Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Raviv, Florida Atlantic University; Paul Benedict Caballo Reyes, Florida Atlantic University; George Roskovich, Florida Atlantic University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

intuitive explanations that can help instructors and students tobetter understand topics in digital control systems. For clarification purposes, some explanationsrefer to existing textbook material.In order to explore the validity and usefulness of the new approach, a 40-minute presentationusing visualization techniques was given to a Control Systems class followed by a questionnaire.Answers are based on a scale of “1” to “5,” “5” being strongly agree, “3” neutral, and “1”strongly disagree. The following is a brief summary of the results based on 20 responses: 50% ofthe students agreed and 30% strongly agreed that they better understand how a controller inhardware translates to software code. 55% strongly agree and 40% agree that

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter M. Osterberg, University of Portland; Aziz Sukru Inan, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Engineering Students using Purdue University’s New “Bottom-Up” ApproachIntroduction Historically, undergraduate Electrical Engineering (EE) programs have taught electronicconduction phenomena using a “Top-Down” approach. That is, traditional programs start withlarge devices (i.e., “Top”) and teach how interesting electronic conduction phenomena change asthe size of the device decreases towards the nano-scale (i.e., “Down”). So, for example, if oneconsiders a normal three-dimensional (3-D) macroscopic resistor, as shown in Figure 1 on theleft, where diffusive transport due to electron scattering is dominant, students are taught that theresistance is calculated as R=L/(σA), where L, A, and σ are the resistor’s length

Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen L. Butler-Purry, Texas A&M University; Mehmet Oren, Texas A&M University; Susan Pedersen, Texas A&M University; Justin Foreman, Prairie View A&M University; Pamela Obiomon, Prairie View A&M University; Ajay K. Katangur, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

improve students’ STEM education in K12 andcollege has been cited by a multitude of governmental, independent, and industry organizations[1-3] . At the same time, tremendous growth has occurred in the computer and video game industry,particularly among teenagers. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry, with an annual growth ratethat far exceeds the growth of the entire U.S. economy[4]. The Entertainment SoftwareAssociation[5] reported U.S. computer and video game sales grew from $7.0 billion in 2005 towell over $10.0 billion in 2010.Despite their appeal to U.S. teens and college students and the identified educational potential ofgames, adoption rates for educational video games are still very low[6,7]. This is partly due to thelack of

Conference Session

Electromagnetics & Power Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald M. Peter P.E., Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

hindsightshould have been. Answers to open-ended questions provide a wealth of valuable advice foracademicians to heed when introducing students to power, ranging from the actual process ofsubstation design to the admonition to ‘make it fun!’IntroductionBackground:The motivation for this survey was two-fold: (1) to gain insights into the state of the powerengineering profession in the United States Pacific Northwest, and (2) to solicit feedback fromworking professionals in this region on what they believe are the most important elements toinclude as part of an introductory undergraduate power engineering course.There have been various reports on the concern for replacing soon-to-be retiring engineers.Anecdotal and professional papers have echoed the idea

Conference Session

Labs & Hands-on Instruction II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pong P. Chu, Cleveland State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Paper ID #15674Integrating Computer Engineering Labs with a ”Sound Theme”Dr. Pong P. Chu, Cleveland State University c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Integrating Computer Engineering Labs with a “Sound Theme”1. Motivation Recent engineering education studies call for change to enhance student learning and to betterprepare graduates to meet the new challenge1,2,3. A good engineer should have a deepunderstanding of a domain and can apply the knowledge to solve problems4. This requires twotypes of practices – the “component skill,” which is the knowledge of a specific domain, and the“integration skill

Conference Session

Capstone Design in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christina Howe, University of Evansville; Dick Blandford, University of Evansville; Deborah J. Hwang, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

guidance on outcomes and objectives and to provide feedback onimproving the program.Assessment and RubricsThe rubric used by the working professionals during the poster session is shown in Figure 1 inthe Appendix. Figure 2 in the appendix shows the oral presentation rubric used by faculty duringthe afternoon session.The first question on the poster rubric of Figure 1 is used as a supplementary assessment methodfor ABET outcome (a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering.Other methods outside of the senior project sequence provide a more granular measurement thatallows changes to specific courses for correction. We use the results of this question as a way todetermine the suitability of a project for this class

