Conference Session

Improvements in ECE Circuit Analysis

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rene Alexander Soto Perez, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Juan David Ortega, Purdue University, West Lafayette, and Universidad EAFIT, Colombia; Ruth A. Streveler, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

students in the traditional sections (i.e., the control group) versus thoseof the students in the Peer Instruction section (i.e., the experimental group). The learninggains were measured by pre/post application of an adapted version of the DIRECT conceptinventory which was translated into Spanish. Preliminary results suggest that theimplementation of a Peer Instruction approach in an electric circuit analysis courseimproves the performance of students on the adapted version of the DIRECT test.1. INTRODUCTIONElectric circuit analysis is a common topic in electrical engineering undergraduateprograms worldwide. Although there is abundant educational literature on the adoption ofinnovative pedagogical strategies for teaching this topic, courses on

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renee M. Clark, University of Pittsburgh; Samuel J. Dickerson, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-category rubric from the published literature. The preliminaryresults have been promising, showing evidence of students’ appreciation of the reflectiveapproach in their interviews and depth in their EAR responses. The interview data alsohighlighted lessons on improving our initial implementation of simulation for this type ofreflection and comparison.1. Introduction and Relevant LiteratureWe recently developed a classroom-based, simulation-centric approach to instruction in anundergraduate microelectronics course. In this approach, SPICE simulation tools werefrequently used for lectures, post-exam reflection, and in-class activities involving pairsimulation, a variant of the pair-programming technique. The instructor implemented this newapproach

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anthony A. Maciejewski, Colorado State University; Tom Chen, Colorado State University; Zinta S. Byrne, Colorado State University; Melissa D. Reese, Colorado State University; Branislav M. Notaros, Colorado State University; Ali Pezeshki, Colorado State University; Sourajeet Roy, Colorado State University; Andrea M. Leland, Colorado State University; Laura B. Sample McMeeking, Colorado State University; Thomas J. Siller, Colorado State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Engineer of 2020”1,engineering educators are still working to adapt their practices to the new century. Studentscontinue to leave the discipline at unsatisfactory rates, women and minorities are still vastlyunderrepresented in the field, and those who ultimately graduate from undergraduate engineeringprograms may find themselves grappling to fully understand the role of an engineer in aconstantly changing world.Supported by a five-year “RED” (REvolutionizing Engineering and Computer ScienceDepartments) grant from the National Science Foundation2, a team of educators at ColoradoState University (CSU) are working to overcome the failings of the current engineeringeducational system by reimagining teaching and learning in the Department of Electrical

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zahrasadat Alavi, California State University, Chico; Arash Kialashaki, California State University, Chico

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

mathknowledge and worked examples with references to the relevant math courses. Finally, authorswill provide suggestions for improving STEM students’ knowledge and confidence in becomingadept in the Control Systems Design course and similar courses in their engineering curriculum.IntroductionThe reason for not being sufficiently strong in math when students enter college/ university canbe either not having had four years of math in high school or having completed four years but nothaving mastered the materials [1]. Colleges and universities have made a lot of efforts to helpstudents to be sufficiently proficient in math for their higher education studies. Many of them setplacement assessments. As an example, at CSU Chico, the Entry Level Math test (ELM

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John M. Santiago Jr., Colorado Technical University; Jing Guo, Colorado Technical University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

classroom approach. For the Face-to-Face (F2F) classroom, the flipped learning approach has been successfully implemented withEE 110 during the past few years [1] [2]. The labs in EE110 were identified as a challenge whenthe course will be delivered online [3]. Using interactive video and Google Docs were effectivemeans in delivering the content [4] [5]. Although the creation and delivery of multimediacontent was based on the years of teaching experience by CoE, research studies provide atheoretical basis for the design, development and instructional delivery of the content.Specifically, research based on Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) appears to be consistent with theCoE’s F2F teaching approach and experience. The paper shows how the instructional

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas J. Siller, Colorado State University; Anthony A. Maciejewski, Colorado State University; Andrea M. Leland, Colorado State University; Tom Chen, Colorado State University; Branislav M. Notaros, Colorado State University; Sourajeet Roy, Colorado State University; Adam C. Hicks, Colorado State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, 2018 Using student video presentations to develop communication skillsIntroduction Communication skills continue to be one of the important professional skills that are requiredfor engineering graduates [1] that pose difficulties for engineering educators. The issues aroundthese skills include what to teach, how to teach them, and how to assess students’ abilities[2, 3]. As part of a curriculum reform project that is a component of a larger department changeeffort, three required classes of the third year curriculum of an Electrical and ComputerEngineering (ECE) program at Colorado State University have added a knowledge integrationcomponent that occurs approximately every five weeks. During these integration efforts, studentsare

