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Massive Open Online Laboratories? Ongoing Work with Microelectronics Experiments Performed Outside of the Traditional Laboratory

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Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies: Classroom and Online Innovations

Tagged Division

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Page Count

13

DOI

10.18260/p.25681

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/25681

Download Count

423

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Paper Authors

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Kip D. Coonley Duke University

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Kip D. Coonley received the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, in 1999 and the B.S. degree in Physics from Bates College, Lewiston, ME, in 1997. Following graduation from Dartmouth, he developed electronically controlled dimmers for fluorescent and incandescent lamps at Lutron Electronics, Coopersburg, PA. From 2001 to 2005, he was a Research Engineer at RTI International, where he designed high-efficiency thermoelectrics using epitaxially grown superlattice thin-film structures. Since 2005, he has been the Undergraduate Laboratory Manager in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University, Durham, NC. His interests include undergraduate engineering education, energy harvesting, RFID, power electronics, plasma physics, and thin films.

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Justin Miles Duke University

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Justin Miles received the M.S. (2013) and B.S. (2008) degrees in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University. He has been a Research and Development engineer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2008. Justin’s primary responsibility is managing laboratory equipment and components for the undergraduate labs. Justin also provides support in the development of new lab exercises and integration of new equipment and components in all of the undergraduate laboratories.

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Kim Manturuk Duke University

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Kim Manturuk holds an M.A. (2004) and Ph.D. (2008) in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 2006, she has specialized in program evaluation for non-profits, academic institutions, and government agencies. Her evaluations have been cited as evidence supporting legislation to expand savings opportunities for working families, and she has presented testimony before several state legislatures on the impacts of consumer lending regulation. She is currently the Manager of Program Evaluation and Assessment at Duke’s Center for Instructional Technology. She also teaches Sociology of Crime through the Continuing Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Martin A. Brooke Duke University

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Martin A. Brooke received the B.E. (Elect.) Degree (1st. Class Hons.) from Auckland University in New Zealand in 1981. He received the M.S. and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Southern California in 1984, and 1988, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Duke University. Professor Brooke was an Analog Devices Career development award recipient from 1988-1993, won a National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award in 1990, the 1992 IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Myril B. Reed Best Paper Award, and the Georgia Tech Outstanding Thesis Advisor Award in 2003. He has graduated twenty three PhD students from his research group and has six U.S. patents awarded. He has published more than 120 articles in technical Journals.

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Christopher Woodard Duke University

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Christopher Woodard received the B.S.E.E. Degree in both Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering from Duke University in 2016. He has been instrumental in the development of the online laboratories in the undergraduate microelectronics course at Duke. His interests include wearable device design, engineering education, and leadership development. Chris also enjoys a cappella performance and writing music arrangements outside of academics.

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Chris Lorch Center for Instructional Technology

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Chris works as a Learning Technologies Specialist along with faculty and department staff at Duke University to create engaged learning experiences using learning technologies. He provides technical support and leadership for projects and experiments which extend and enhance Duke’s learning technology ecosystem.

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Genevieve M Lipp Duke University

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Genevieve Lipp received a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering from Duke University in 2010 and a Ph.D. in 2014 with a focus on nonlinear dynamical systems. She now works in the Center for Instructional Technology and teaches dynamics at Duke University.

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Abstract

With the advent of open source hardware and software, students are able to perform advanced microelectronic experiments outside of the laboratory setting using low-cost components and equipment. Offering experiments outside of a traditional lab accommodates distance-learning as well as large class sizes. Many authors have addressed comparisons of in-lab laboratories with ones completed virtually or remotely, however much less has been studied regarding the use of actual, physical laboratories by students at home or in their dormitory rooms outside of the traditional laboratory. To respond to and leverage technological advancements in portable test and measurement equipment, several student-accessible electronics hardware platforms were considered including the NI myDAQ, Arduino development board, TI LaunchPad, BitScope, Analog Discovery, and a Creative Soundblaster USB Audio System. Ultimately, an initial pilot study with 14 students was conducted in a summer microelectronics course using the NI myDAQ. This, along with high-quality instructional videos, allowed students to complete experiments on their own outside of the laboratory setting. In this study, two of the later course hardware exercises—multi-stage amplifier and op-amp amplifier—were offered to half of the class as labs to be completed outside of the traditional laboratory. Independent validation of the experiment using double-blindrandomized, multi-stage testing was performed and its effectiveness queried using in-person laboratory observations, instructor discussions, a post-laboratory survey, and student laboratory report assessment. Recommendations for implementing out-of-lab student experiments include anticipating hardware failure, encouraging student collaboration, and providing live TA assistance. As a result of the pilot work, additional laboratory offerings using these recommendations as well as explored alternative hardware solutions are being pursued.

Coonley, K. D., & Miles, J., & Manturuk, K., & Brooke, M. A., & Woodard, C., & Lorch, C., & Lipp, G. M. (2016, June), Massive Open Online Laboratories? Ongoing Work with Microelectronics Experiments Performed Outside of the Traditional Laboratory Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.25681

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