Conference Session

First-Year Issues in ECE Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Girma Tewolde, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

developed for the Introduction to ECE class.Module 1: In the first course module students get introduced to electrical and electronic circuits.The NI Multisim11 & Ultiboard12 software for circuit design, simulation and board layout areused as the software tools. A practical example on the design and simulation of a traffic lightcircuit is used to illustrate the concepts and provide meaningful experience for the students.Circuit components such as resistors and capacitors, and electronic components such asoscillators and timers, and digital logic gates are introduced and used to build a hardwarerealization of traffic light circuit. A potentiometer is used to control the timing of the signals inthe circuit.Topics covered: • Introduction to

Conference Session

Labs & Hands-on Instruction I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cherian Mathews, University of the Pacific

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

be used to experiment with Buckconverters, Boost converters, Buck-Boost converters, closed-loop voltage mode control of aBuck converter based on the K-factor approach, peak current mode control of a Buck converter,flyback converters, and forward converters. Configuring the board to implement any of theconverter circuits just involves flipping selection switches on the board, connecting a couple ofwires between appropriate screw terminals, plugging in the appropriate magnetics board, andconnecting external power and loads. Fig. 1 (taken from the UMN lab manual) depicts thewiring (shown with thicker lines) needed to configure the PPB as a buck converter. The DCinput voltage to be stepped down is connected to the left side of the board via

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Raviv, Florida Atlantic University; Luan Leao Gloria, Florida Atlantic University/ Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, gradually explaining concepts of higher levels of complexity by looking at puzzlesfrom different points of view.As efforts are currently being explored by a number of educators to achieve a similar goal, thisproject focuses on creating a working manuscript for instructors to explain many key topics inControl Systems using puzzles and teasers. This is part of a greater effort at Florida AtlanticUniversity, where this approach is currently being applied to different subjects in STEM.To gauge the receptiveness of the methodology, a few puzzles and activities were used over thecourse of a semester in an Electrical Engineering class entitled “Control Systems 1.” The results,based on 40 student responses, were promising. Most students strongly agreed

Conference Session

Labs & Hands-on Instruction I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen Meehan, Virginia Tech; Andrew Phillips, The University of Glasgow

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

processes.Andrew Phillips, The University of Glasgow c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Inexpensive Hands-On Activities in Solid State LightingHands-on activities were developed as part of an overseas immersion programme (OIP) runby the School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow (UoG). The two-week OIP was acombination of academic and cultural experiences where the academic experience was a 10credit course on solid state lighting. The course was taught for the first time in the summerof 2015 to a cohort of 32 Year 1 and Year 2 students in the undergraduate electronics andelectrical engineering programmes offered at the University of Electronic Science andTechnology of China (UESTC) and the

Conference Session

ECE-related Engineering Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Seemein Shayesteh P.E., Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Maher E. Rizkalla, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-Electrical Engineering MajorsI. IntroductionThe traditional electrical circuits course within the mechanical engineering (ME)curriculum was designed to familiarize the ME students with linear circuits, including DCand AC analyses. The course was serving a narrow scope that included hands-on practicein linear circuits and on using instrumentations and equipment. The ME students weretaking the introductory electrical and computer engineering course with electrical andcomputer engineering (ECE) students. Close scrutiny to the ME students’ satisfaction andfuture benefits of the course suggested that a new course must be developed for the MEcurriculum that serves a more comprehensive scope for the following purposes: 1. Expose the ME students to

Conference Session

Labs & Hands-on Instruction II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory J. Mazzaro, The Citadel; Ronald J. Hayne, The Citadel

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

active learning in these formative semesters, an electronicdesign tool and carefully-crafted exercises have been integrated into the early EE curriculum.To engage students in hands-on exercises in their early EE courses, a design tool was selectedwhose operation requires minimal electrical knowledge and whose cost is not prohibitive toundergraduates: the Analog Discovery manufactured by Digilent. The unit, shown in Figure 1,is a portable electronic instrument, powered by a single USB port from a personal computer.1 Itsanalog/digital input/output lines and freeware graphical user interface, WaveFormsTM, providethe student with a variety of low-frequency electronic generation and measurement capabilities.2The analog and digital tools, whose

Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faisal Kaleem, Metropolitan State University; David W. Jacobson, Metropolitan State University ; Firasat Khan, Metropolitan State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

concepts are introduced followed by one or two example problems that are solved duringthe class session [1]. It was long felt by engineering professors that this method was the mosteffective in covering the large amount of required material in time periods allotted for the course[2, 3] . Since large amounts of information can be given by the lecturer in relatively short periodsof time, the historical belief has been that this is the most effective means of teaching thematerial. Mejias [3] argues that this belief, however, is predicated on the assumption thatstudents are “empty receptacles waiting to be filled with knowledge.” Borrego and Bernhard [4]found that “lectures are an efficient means of delivering material to large numbers of

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fong K. Mak, Gannon University; Ramakrishnan Sundaram, Gannon University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

components are used to augment the courses in order to enhance students’mastery of the subject matter and its applications. Usually, the capstone design course at thesenior level allows students to synthesize what they learned and exercise their creative ability.The main goal is to facilitate an environment for students to walk through the entire designprocess from the formulation of ideas, through implementation, test and validation. There aremany reasons that might contribute to the difficulty faced by the students in their ability tosynthesize and be creative. Two specific contributing reasons that we identified and attemptedto address are (1) insufficient critical thinking exercises and (2) lack of self-motivated activitiesunlike the cook-book

Conference Session

Assessment & Accreditation in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fong K. Mak, Gannon University; Ramakrishnan Sundaram, Gannon University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

example, a set of three PIs are defined for each SO, theevaluation effort will be at least three times more time consuming.To further improve the assessment model used, the traditional rubric-based assessment model isaugmented by classifying courses in the curriculum to three levels: introductory, reinforced, andmastery. It is customary for the traditional rubric-based assessment model to include only thecourses in the mastery level for the program outcomes assessment. The drawbacks of lookingonly at courses at the mastery level are: (1) lack of information needed at the lower level toidentify the root cause of the deficiency when the symptom occurs at the higher level courses; (2)lack of the mechanism to compute a clear indicator such as the

Conference Session

Capstone Design in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Scott McGuirk Ph.D., United States Air Force Academy; John G. Ciezki, United States Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-long senior design project. Theobjective of the design was to safely launch a small projectile at a muzzle velocity of 350 meters/secondfrom an approximately 1-meter long barrel using capacitor-based energy storage limited to a maximumof 450 VDC. The projectile needed to be fired into a catch to facilitate demonstrations inside a laboratoryenvironment. The project was also constrained by a $5,000 operating budget and access to parts availablein the laboratory. The three electrical engineering students and one systems engineering studentself-selected the project and decided how to divide tasks, structured and managed a schedule, plannedbudget use, and leveraged in-house machine shop capabilities. The paper describes how the cadetsdecomposed the

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Douglas Kearsley, Western Washington University; Andrew G. Klein, Western Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

of online solution manuals, ever more intelligent search engines,and repositories containing solutions from previous course offerings, the utility of traditionalhomework as a form of summative or formative assessment is increasingly unclear 1 . Traditionalhomework models reward correct answers, incentivizing students to consult online sources foranswers; studies have shown that 90% of students consult (questionably obtained) online solutionmanuals when completing homework 2,3 . While there are means to counteract this somewhat (e.g.,creating new problems or variations each course offering), it would seem that with the rampantuse of solution manuals by students, traditional graded homework assignments are an unreliableindicator of student

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danda B. Rawat, Georgia Southern University; Chandra Bajracharya, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

questions at the beginning of the lecture sessions or lab recitation sessions for a given course.  To allow student to get a chance to see a clear picture of essential concept and content relevant to the topic as questions through “thought bubbles” are posed at the start of each lecture/lab session and revisiting them at the end of each lecture/lab session.  To help students to be motivated around key concepts and use that knowledge to connect the dots.  To use thought bubbles to link other supplementary questions related to main question/concept.  To enhance the teaching and learning process for better outcomes.To achieve these objectives, instructor follows an approach as shown in Figure 1 where theinstructor

Conference Session

Software & Web-based Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shiny Abraham, Seattle University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. Various factors impact thischoice; Students’ career interests at the time of application, their perception of the discipline andresulting career opportunities, analytical complexity of the required core courses, and the impactof their contributions on society, among many others 1. ECE programs lose a good number ofstudents to other disciplines and programs due to its supposed ‘highly theoretical’ nature, and acommon misconception that ECE is exclusively about electricity and electric circuits. Manyundecided students are torn between their love for building gadgets, and their need to acquirehighly in-demand skills such as programming and creating applications. The same holds true forECE students in their sophomore or early junior years who may

