Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Rusek, Oakland University; Barbara Oakley, Oakland University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the Naim and Ferial Kheir Teaching Award. Page 12.567.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Easy-to-Do Transmission Line Demonstrations of Sinusoidal Standing Waves and Transient Pulse Reflections AbstractJunior, senior, and graduate level courses in electromagnetics often cover issues related tosinusoidal standing waves and transient pulses on transmission lines. This information isimportant for students because a theoretical understanding of such phenomena provides aconcrete foundation for later study involving the general propagation of electromagneticfields, and

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ernest Kim, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

tailored to complement the laboratory exercises that canoften include engineering design concepts.A typical electromagnetics course topical coverage at our institution is: 1. Review: Vectors and Vector Calculus (1 week) 2. Maxwell's Equations (1.5 weeks) 3. Uniform Plane Waves and Propagation (2 weeks) 4. Reflection and Transmission of Waves (1.5 weeks) 5. Transmission Lines and Waveguides (2.5 weeks) 6. Transmission Line Principles in Circuit Design (2 weeks) 7. Antennas and Radiation (2 weeks)The laboratory content of the electromagnetics course (for Fall 2006) was: 1. Transmission Line Characteristics (1 week) 2. “Microwave Training Kit” Experiments (4 weeks) 3. Introduction to Agilent Advanced Design

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronny Veljanovski, Victoria University; Alex Stojcevski, Victoria University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

skills. A final decisionby senior management concluded that PBL will be the teaching and learning style for allengineering programs in the University and initiated a top down approach to change allengineering curriculum. This top down push was similar to that of Aalborg University’s chanceprocess. The decision to change to PBL was made by Aalborg’s senior management and theengineering college5. Reflecting on VU’s change process, there were clear similarities withorganisational literature on change based on Kotter’s model6 and the eight steps totransformation. In semester 1 of 2006, all electrical engineering undergraduate programs werelaunched with a PBL teaching and learning style. Prior to the launch, intensive curriculum designtook place as

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Moore, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

criticalimportance to students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,for it represents an accumulation of the body of knowledge of the discipline. Research showsthat educational institutions facilitate the development of critical thinking when they incorporatean active learning style in their instructions and laboratory experiences. Experiential learningmodels presents us with the four modes on which learning styles are based – concreteexperience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. Studiesconducted on knowledge retention, found that using these learning modes, individually and inpair wise combination, from twenty –to- sixty percent increase in retention has been achieved.However

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Shawn Addington, Virginia Military Institute

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

evaluation of student performance data. Please see Appendix 4.All of these data are compiled in the Departmental Course Assignment Database, in order toallow both course-level and program-level assessment. At the course-level, the Database is usedby the ECE faculty in the preparation of their Course Portfolios. The Course Portfolios offereach faculty member the opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness of each of his courses,primarily in terms of the desired Course Objectives, and their associated Performance Criteria.Through this mechanism, the faculty member can evaluate student strengths and weaknesses inmeeting Course Objectives by identifying the specific curricular topics and assignments thathave contributed to the level of achievement, and

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wagdy Mahmoud, University of the District of Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the software tools are being updated twice a year. FPGA chips and boards become obsolete in a few years. User Guide Reference Getting Started Communication Toolbox 824 Filter Design Toolbox 1786 Fixed-point Toolbox 169 339 Signal processing Toolbox 1043 71 Communication Blockset 246 626 94 Signal processing Blockset 1745 126 Xilinx System Generator 890 Table 1: PDF Documentation size in pagesThe above mentioned challenges reflect

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dorin Patru, Rochester Institute of Technology; Daniel Phillips, Rochester Institute of Technology; Eric Peskin, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE)

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 12.149.2a microcomputer and its peripherals, and its lab content was significantly revised two years agoto reflect this. “Computer Architecture” currently incorporates a blend of computer architectureand logic design. An associated lab for this course was introduced in the fall of 2003 in whichstudents are guided through a bottom-top design activity that results in the implementation andtesting of a complete microcontroller of simple complexity that is emulated in a reconfigurablelogic device.The paper first presents each course and associated lab content. Then it continues to show howthis two course sequence serves in conveying computer engineering principles to electricalengineering students. Finally, possible future improvements are

