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Session 1260 Elaborating Electrical Engineering Curricula in Developing Countries

F. Coowar/R. Coowar Swiss Federal Institute of Technology/University of Central Florida

Abstract

One of the aims of education in developing countries is that it should be comparable and compatible with that offered in industrialized societies, so that graduates produced in these countries may be as competent and as productive as their counterparts elsewhere. In Engineering Education, students from developing countries are disadvantaged, in that the facilities available are often poor and costly to improve. Furthermore, students, although highly motivated, do not receive the sort of technological exposure that is constantly available in industrialized countries.

High drop-out rates in the first year of engineering study, due to the sudden relaxation of the rigid rules of behavior that had prevailed during the pre-university schooling days, and the lack of understanding of many abstract engineering concepts, make it necessary for lecturers to provide the engineering freshman with a picture of engineering which is both interesting and fruitful.

In this paper, the design of Electrical Engineering curricula is examined and means of making Electrical Engineering interesting to engineering freshmen are discussed. A simulation exercise centering on a visit to a large industrial concern and “non-traditional” laboratory experiments are described.

1. Introduction

The development of any curriculum involves addressing such fundamentals issues as what should the students be helped to learn, the learning experiences that should be provided for them to learn and how these learning experiences can be organized to maximize their cumulative effects [1]. In Engineering Education, the end product sought is a student who has the ability to inquire independently and to be critical.

The concept of engineering rests on the basic premise that many problems associated with the well-being of the community must first be resolved through analytical means before the ensuing practical solutions can be

?$!iii’ ‘..+,~y?: } 1996 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings .

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Coowar, F., & Coowar, R. (1996, June), Elaborating Electrical Engineering Curricula Paper presented at 1996 Annual Conference, Washington, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--6008