Conference Session

STEM and ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Lance Pirtle, University of Oklahoma; Chad Eric Davis P.E., University of Oklahoma; Jessica E Ruyle, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

importance for individual college departments who need to maintain asufficient level of students. Between the years of 2004 and 2008, the number of undergraduatestudents enrolled in the University of Oklahoma’s School of Electrical and ComputerEngineering (OU-ECE) dropped from 387 to 246. This alarming trend led to the creation of acorrective action plan to increase OU-ECE undergraduate enrollment numbers. In 2013, OU-ECE undergraduate enrollment numbers rose to 428, as shown in Figure 1. This 74% increase ina five year period was achieved due to several factors that were planned, which are described inprevious work.4, 5, 6 Outreach to students in grades 6 to 11 was an emphasized effort. Eventhough enrollment increases would not be seen quickly with

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Youakim Kalaani, Georgia Southern University; Rami Jubrail Haddad, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

studentlearning outcomes were embedded to satisfy both accreditation criteria. Furthermore, astandardized set of artifacts and rubrics were also developed to measure each skill category basedon a given set of performance indicators. Data collected at the sophomore, junior and seniorlevels were recorded using a unified set of tables showing all the pertinent information needed toperform standard statistical analysis and to generate graphical presentation of the studentperformance at each level. For every outcome not meeting its benchmark, action plans weredevised to address the shortcomings and close the loop on the assessment process. This novelapproach was pilot tested this year for SACS and ABETS accreditations and has proved to besimpler and more

Conference Session

ECE Program Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brandon M. Grainger, University of Pittsburgh; Gregory F. Reed, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

report indicates that nearly 50%of all electric power industry technical personnel will be eligible for retirement within the nextfive to ten years, and establishes an action plan to address this critical need within the universityeducation and research communities, as well as through K-12 outreach programs.To further support the claim of a national workforce development issue within the power &energy sector, a survey was conducted by the IEEE Power Engineering Education Committee in2006 providing national statistics from 115 U.S. schools and 10 Canadian schools. [8] Anupdated report is planned to come out in the fall of 2014. Figure 2 provides the national averagefunding amounts and Figure 3 provides the national average of graduate

Conference Session

Projects in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wookwon Lee, Gannon University; Nicholas B. Conklin, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. Page 24.664.2The HASP program requires and strictly enforces all student teams to 1) conform to the HASPpayload interface specifications and schedule set out in the CFP [1], 2) complete in-depthtechnical documents such as Payload Specification & Integration Plan (PSIP) and FlightOperation Plan (FLOP), and 3) pass a rigorous ~8 hour-long thermal/vacuum test at NASA’sColumbia Scientific Balloon Facility located in Palestine, TX. Some of the important milestonesfor the HASP program include i) Selection of student payloads (mid January), ii) PreliminaryPSIP document (mid April), iii) Final PSIP document (late June), iv) Final FLOP document (lateJuly), v) Student payload integration at CSBF (one week in late July ~ early August), vi) HASPflight

Conference Session

ECE Program Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hui Zhong, Shandong University/Gannon University; Lin Zhao, Gannon University; Yuzhe Zhang

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

government issued National long-term Education Reform and Development Plan, by2012, fifty universities were approved by Chinese Education Department to carry out the well-known “excellent engineer education and training program” in Electrical Engineering.In U.S., the electrical engineering is defined as a field of engineering that generally deals withthe study of and application of electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It covers a widerange of subfields including electronics, digital computers, power engineering,telecommunications, control system, RF engineering, and signal processing [2]. In China, theelectrical engineering, also called Electrical Engineering and Automation, usually only coverselectrical power engineering and electrical

Conference Session

New ECE Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chung Hoon Lee, Marquette University; Susan C. Schneider, Marquette University; Trevor Thiess, Marquette University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

t prototypee developedd 37 years latter. Students learned thaat thedevice haad been prop posed by arg guing that inhherent circuiit element syymmetry poiinted to atheoretical device rellating electriical flux and d charge [1,2]. Discussionn was focuseed on how too usethe theorretical guidellines to desig gn a develop pment plan ffor their memmristor.The secoond lecture foocused on thhe memristorr’s principle of operationn and the chaaracteristics of I-V curvess. The switch hing mechan nism of the memristor m waas explainedd by the I-V ccurves. Usinngthe coursse material as reference, students leaarned how