Conference Session

Capstone Design in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ibrahem E. Atawi, University of Tabuk; el-Hadi M. Aggoune, University of Tabuk; Fares S. Almehmadi, University of Tabuk

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

demoed their products. Students were accountable not onlyfor their products as subsystems of Mariner, but also for the proper operation of Mariner as asystem of systems. The evaluation was made by both faculty advisors and mentors from SNCSand focused on the extent to which (1) design specifications have met, and (2) students havemastered relevant program outcomes. The result was a marketable experience that instilled instudents the sense of responsibility and self-confidence. The main contributions of this paper areinformed integration of engineering practice into curriculum, meaningful and practical designexperience, effective evaluation and assessment of students and their work.IntroductionSaudi, as in the case of any fast developing country

Conference Session

Assessment & Accreditation in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zia A. Yamayee, University of Portland; Peter M. Osterberg, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-Study report. The annual reports also provide evidence thatimprovements to our EE program were based on assessment andevaluation of SOs as well as other inputs.At the heart of our assessment program lies course-embeddedassessment. The choice of courses for course-embeddedassessment is guided by two principles: (1) each Student Outcomeis assessed with student work in a benchmark course, and (2) onlyrequired courses, not elective courses, in the curriculum areselected as benchmark courses.Assessment of a benchmark course is conducted with the followingin mind: (1) assessment of student work measures the extent towhich SOs are being attained, (2) it is not necessary to use all ofthe student work to assess an outcome, and (3) outcomesassessment is

Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole P. Pitterson, Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon; Ruth A. Streveler, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

basic to more advanced circuit concepts. This lack of formal prior knowledge hasthe potential to prevent students from being able to assimilate new material they come in contactwith when instructed about electric circuit concepts. Other impeding factors reported have beenthe influence of students’ prior misconceptions, the abstract nature of the content, inadequateinstructional strategies to provoke conceptual conflict and inadequate preparation of studentsfrom pre-requisite courses. However, a gap that still exists is the direct interaction between: (1)students’ prior knowledge, (2) the types of learning activities and (3) the design of the learningenvironment fueled by the decisions made by professors on how to teach circuit concepts.This

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lauren E. Donohoe, Department of Electrical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University ; Julio Urbina, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park; Tim Kane, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park; Sven G. Bilén P.E., The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, power systems, communications, computer hardware and software,signal and image processing, control systems, optics and lasers, and electromagnetics, amongothers — some are more commonly chosen by students than others.1 Electromagnetics is often perceived by students as being too highly mathematical,conceptual, and theoretical in nature.2 With a reputation of being difficult and demanding,electromagnetics has become one of the least popular undergraduate specializations withinelectrical engineering programs.3 Introductory classes in electromagnetics focus on the study ofMaxwell’s equations, the fundamental equations governing electromagnetism.1 The broader fieldof electromagnetics also encompasses antenna theory, radar systems, and the

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth A. Connor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Yacob Astatke, Morgan State University; Charles J. Kim, Howard University; Mohamed F. Chouikha, Howard University; Dianna Newman, University at Albany - SUNY; Kathy Ann Gullie PhD, Evaluation Consortium: University at Albany - SUNY; Abdelnasser A. Eldek, Jackson State University; Satinderpaul S. Devgan P.E., Tennessee State University; Ali Reza Osareh, NC A&T State University; John Okyere Attia P.E., Prairie View A&M University; Saleh Zein-Sabatto, Tennessee State University; Demetris L. Geddis, Norfolk State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

additional experiments for conducting and analyzing the RL and theRLC circuits and all three revised experiments are now a permanent part of the Circuits ILaboratory. (Appendix A: Figure 1).Another example of the introduction of the ADB included the support for Ohms’ law moduleswhich were developed as an introductory lesson for students. Because most students understandohm’s law, these modules allowed students to focus on understanding how to use the ADB.Students are able to quickly build the circuit as they were forced to familiarize themselves withboard connections and computer interface. Once the students are comfortable with the boards, theyare able to move on to modules that reinforce the concepts covered in class. By the third module,students