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Lord, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 12.582.2assignments and to illustrate how grounding experiences in writing to communicate theory canhelp enhance effectiveness.2. Writing to CommunicateA vast amount of literature exists on writing across the curriculum (WAC) 4, 5, 6 whichemphasizes the importance of writing for enhancing learning. WAC divides writing into threecategories: transactional to inform or persuade an audience, poetic as an art form, and expressivefor oneself to think through a problem or formulate a thought.7 Much of the WAC movement inthe US has focused on expressive writing as the most beneficial when “writing to learn” and thushas minimized the importance of “transactional” writing as merely reflecting back teacher-generated information. However, within the

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Don Millard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Mohamed Chouikha, Howard University; Frederick Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

learning to occur: 1) Active Experimentation (protoboards, simulations, case study,homework), 2) Reflective Observation (logs, journals, brainstorming), 3) AbstractConceptualization (lecture, papers, analogies), and 4) Concrete Experience (laboratories, fieldwork, observations). This project is investigating the impact on student learning outcomesproduced by incorporation of the Mobile Studio pedagogy in courses that will be delivered usingthe Kolb cycle to sequence the courses’ activities as follows: 1. Students are introduced to topics and are then asked to formulate hypotheses and plan/perform experiments to determine the validity of their intuition. 2. The students relate their outcomes to real-life applications and provide a sense as

Conference Session

Digital and Embedded System Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liang Hong, Tennessee State University; Md Hasanuzzaman, Tennessee State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the BlackBoard or WebCT systems. The immediatefeedbacks will not only help learners to contemporaneously reflect on their learning, but alsocontribute to reflection by educators on the overarching learning design. It has been founded byBrosvic et al. that when confronted with previously encountered quiz questions on the finalexamination, a significant improvement in retention will be achieved if the students were initiallyprovided with immediate feedback rather than delayed feedback or no feedback, and even greaterretention when provided with multiple attempts on the initial encounter.To make it easier to use CAPE-authored learning experience, the eLMS platform can betransparently embedded into BlackBoard and WebCT systems. Therefore

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Chang, USMA; Grant Jacoby, USMA; Lisa Shay, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

take the class because they believe that using robotics as a teaching tool fits theirlearning style; robotics not only assisted learning, applied properly it inspires students to learn.Nevertheless, there are various learning styles, they vary from person to person, and most peoplehave many of them. McKeachie reflected that too many teachers think of students as a Page 12.1174.4featureless mass; too many rarely vary their teaching methods, thinking that the method bywhich they were taught is best for everyone [4]. However learning styles are preferences andhabits of learning that have been learned and everyone is capable of going beyond the

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Greene, University of Saint Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

well-known lessons. For example, see Chickering1.Also, the Learning Pyramid from the National Training Laboratories, Bethel, ME emphasizes theimportance of hands-on experimentation.Guidelines for Course DevelopmentThe major results, somewhat obvious after the fact, were reflected in the objectives used inredesigning the course. These are:• A hands-on exercise in Matlab, Simulink or Excel should be included as part of class sessions.• Attempts should be made to have the exercise done BEFORE the material is explained. In this way, these were used to motivate the material rather than demonstrate the material after the fact.• Frequent opportunities for questions, discussions and interactions on the material should be

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Pitts, Oklahoma State University; Patrick Teague, Oklahoma State University; Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University; Charles Bunting, Oklahoma State University; Sohum Sohoni, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

providestatistically significant outcomes. We ask for your participation in this study.The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation through awardNSF0530588. Mr. Pitts and Mr. Teague would like to acknowledge support from a NationalScience Foundation REU award (NSF0631565) which enabled them to conduct the researchpresented in this paper. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressedin this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NationalScience Foundation. Page 12.588.8Bibliography1. Cheville, Alan, et al. Engineering Students for the 21st Century. 2006. 3 Dec 2006. .2