Conference Session

Improvements in ECE Signals and Systems

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cory J. Prust, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Steven Holland, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Richard W. Kelnhofer, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

interface to the PC soundcard. Figure 3 below shows a screen capture from GRC thatimplements an FM radio receiver using a built-in WBFM Receive block and includes an audiosink to play back demodulated sound. Figure 3: Screen capture of a broadcast FM radio receiver in GNU Radio CompanionAlong with the student-owned RTL-SDR, we also plan to leverage a more capable SDR for in-class experiments. By pairing the low-cost RTL-SDR with an SDR transmitter, such as the EttusResearch B200 shown in Figure 4, the instructor can generate a wide variety of signals that canbe used for controlled experiments within the course. We plan to include such experiments inorder to demonstrate lecture concepts, as active learning exercises, and to investigate

Conference Session

STEM and ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kundan Nepal, University of St. Thomas; Andrew Tubesing, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Arduino Hardware/software interface, a digitaldesign project using discrete integrated circuits) or the design of an entire curriculum (multiplelessons) around the Arduino/Electrical Systems. The final projects were evenly split betweenthorough lesson plans and Arduino based systems. The three technical projects are brieflydescribed below: a) Design of an Arduino controlled adjustable power supply. This project entailed the designing and building of an Arduino controlled adjustable power supply that can deliver anywhere from 0 to +15V output at 0 to 5A of current from a unit plugged into a household AC outlet. The circuit consisted of AC to DC converter with a step-down transformer, a full-wave rectifier and large capacitors

Conference Session

Projects in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ying Yu, University of Hartford

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-survey. The survey results suggested that in general the studentsfound it convenient and easy to record their speech using Google Voice; they also agreed thatusing real-life data offered realistic tests of the theory, and that the automatic transcriptionsystem allowed them to investigate the performance of a real-life speech recognition system. Inclosing, the conclusions and future plans are presented. Page 24.104.2IntroductionIn recent years, speech and audio processing has received significant attention [1][2][3] in theengineering education society, while little has been proposed regarding topics related to speechquality and intelligibility

Conference Session

Improvements in ECE Signals and Systems

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Berenice Verdin, University of Texas at El Paso; Ricardo Von Borries, University of Texas, El Paso; Patricia A. Nava P.E., University of Texas, El Paso; Andrew C. Butler, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

corresponding homework problems. The learning plan for thefirst five weeks of classes is shown in Figure 3. For each topic, we assigned resources chosenfrom modules in Connexions and interactive simulations. Figure 3. Learning plan in Openstax Tutor. Page 24.158.8The instructor was able to track (in real-time) the response given by each student to eachproblem, and the time taken to solve each problem (time between opening the problem andinputting an answer). In addition, Openstax Tutor provides the analytic option which allows theinstructor to assess students’ performance on each topic, as a percentage of correct, incorrect

Conference Session

New ECE Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Constance D. Hendrix, USAF Academy; Danial J. Neebel PE, US Air Force Academy; Ryan Jay Silva, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

is simply not possible toboth lecture on the material and allow students enough time to properly accomplish eachassignment while having access to their instructor. This is the flipped-classroom approachdescribed earlier. As shown in Table 2, each lesson plan falls into one of four categories: lectures(10 lessons), labs (15 lessons), projects (11 lessons) and exams (four lessons). Lecture periodsactually have very little lecture time from the instructor, but instead include live demonstrationsand students working problems at the board or on the computer.During lab days, the instructor generally expands the discussion of the topic in the readingmaterial to tie the material to the real world through a demonstration or examples. The studentsuse

Conference Session

Innovations in Computer Engineering Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill D Carroll P.E., University of Texas, Arlington; Shawn N Gieser, University Of Texas At Arlington; David Levine, University of Texas, Arlington

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

.Conclusions and Future PlansThe goals for the revised course were largely achieved. However observations based on theauthors’ experiences from teaching the course in fall 2013 and feedback from students, suggestthat improvements can be made. The following changes are planned for the spring 2014offering of the course. Additional changes will be made for 2014-2015 offerings if deemednecessary from experience gained in the spring. The latest results and plans will be reported atthe conference in June. 1. Articulate more clearly the purpose and scope of the semester-long design project 2. Strengthen sequential circuit design coverage in the lecture and in the laboratory 3. Introduce design using Verilog earlier in the course 4