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Evelyn Sowells-Boone, North Carolina A&T State University; Cameron Seay, North Carolina A&T State University; Dewayne Randolph Brown, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

of asynchronous pipelineddigital circuit structures that are called self-timed [1]. The dynamic energy dissipation isreduced in this realization, relative to synchronous implementations, because circuit timing andcontrol is event driven and all clocks are generated locally. The performance of these circuitscan exceed synchronous realization because it is based on the average intrinsic timing of thecircuit instead of its worst case timing that is used to set the clock frequency in synchronoussystems. The circuit design process used to determine the device sizing in self-timed circuits istypically the same as that used for synchronous realizations [2, 3, 4]. The input distribution isnot considered in this process. A novel self-timed circuit

Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claudio Talarico, Gonzaga University; George D. Ricco, Gonzaga University; Rick M. Cox, Gonzaga University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

complexproblems normally onerous to the apprentice electrical engineer. More advanced concepts suchas switched capacitors circuits and broadband amplifiers are also covered. Finally, the entirety ofthis material is compiled for dissemination on a web page for the community at large.1. IntroductionWhen one compares today’s students to those of earlier generations, the differences are striking.Yet the way most faculties teach electric circuits is essentially unchanged since the middle of thelast century [1]. Electric circuits courses are mostly taught through “analysis”. Too often, thefocus lies on writing and solving sets of simultaneous equations based on Kirchhoff’s voltageand current laws (KVL and KCL). In practice, this leads to a circuit methodology

Conference Session

Circuits & Systems Education I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill D. Carroll, University of Texas, Arlington

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Alabama. Carroll has co-authored two textbooks, a tutorial book, and numerous papers and technical reports. He has received an American Society for Engineering Education Outstanding Young Faculty Award, two National Aeronautics and Space Administration Technology Innovation Awards, and three IEEE Computer Society Service Awards. He is an IEEE Computer Society Golden Core Member and a recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. Carroll served as Dean of the College of Engineering at UTA from January 1, 2000 to August 31, 2011. During his service as dean, the College of

Conference Session

SDR & Programming in ECE Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zhiping Zhang, Wright State University; Zhiqiang Wu, Wright State University; Bin Wang, Wright State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

participatinginstitutions (including a Historically Black College), the developed SDR based signal detectionand RF parameter estimation platform will be integrated in undergraduate curricula of all threeinstitutions. 1. IntroductionWe are living in a world of wireless communication and networking. More than 90% of the USpopulation use wireless services such as cell phones and WiFi every day [1][2]. Consequently,communication and networking has increasingly become an important part of modern electricalengineering and computer science/engineering curricula [3]. In our previous National ScienceFoundation (NSF) funded Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) project“Evolvable wireless laboratory design and implementation for enhancing undergraduate

Conference Session

Capstone Design in ECE

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sasan Haghani, University of the District of Columbia; Wagdy H. Mahmoud, University of the District of Columbia; Esther T. Ososanya, University of the District of Columbia; Miguel E. Uzcategui, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc; Ashenafi Lambebo, University of the District of Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

been accumulated. RF energy receivers are currently available in the market. An example is thePowercast Power harvester [1], that delivers renewable energy by converting radio wavesto DC power. This RF power harvester could be added to a circuit with a 50Ω antenna inorder to power a low power circuit. The device will always need to have a source for RFenergy to harvest from which could be a Wi-Fi router, a cellphone tower placed in theproximity of the RF energy harvester, or simply a place with high RF traffic. The main idea of this project is to create an environmental wireless sensor network(WSN), which is powered by an RF energy receiver. While the use of renewable energy,such as solar power, for powering wireless sensor

Conference Session

First-Year Issues in ECE Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeremy N. Thomas, DigiPen Institute of Technology; Christopher Theriault, DigiPen Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

science, math, and liberal arts during year 1 of the program1,2. Whereas,recent studies have presented evidence that student engagement using active learning methodscan lead to increased student retention rates in engineering programs3,4. Thus, the model forengineering programs has changed in recent years, with many programs now includingengineering courses in the 1st year that often have a design component5-9. In this paper, wedescribe a project-based first-year ECE course at DigiPen Institute of Technology, a universitywith about 1200 students in Redmond, WA. An assessment of student outcomes is presented andsuccesses and limitations are discussed.What is project-based learning?As described by Mills and Treagust2 and Perrenet et al.10, many