Conference Session

Course Transformation in ECE

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Enrique José González-Carvajal, University of South Florida; Gokhan Mumcu, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

education suffers from a lack of student interest and learningchallenges due to extensive mathematical concepts, operations with geometry and the abstractionof concepts [1, 2]. Different approaches have been proposed to address the challenges, such ashands-on-experimentation [2], the inclusion of computer aided design tools [3] and, morerecently, augmented reality (AR) techniques [4]. Recent rise in popularity of 3D-enabled screensand highly improved capabilities of graphical processing units (GPUs), it is now possible togenerate complex and real-time 3D visualizations that facilitate teaching of broad scientifictopics [5]. Literature survey shows that 3D visualization assisted teaching has been proposed forvarious fields such as anatomy [6

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE Courses

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristen Booth, North Carolina State University; Megan Patberg Morin, North Carolina State University; Alireza Dayerizadeh, North Carolina State University; Pam Page Carpenter, North Carolina State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the College of Education at NC State University. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2019 A Comparative Analysis on the Engineer of 2020 – A Holistic REU ProgramIntroductionSince the beginning of the millennium, the conceptual Engineer of 2020 established themotivation for early 21st Century engineering curricula [1]. While it has created someimprovement in educational programs, its impact is far more reaching in areas beyond itsoriginal objective, such as Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). This REU programimproves the traditional REU procedures by incorporating methods that produce the desiredtraits of the Engineer of 2020.The Future Renewable

Conference Session

Insights for Teaching ECE Courses - Session I

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bryan A. Jones, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

understand the operation of any other programming language, or the operation of amicroprocessor. Furthermore, assembly has grown in popularity, ranking as the 10th most popu-lar programming language of 2018 according to the IEEE Spectrum [1], making it an importantjob skill. Time-critical sections, such as interrupt service routines or frequently-executed loop,often benefit from optimization in an assembly language.While some textbooks present assembly without reference to higher-level languages, a commonpedagogical approach consists of teaching students to translate from C to assembly [2] [3] [4] forseveral reasons. First, the widespread adoption of the C language [1] means that C is availablefor most microprocessors and microcontrollers, while C

Conference Session

New Developments in ECE

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Son Nguyen, University of California, Davis; Andre Knoesen, University of California, Davis; Hooman Rashtian, University of California, Davis

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, the workin [1] proposes an interesting course in digital design and image processing to help students work withvideo systems while the course in [2] focuses more on software design for internet-of-things applications.Freshman or sophomore students usually have problems in finding their interests and they wonder whichbranch of electrical and computer engineering they should follow in their junior and senior years. To helpstudents determine what they are interested in, this course is designed to provide students with a basicknowledge and hands-on experiences in different disciplines of electrical engineering and to teach themhow engineering systems are designed and implemented. Unlike senior design project courses such as [3-7], the most

Conference Session

Insights for Teaching ECE Courses

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Bridget Benson, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Joseph Callenes, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Amin Malek, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

to connect withcustomers, and even increased profits [1]. However, men still hold 76% of technical jobs andthose who identify as African American or Latinx make up only 5% of the technical workforce[2]. Women and under-represented minorities often experience racism and/or sexism within thecomputing field thus contributing to the non-inclusive (and as a result less diverse) educationalor industrial workplace [3].Many tech companies have created programs and initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion incomputing fields including hiring Chief Diversity Officers and changing hiring practices.However, these programs have had varying levels of success [4]. One company that has hadparticular success in the realm of diversity and inclusion

Conference Session

Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Shaghayegh Abbasi, University of San Diego; Ernest M. Kim, University of San Diego

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

active learning techniques, and it helpsstudents integrate their knowledge and skills in a hands-on experience [1, 2]. This paper studiesPBL in the context of a freshman/sophomore engineering core class. The project combineshardware and software components and it is aimed at making programming more relatable toevery-day applications for students. Student surveys have been used to quantitatively evaluate theeffectiveness of the project on different learning objectives. Our studies demonstrate that PBLfacilitates student learning both for basic concepts and for real world applications.I. IntroductionProgramming is an essential part of engineering education. One of the challenges in teachingprogramming is that students find the material very