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alexander Ganago, University of Michigan; Sudarshan Sivaramakrishnan, University of Michigan; Robert Matthew DeMonbrun, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

brief review of literature provides the theoretical foundation for the researchmethods, which are explained for the most interested readers. Finally, a plan is outlined forfuture studies.Main findings and conclusionsFigure 1 shows some results of our midterm survey, which was given to students after ~2 monthsin a standard 14-week semester.Figure 1.The midterm survey results reveal high student satisfaction and interest in the course material.The class includes engineering students from several departments (see the details in Coursedemographics below), some of which require the EE course as pre-requisite for their majorcourses, while others merely list it as a graduation requirement or elective. Therefore, diversityof the student responses to

Conference Session

Active Learning in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ramakrishnan Sundaram, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

accreditation. Agile is based on iterative andincremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaborationbetween self-organizing and cross-functional teams. Agile promotes adaptive planning,evolutionary development and delivery, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.Integrated projects across all the ECE courses and delivered through the centralized engineeringproject platform incorporate continuous improvement within the ECE program. The centralizedengineering project platform stresses collaboration and team work, thereby breaking down thebarriers created by faculty in confined office spaces. Scrum is the software 16development method for managing projects and product or application

Conference Session

ECE Program Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

W. Timothy Holman, Vanderbilt University; Brian David Sierawski, Vanderbilt University; Robert Reed, Vanderbilt University; Robert A. Weller, Vanderbilt University; Andrew L. Sternberg, Vanderbilt University; Rebekah Austin, Vanderbilt University; Daniel M. Fleetwood, Vanderbilt University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

opportunity to compare the effectiveness of the changes with a more prepared cohort.Next stagesWith the introduction of CubeSat concepts to first-year students and the increasing depth oftreatment of circuit concepts in our Circuits II laboratory, the next phase of integration is to buildon this framework to further enhance our first-semester junior, required Electronics I laboratory.Students will construct a transistor-based circuit that will be interfaced with a CubeSat circuit Page 24.1245.10board. Plans are being developed to incorporate new laboratory modules in this course that willserve as a bridge

Conference Session

ECE Program Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert A. Strangeway, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Stephen M. Williams P.E., Milwaukee School of Engineering; Edward W. Chandler P.E., Milwaukee School of Engineering; Richard W. Kelnhofer, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Owe G. Petersen, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

in evolving program updatesand changes on a coordinated, consensus basis. Annual renewal of the transfer agreementsinspires frequent conversations between faculty members and counters curricular drift.15DiscussionThe AAS-EET to BSEE Transfer Track was launched in the Fall 2013 term when 25 AAS-EETstudents transferred into the BSEE program. As of the second term, 23 of these studentscontinued on track (one student continued off-track and one plans to return in the spring term).The most significant issue identified for this transfer group was students taking on heavycomposite workplace/academic overloads, despite strong academic advising to the contrary.Earlier and more aggressive academic advising in this regard is planned for future transfer

Conference Session

STEM and ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jose Marcio Luna, University of New Mexico; Timothy L Schroeder, University of New Mexico; Gregory L. Heileman, University of New Mexico; Chaouki T Abdallah, The University of New Mexico ; Jorge Crichigno, Northern New Mexico College; Ivan Lopez Hurtado, Northern New Mexico College; Alfredo J. Perez, Northern New Mexico College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

record, the TAs, the SupplementalInstructors (SIs), and the students looking for evidence to support our conclusions. The review ofthese data provided us with lessons that would allow us to improve the teaching and learningpractices for this specific environment while we were planning and building the infrastructure toshare and support online classes in three different institutions in New Mexico. The paper isorganized as follows. In Section II we introduce the main features of our model for cross-institutional collaboration including a brief description of the mechanisms for course sharing andcourse design improvement, as well as the description of the main personnel involved in theproject and the courses implemented online. In Section III, we