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology; Robert Butera, Georgia Institute of Technology; Selcuk Uluagac, Georgia Institute of Technology; Matthew Clark, Georgia Institute of Technology; Andy Deck, National Instruments; Michael Torba, National Instruments; Steven Trahan, National Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

means to stop). Students developflowcharts to plan the control and timing structure of their program and then program theirrobots to respond reliably to their clap commands.Associated technical subdiscipline overviews: electronic design and microsystemsThe Light Sensor: The NXT light sensor is able to distinguish gray-scale light levels fromambient light or reflected from its self-generated light. A common use of the light sensor isto allow a robot to follow lines drawn on a surface. In this lab students learn how to use thelight sensor to follow a black figure drawn on a white surface. The initial algorithm modelsthe sensor as making binary black/white decisions, but in the final challenge students usesimple prediction and feedback from the

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

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dick Blandford, University of Evansville; Deborah Hwang, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

electives and many more choices. Since we have combined the programs, and we create computer science electives with computer engineering in mind, the computer engineering students benefit from a wider array of choices. • Course content: With computer engineering and computer science in the same department, and a shared assessment process, there is a finer level of control over course content. Changes in course content in one program can be immediately reflected in changes in another program without passing through the usual departmental (or college) bureaucracy. • Collaboration: Freshman intro courses and the senior project are obvious places where the three programs can collaborate. Our freshman

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Guoping Wang, Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne (Eng)

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 12.171.2necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation and IPFW. Proceedings of the 2007 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2007, American Society for Engineering Education 2. To structure the out-of-class time for maximum learning benefit. 3. To create and sustain team spirit. Students and instructors work as a team toward the same objective ─ to help all students master course contents with the maximum amount of retainable and transferable knowledge. Here is how JiTT format differs from the traditional teaching format. In a traditionalteaching environment (see Figure 1), the

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mustafa Guvench, University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

) Figure 6. Light Emission Spectra of Various Light Sources Measured (Various Colored LEDs, a Red Laser Diode and an Incandescent Lamp)In Figure 6 results of the spectral measurements done on various LEDs (with different emissionwavelengths), and also on a laser diode and an incandescent lamp are combined for a perspectiveview and comparison. The colors of the plots are chosen to reflect the color of peak emission ofthe device. These are the same devices whose I-V characteristics were measured and displayed inFigures 2 and 3. It is again observed that the devices with the smaller wavelengths of the peakemission are the ones which required the largest forward voltage to turn on, in agreement with

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

, none of the available tools accurately reflected the laboratory materialenough to warrant use in the course. Most of the existing simulators either did not use thedesired antenna configurations or did not facilitate altering the desired parameters of interest.The tools that did allow the detailed examination of the desire parameters of interest were toocomplicated and contained too many features for the simple pre-lab exercise. Also, none of thetools attempted to explain the underlying theory in a way suitable for students. Thus, it wasdetermined that a simulation tool should be developed by the university to facilitate the needs ofthe dipole antenna laboratory study.The end product of this development is a suite of four simulation tools

Conference Session

Digital and Embedded System Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Clint Kohl, Cedarville University; Keith Shomper, Cedarville University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

to become more familiar with the application. The culmination of these interviews is reflected in the software Page 12.348.6 requirements document (SRD). The SRD includes a full description of the application’s features from a user’s perspective. It also presents the application in context with the systems (e.g., hardware, software, process) with which it must integrate. The final version of the SRD is due six to seven weeks into the semester. 4. Software Design Document: At 12 weeks, the software design document (SDD) is due. The SDD begins where the SRD left off by describing the user-visible components (e.g

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, Santa Clara University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

SSCI Test had 34 students. The statistical distribution of theresults may be less than expected due to this small sample size but the trends are as expected. Weintend to keep up doing these pre- and post-assessment tests for future offerings of the class. Thiswill increase our sample sizes and we will then be able to accumulate the results over time sothat the statistical analysis of the results will become better reflective of the sample space, thestudent population at Santa Clara University.One of the major lessons learnt from this exercise is that the presentation of the material needs tobe done conceptually as well as mechanically. The regular exams take care of determining thestudents’ capability in the mechanistic methods of solving the