Conference Session

Managing Dual Careers

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Yuting W. Chen, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Jena Shafai Asgarpoor, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Robyn Sandekian, University of Colorado, Boulder; Jill K Nelson, George Mason University; Lee Kemp Rynearson, Campbell University; Shannon Bartelt-Hunt P.E., University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Janet Callahan, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer, Faculty Development Division, Women in Engineering

unit/college administrator. With panelistsfrom four different universities, all in different stages in their careers, an engaged audience thatincludes instructional faculty at all levels, academic leaders and those considering an academiccareer will learn from this panel.Introduction and BackgroundA study by the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford [1] reported that a majorchallenge facing many academic institutions is attracting high quality individuals who have adual-career partner, to join their faculty. For the purposes of this discussion, a dual-career partneris a member of the dual-career couple, who also seeks an academic faculty position. Althoughthe proportion of dual-career academic couples has not changed in 4-year

Conference Session

Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Dominic Zucchini, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Justin Chau, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Matthew Neal Mutarelli, Missouri University of Science and Technology and Missouri State University; Rohit Dua, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Microcontrollers andEmbedded Systems, concentrates on three aspects of embedded system design: A briefintroduction to a typical microprocessor working, ASM programming of a typicalmicrocontroller, and typical embedded application development using C programming. It is inthis course, students are first exposed to a typical RTL design. This embedded system course isrequired for CpE majors, but an elective for EE majors. In the past, the first embedded system course concentrated on the 8051 family ofmicrocontrollers [1]. Students were exposed to a typical microcontroller core working via asimple 8051 core called the WIMP51 [1, 2]. Students implemented a project in which they add afew instructions, in the 8051 microcontroller family, to the current

Conference Session

Insights for Teaching ECE Courses

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Ziyue Li, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Yuting W. Chen, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, which include over 900students who have completed the course. Students are categorized into four groups by number ofyears of prior programming experience, from less than 1 year to more than 3 years. A one-wayANOVA test is used to determine whether there is any statistically significant difference betweengroups in terms of performance on the following components of the course: programmingassignments, computer-based quizzes, and paper exams. A Bonferroni post-hoc test is thenapplied to determine between which groups such difference exists. Literature has shown thatwomen are less likely than men to enroll in high school programming classes [1] and studentsfrom lower socioeconomical status schools have limited resource to learn programming [2

Conference Session

New ECE Laboratories

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Junfei Li P.E., University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Cara Li; Jae Sok Son, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Weidong Kuang, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Edgar Gil, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, and comparative studies. Preliminary results confirmed the effectivenessof the online digital design platform. We have also identified a few pitfalls, such as instructors’initial reluctance in adopting the platform and students’ first perception of the platform as a puresimulation tool. Based on the studies, recommendations are made to identify the best practices inthe utilization of the platform to better serve Electrical and Computer Engineering majors andsecondary school students interested in the general STEM fields.1. IntroductionA typical course in Digital Logic has both lecture and lab components. These two are designed tocomplement each other in such a way that lectures focus on fundamental concepts, theories andprinciples, while labs

Conference Session

New Developments in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Alan Johnston, Villanova University; Edward Stephen Char Jr.

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Paper ID #29234Electrical and Computer Engineering CourseDr. Alan Johnston, Villanova University Associate Teaching Professor at Villanova University, and Vice President for Educational Relations, AM- SATProf. Edward Stephen Char Jr. BS EE Villanova University 1996 MS EE Villanova University 1998 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 The CubeSat Mini Project: Experiences with an Introductory Freshman Electrical and Computer Engineering CourseI. IntroductionCubeSats are a type of nanosatellites that have become very popular in recent years ineducational settings [1

Conference Session

New ECE Laboratories

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Liang Hong, Tennessee State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

interconnection of devicesacross a wide spectrum of systems and enables significant increases in automation andoptimization 1. By giving each “thing” a unique identification and connectivity to the internet,IoT allows physical objects to hear, see, think, and perform a variety of jobs through sharinginformation to each other and making decisions based on the shared information without humanintervention 2. Currently, IoT is expanding and growing itself to many different applicationdomains such as military applications and operations, healthcare, industries, telecommunications,energy productions and distributions, transportation, surveillance, sustainable agriculture, andemergency responses to natural and human-made disasters 3. According to McKinsey