Conference Session

Projects in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Hoe, The University of Texas at Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

effective undergraduate research project requires significant effort and planning onthe part of the faculty. Challenges include selecting appropriate research projects, developing theresearch skills of the students, and finding the time to adequately advise and mentor theundergraduate researchers. This paper reports on our initial attempts to organize a course duringthe Spring 2013 semester that promotes undergraduate research at the University of Texas atTyler. While opportunities already exist for undergraduate students to do research with facultythrough an independent study elective, past results have been mixed and their organization hasbeen rather ad hoc. With this in mind, an undergraduate research elective was formed withspecific course

Conference Session

Flipping ECE Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rafic Bachnak, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg; Sofía Carolina Maldonado, Texas A&M International University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

othermedium such as video on-demand or podcasts. However, there is no specific model for flippedclassrooms, it simply draws on such concepts as student engagement, hybrid course design, andcourse podcasting. This paper describes how the flipped classroom technique was incorporatedinto a three-credit electrical engineering course that met twice a week. This paper presentsdetails about the course, discusses student survey results, and describes plans to improve thedelivery of this and similar courses.I. IntroductionData compiled by the American College Testing (ACT) shows that, currently, the National first-to second-year retention rate in 4-year public institutions averages 65.6%. Meanwhile, the meanfor the National 5-year graduation rate of 4-year

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rami Jubrail Haddad, Georgia Southern University; Youakim Kalaani, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Gathering Real-Time Formative Assessment in the University Classroom Using Tablet PCs,” 39th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings, 18-21 Oct. 2009.[11] Nichols, P.D., Meyers, J.L., & Burling, K.S., “A Framework for Evaluating and Planning Assessments Intended to Improve Student Achievement,” Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 28 (3), pp. 14-23, Fall 2009.[12] Heritage, M., Kim, J., Vendlinski, T.P., & Herman, J.L., “From Evidence to Action: A Seamless Process in Formative Assessment?” CRESST Report 741, University of California, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), Los Angeles, CA, July 2011.[13] Gardner, T.Q., Kowalski, S.E., &

Conference Session

New ECE Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dick Blandford, University of Evansville; Mark Earl Randall, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

ProjectsThe projects can be divided into three groups: introductory, software, and software/hardware.Introductory projects are given to familiarize students with the programming environment andthe language. They also give students a good idea of what is expected and allow them to plan forlater projects. Software projects are mostly centered on electrical engineering concepts such asthe fast Fourier transform, convolution, digital filters, or the statistical processing of largeamounts of data. The projects which involve both software and hardware make use of theWindows phone programming interface, internally constructed hardware, or the FEZ boards5which provide a C# interface to a high speed ARM processor. The FEZ boards are low costopen source boards

Conference Session

Assessment of Learning in ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wayne Lu, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Amazon just announced their delivery service plan using drones (UAV). There were six teams chose this category. 4) Desktop virtualization is also a ubiquitous phrase and there is abundant marketing information on the Internet. Since most desktop virtualization is provided as a service, it is difficult to find a particular system with enough in-depth technical information. Three teams chose this category. Although network virtualization concept was introduced in 2009, there is very little implementation technical information on the Internet and no team chose this sub-category. 5) Supercomputers were chosen by 13 teams due to their abundant technical information and there were six No. 1 supercomputers to

Conference Session

Flipping ECE Courses

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Micah Stickel, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

with opportunities for peer instruction, individual and group problem-solving exercises, and discussion and consideration of experimental demonstrations.  During the exercises the instructor would circulate through the lecture hall with approximately 100 students.  After a period of time for these exercises the instructor would review or present a solution to the problem in collaboration with the students using a tablet PC.  The in-class time was also used to discuss additional applications and current areas of related research.  Approximately one-third to one-half of the class was spent with the instructor speaking at the front, but the presentation was not based on pre-planned notes, but rather

Conference Session

ECE Distance Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale N. Buechler, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Phil J. Sealy Jr., University of Wisconsin, Platteville; John Goomey, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 24.1262.2and typically assist with labs for 5 to 7 courses each. Some of the courses required more labwork than others. On average the lab managers were travelling three days per week and on eachtrip they could cover anywhere from 100 to 500 miles. For entry-level courses, such as CircuitModeling I, traveling support staff can be used to assess proper usage of lab equipment and toevaluate the construction and performance of simple circuits. Since they cover locationsthroughout the state, the two lab managers usually create a biweekly site schedule which bothstudents and faculty can plan around. They work with engineering faculty to ensure that theremote students have a lab experience equivalent to those on main campus. For upper