grade 11.  Guess who has a coop placement next year?

Guess who I would hire?

She did an excellent job both in successfully repairing the vehicle, using the technology, access the vehicle service literature and employing the necessary employability, thinking and learning skills that further employers and educator strive to encounter.

  

   

BT1 & Idevices - IIT Slideshow - Semester I Highlights & Semester II StartUp

As the new semester cranks up, new courses and students arrive ready to tear automotive systems apart.  Little did many of them realise that there is more to dismantling vehicles to successfully fulfill the course requirements; especially at the college coded level.  Ah bring on the maintenance schedules, the service manuals the resources and most importantly the diagnostics.

While looking through some of the videos and pictures we took during the initial project startup; it became very apparent that we focussed on individual student exposure, documenting their processes and technology use.  Highlighting the technology and analyzing the disconnect of thinking and self directed next steps; which service literature should the students refer to?; how do we successfully ensure that they are able to decipher the diagnostic trees and follow the steps?   Additional graphical literacy and further exposures to diagnostic trees is a must.  The acquisition of the DTCs and verification of the repairs is the easy part; fostering & modeling and redefining & shaping the required learning skills and employability skills to create self directed thinking pathway selection will be the next hurdle.

With that being said the new group of TTJ 3C students will be driven by a CDX Format coupled with Project/Task record Portfolio via Moxtra & Google; illustrating the steps and rationale for the chosen pathways as directed by diagnostic trees, DTC's and streaming data.  The BT1 and idevice technology is the gateway for the more diagnostic based CDX tasks/customer.  While still ensuring the students are fully exposed to the hard hands aspect of the trade.

                                           Refer to the following link for more CDX info

From the video request, we identified difficulties of providing student free content; however the observation does identify that we are approaching the project in a student driven and immersive manner.  There are not many photos and/or videos that do not contain identifiable students actively completing tech related tasks and using the IIT technology to diagnose and repair vehicle systems.

             There are several video shorts that have been uploaded to the shared video folder.
To aid in showcasing the process, the activities and the IIT technology we were however able to assemble several photos and create a YouTube video slideshow with annotations to aid in explaining and highlighting the technology.   This video has also been uploaded to the IIT Shared Video folder; HOWEVER the downloadable format does not allow the annotations.  So please refer to the following YouTube video link for a more encompassing video.  BT1 & Idevices - IIT Slide Show   View in full screen...

Thanks for Watching...

Vehicle Diagnostics on ward...to infinity and beyond...

Well maybe not to inifinity and beyond....

But definitely moving forward in exposure to easily accessible automotive diagnostics.
Our proposal was  “HHSS Diagnostic Skills Development, Utilizing GUI Interfaces for Qualitative Automotive Diagnostics in a Collaborative Environment”

Note there are great possibilities for this combination of technology, which in many cases is currently being used in the states are college and dealership levels to aid in diagnostics.  Now that we have recieved our Dongle (BT1, bluetooth OBDII interface) and its linked to the Ipad Mini's its time to experiment with the free apps....who better to experiment that two senior level girls in Mr. Dulongs.'s TTJ4 class.  Plus we could trust them to care for the technology and also they used an old Ipad II  (protective cases had not arrived....they are here now)

First they hooked up a traditional Snap-on scanner to a Mazda pickup which had DTC's present (ses light, diagonistic trouble codes)  A process that took approximately 12 minutes, finding the right adapter key, getting the vehicle VIN data, plugging in the data. accessing the data stream and DTC menus.  They verified what codes were present.

 Note that this scanner is approxiamtely likely about 10 years old and original purchase price was likely towards the 4000 dollar mark.

They then used the free apps from goPoint and had great success accessing the vehicles ECM (computer) and retrieved the same DTC codes.  Way to go girls!!  Simplicity of the interface and working knowledge of how an Ipad works made this process very quick for the female techs.

 The following pictures show the pad in use accessing the free app BT1 Monitor.  Wicked quick, easy hookup/link up once we enable the bluetooth.

Note the ladies obtained the same codes as the snap on scanner and they did it in less than 5 minutes including a bluetooth hicup.   Way to go Ladies!!

 
 More to follow folks.....don't want to ramble too much more.   We are very excited to further impliment the procedure and technology.  Mr. Dulong has since purchased a paid app to support the Dongle; Dash Commander as supported by goPoint technologies.

Post experience for the female techs,  NB and SB; they have filled out and submitted a IIT - Auto Poll as part of our data collection process. (via google Forms)

If curious....check out....http://goo.gl/kNzaAt

Lots more to follow....implimenting the process
                             ....technology exploration
                             .....diagnotic trouble codes
                             .....diagnostic trouble trees
                             .....vehicle repairs and verification of repair
                             .....live streaming data sets.....
                            .....data interpertation
                            .....emmission monitors
                            .....pairing with CDX jobs
                            .....e-portfolios............just the tip of infinity...