Conference Session

Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Asmit De, Pennsylvania State University; Mohammad Nasim Imtiaz Khan, Pennsylvania State University; Karthikeyan Nagarajan, Pennsylvania State University; Abdullah Ash Saki, Pennsylvania State University; Mahabubul Alam, Pennsylvania State University; Taylor Steven Wood, Pennsylvania State University; Matthew Johnson, Pennsylvania State University; Manoj Varma Saripalli, Pennsylvania State University; Yu Xia, Pennsylvania State University; Stephanie Cutler, Pennsylvania State University; Swaroop Ghosh, Pennsylvania State University; Kathleen M. Hill, Pennsylvania State University; Annmarie Ward

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

understanding after the CST Kit based activities. The components of theCST Kit have also been used in a 4-day summer workshop for K-12 teachers. Teachers took pre-and post- concept inventories to assess their learning of content throughout the workshop and theresults indicated improvement of 58%. These assessments focused on vulnerabilities and specifictypes of attacks, system security, data transmission and encryption, permutations andcombinatorics, and binary numbers.1. IntroductionThere is an exponential growth in the number of cyber-attack incidents in the recent yearsresulting in significant financial loss and national security concerns. Secure cyberspace has beendesignated as one of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges

Conference Session

Improvements in ECE Circuit Analysis

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Eva Cosoroaba, University of Vermont

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Laboratory I” (EE 081) course adopted a version of “Specifications Grading”, as outlinedin Linda Nelson’s book of the same title [1], in Fall 2018. Though the main goal of this teachingand grading intervention was to raise the quality of student writing, it was anticipated that this typeof grading would bring secondary benefits. These include instilling good writing habits in generalfor follow up lab courses as well as provide more transparency and consistency in grading. Theprinciples of specifications grading are detailed in Section 2 of this paper alongside the adaptationsmade for this introductory electrical engineering lab course. The results of the intervention are laidout in Section 3, from both a student and instructor perspective. Section 4

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE Courses

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Bahar Memarian, University of Toronto; Susan McCahan, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. Theinstrument was developed based on a social constructivist perspective on assessment and usestest-taking and grading opportunities to provide feedback on the quality of students’ engineeringproblem-solving skills.Presently, the assessment of engineering problem-solving skills is generally accomplishedthrough grading individual assignments and then summing those grades at the end of the term[1]. As Carberry et al. point out, this type of summative grading does not provide formativefeedback on key course learning outcomes and can mask the student’s true demonstration of askill, or lack thereof. Conceptually, assessment in engineering education has been shifting awayfrom a measurement of knowledge perspective to an outcomes-based stance that is meant

Conference Session

Curricular Advancements in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Chad Eric Davis P.E., University of Oklahoma; Paul Moses, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

physical labs [1],[2]. While virtual labs are more cost effective thanphysical labs, they do not offer the same type of experience and benefits to students. Whenstudents are able to get their hands-on physical systems and tinker with them, it brings agreater understanding than the sort of experimentation done in most virtual labs. It is alsomuch easier to do meaningful projects in a physical lab, and having a project-basedapproach to ECE courses has shown to play a vital role in increasing students’ interest inthe subject matter [3],[4]. Another important benefit of working in physical labs is that it is easier for students towork together in groups. Working in groups also provides cost savings because bothequipment and support staff can be

Conference Session

Capstone, Undergraduate Research, and Projects in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Ahmed Abul Hussain, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University; Nizar Tayem, Texas A&M University; Chedly B. Yahya, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University; Sadiq A. Alhuwaidi, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University; Jamal Nayfeh, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

quality of its graduates, its faculty, and its facilities. Hence, inorder to ensure high quality senior design projects, it is imperative to put in place a qualityassurance and monitoring system besides providing essential resources. It is also very importantto mentor students and provide them a supportive and conducive environment which encouragescreativity and innovation.Based on recent published literature, capstone project quality assurance varies across differentprograms in terms of mechanisms and methods adopted [1]. Some programs experimented withnew management styles such as scrum [2-4] that is based on cyclical feedback process and offersrapid prototyping and more transparent teamwork. Others opted for integrating systemsengineering

