Using Real Time Dsp To Enhance Student Retention And Engineering Outreach Efforts
- Conference
- Location
-
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Publication Date
-
June 22, 2008
- Start Date
-
June 22, 2008
- End Date
-
June 25, 2008
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
Computers in Education
- Page Count
-
12
- Page Numbers
-
13.1352.1 - 13.1352.12
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--4362
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/4362
- Download Count
-
432
Paper Authors
Cameron Wright
University of Wyoming
orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-1896
Cameron H. G. Wright, Ph.D, P.E., is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. His research interests include signal and image processing, real-time embedded computer systems, biomedical instrumentation, and wireless/satellite communications systems. He is a member of ASEE, IEEE, SPIE, NSPE, Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu. E-mail: c.h.g.wright@ieee.org
Michael Morrow University of Wisconsin - Madison
Michael G. Morrow, M.Eng.EE, P.E., is a Faculty Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. His research interests include real-time digital systems, embedded system design, software engineering, curriculum design, and educational assessment techniques. He is a member of ASEE and IEEE. E-mail: morrow@ieee.org
Mark Allie University of Wisconsin - Madison
Mark C. Allie, M.S.E.E., is a Faculty Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. His research interests include real time active sound and vibration control,
adaptive filters, acoustics and vibration, curriculum design, and educational
assessment techniques. He is a member of ASEE and IEEE. E-mail: allie@engr.wisc.edu
Thad Welch Boise State University
Thad B. Welch, Ph.D, P.E., is Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boise State University, Boise, ID. His research interests include the implementation of communication systems using DSP techniques, DSP education, multicarrier communication systems analysis, and RF signal propagation. He is a member of ASEE, IEEE, Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu. E-mail: t.b.welch@ieee.org
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Using Real-time DSP to Enhance Student Retention and Engineering Outreach Efforts
Abstract
In recent years, the authors have described various classroom-proven DSP teaching tools that have helped motivate students and faculty to implement real-time DSP-based systems to enhance education. These efforts have emphasized the theme that DSP is much more than just a collection of theories and problem solving techniques, and that hands-on experience with hardware is extremely beneficial for both mastering concepts and retaining students. In addition to facilitating the education of numerous engineers and engineering students, these tools have also allowed us to reach out into our local communities and encourage future college students to consider studying engineering. This paper describes some of our real-time DSP- based community outreach efforts, and more traditional engineering courses, that have been facilitated by tools such as winDSK6 and the DTMF decoder/power switch box.
1 INTRODUCTION
Digital signal processing (DSP) is a topic that is covered in some way in nearly every undergraduate ECE program. While there are many fine texts available,1–4 many educators and authors have recognized the need for more interactive learning and the use of demonstrations for this important subject.5–8 Since the late 1990’s, the authors have been suggesting and providing proven DSP teaching methodologies, hardware and software solutions, and DSP tools that have helped motivate students and faculty to implement real-time DSP-based systems to improve education in signal processing and related topics.9–18 These efforts have emphasized the fact that DSP is much more than just a collection of theories and problem solving techniques, and that hands-on experience with real-time hardware is extremely beneficial; it helps students master various DSP concepts and improves student retention rates. Using real-time DSP as the catalyst, students can be more easily motivated to explore and implement a wide variety of DSP topics in an environment in which they are limited only by their imagination. This educational process can be greatly enhanced through the use of real-time demonstration programs such as winDSK and winDSK6.9, 10, 16, 19
In addition to facilitating the education of numerous engineers and engineering students, these same tools have allowed us to reach out into our local communities to spark the interest of future college students and encourage them to consider studying engineering. This paper expands on an abbreviated description contained in a paper accepted for presentation at the 2008 IEEE ICASSP conference.20
Wright, C., & Morrow, M., & Allie, M., & Welch, T. (2008, June), Using Real Time Dsp To Enhance Student Retention And Engineering Outreach Efforts Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--4362
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2008 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015