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Session 2148

Distance Learning Opportunities for Electronic Engineering Technology Graduates of Community Colleges

Wm. Hugh Blanton East Tennessee State University

ABSTRACT

A growing pool of graduates from the two-year community college technology programs has become aware of the need for expanded knowledge and the B.S. degree to enhance their professional opportunities. Unfortunately, many of these graduates are working and are isolated by distance from the limited number of universities that provide the B.S. degree in Technology and by the times they can attend classes. Distance learning provides a solution to this challenge, but creates the dilemma associated with teaching lab-intensive courses off campus. It is too expensive to buy equipment that is used irregularly; yet it is too cumbersome to haul the equipment back and forth. One solution to teaching electronic lab-intensive courses is National Instruments’ NI ELVIS (Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite) which integrates both hardware and software to shrink the workspace to only two elements: the experiment interface and a computer. All the traditional instruments (DMM, function generator, oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer) are now software. In addition, specialized instruments such as a transistor curve tracer, programmable power supplies, vector impedance meter, arbitrary waveform analyzer, 8-bit digital bus drivers are included in the suite of software instruments. Both hardware and software are completely open so innovation at the experiment, interfacing, or software level can flourish.

INTRODUCTION

The Problem

The knowledge base and credentials required for job advancement in technology continue to increase. A growing pool of graduates from the two-year community college technology programs has become aware of the need for increased technical knowledge and the B.S. degree to enhance its professional opportunities and growth. Unfortunately, members of this pool are often older, have job and family obligations, and are isolated by significant distances from any four-year technology program.

The desire to obtain the knowledge and credentials for professional growth has been demonstrated at East Tennessee State University by the successful cohort programs developed by the Industrial Technology Program and the Construction Engineering Technology Program in

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Blanton, W. (2004, June), Distance Learning Opportunities For Electronic Engineering Technology Graduates Of Community Colleges Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13985