Conference Session

Course Transformation in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Rabih Younes, Duke University; Cecilé Sadler, Duke University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

advisor, Dr. Rabih Younes, on his research in engineering education. Her research interests involve the development and overall effectiveness of education technology. She also serves as a tutor and mentor, providing academic support to children in local elementary and middle schools. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 Simple Steps to Lower Student Stress in a Digital Systems Course While Maintaining High Standards and Expectations Rabih Younes1 and Cecil´e Sadler2 1 rabih.younes@duke.edu, 2 ces120@duke.edu Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE Courses

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Ahmed Dallal, University of Pittsburgh; April Dukes, University of Pittsburgh; Renee M. Clark, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

that students positively perceivedflipped and active learning techniques.1. IntroductionThe benefits and effectiveness of active learning for student problem solving, conceptual gains, examscores, and engagement are well established [1]–[5]. Despite the known benefits of active learning, lecture-based teaching in STEM is still the prevalent approach, with active learning, in general, propagating at aslow rate [5]–[7]. But, with advances in technologies and ideologies, online education has gained morepopularity and acceptance among students. This acceptance has encouraged instructors in differentdisciplines to adopt flipped instructions in their classes [8]. The flipped classroom is not equivalent tomerely online videos; instead, the key point

Conference Session

Insights for Teaching ECE Courses

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Laura K. Alford, University of Michigan; Amir Kamil, University of Michigan; Andrew Deorio, University of Michigan

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

students show small to medium negativeeffects for questions related to climate and inclusion as they make progress through the coursesequence. These results indicate that we require further interventions to improve the sense ofcommunity among our students.Introduction and MotivationThe number of AP CS exams offered and passed still lags other AP exams, and the number ofwomen and URM students who pass the AP CS exams is even smaller. [1] URM women areparticularly under-represented in these exams. AP exams are not the deciding factor in highschool students’ decisions about what to study in college, but they are an indicator of how broadlyacceptable different fields are to different social groups. [2] Visualizing the AP exam data,[3] wesee that many

Conference Session

Curricular Advancements in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Brandi Geisinger, Iowa State University; Arlene de la Mora, Iowa State University; Cori J. Hyde; Diane T. Rover, Iowa State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

each cluster of activities was positioned to create departmental change andrevolutionize engineering education, the evaluators and team members then attempted to identifyhow each cluster of activities worked as change strategies within the model by Henderson,Beach, and Finkelstein (2011). Thus, evaluators were able to identify over twenty distinctclusters of change activities working as change strategies within the four pillars of the changemodel: Curriculum and pedagogy, reflective teachers, policy, and shared vision. Positioningactivities within this model allowed the evaluators and team members to 1) Better understand thebroad scope of departmental activities and change strategies, 2) Identify strengths and challengesassociated with their

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Caverly, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

solutions has resulted in a resurgence in Radio Frequency (RF) engineeringinterest at the undergraduate level. Some of these applications include not only wirelessnetworking using such protocols as WiFi, WiMAX, and ZigBee, but also such applications aswireless sensors and RFID as well as the familiar personal communications systems. In fact, theInternational Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) shows that RF and “wirelessapplications may replace computers as the key driver in manufacturing”1 over the next 10 years.Electrical engineering departments can expect increased demand to provide well educatedengineering professionals to address this increase in the need for RF and wireless engineers. Astime goes on, there will also be the attendant

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Neale, University of Waterloo; Jason Shirtliff, University of Waterloo; William Bishop, University of Waterloo; Cutberto Santillan Rios, University of Waterloo

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the antenna thatchanges dynamically along with the pattern, and a print function capable of printing the setpatterns along with all of the relevant parameter values. The tools were developed using Page 12.1125.3Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the C# programming language.Design and DevelopmentFigure 1 illustrates the single dipole antenna tool. It is the simplest of the simulation tools. Itsunique features are explained in the features section below, but is provided here as a visual aidfor explaining the features common to each simulator. Figure 1: Single Dipole Antenna Simulation ToolThe common layout for each

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shonda Bernadin, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

section describes this paradigm, which is based on the reorganization ofcourse content; and the incorporation of assessments that measure the effectiveness of studentlearning. The results of implementing the model are presented, followed by future courseenhancements and conclusions.A Paradigm for Student AssessmentThe paradigm that was developed for incorporating effective assessments in the introductorysignal-processing course is defined as a three-step process. The underlined theme for creatingappropriate assessments for increased student learning was self-reflection and correction. STEP 1 Course mapping and instructional design