Project-Based Learning for Second-Year ECE Undergraduate Education

Andrea Schuman; Thomas Martin; Lisa McNair; Justin Kleiber

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratory and SoC Developments
Page Count: 21
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40769
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40769
Download Count: 312

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Paper Authors

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Andrea Schuman Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Andrea is a PhD student in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include teaching and learning in ECE, international engineering education, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

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Lisa McNair Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Lisa DuPree McNair is a Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and Director of the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI) at ICAT. Her work focuses on building networks between the university and multiple community sectors and supporting evidence-based outreach in science, engineering, arts, and design. She translated a decade of interdisciplinary initiatives into VT’s Innovations Pathway Minor, and has directed 11 PhD dissertations, served on 17 PhD committees, and funded and mentored 6 post-graduate scholars (5 PhD, 1 MFA). Her funded NSF projects include revolutionizing the culture of the VT ECE department, identifying practices in intentionally inclusive Maker spaces, and researching effective modes of co-creation between housing experts and remote Alaska Native communities.

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Thomas Martin Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Justin Kleiber Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Justin received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 2020. He then earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2022. His research interests are in the field of robotics, where he specifically focuses on the modeling and control of uncertain systems.

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Abstract

Open-ended design projects for engineering students can lead to the integration of technical skills between courses, expose gaps in knowledge, and encourage students to engage with a relevant design context. The second and third “middle year” curricula of typical undergraduate electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs consist of technical classes that teach students the fundamentals of their field. Project-based learning that engages students in more authentic applications of knowledge is often absent from these courses. These years have notable attrition, but relevant design projects can motivate engineering students by reminding them what they enjoy about the field and showing them that their work can benefit society [1], [2]. In this paper, we describe development of a project in a fourth-semester ECE laboratory design course that engages students in designing an autonomous tractor. This project was created to use skills across first- and second-year courses to make a challenging but achievable capstone project aligned with the university’s ECE curriculum revision that expands the range of disciplinary experiences for students. The foundational knowledge students will be required to integrate into their design are a simple controls system, microcontroller programming, Bluetooth communication, and circuit design. Following Prince and Felder’s findings that it is more likely that students can connect their learning to existing cognitive models when engineering work is related to a local context, we chose to situate technological design in autonomous farming because the university is in a rural area [2]. The effectiveness of this project in terms of encouraging student engagement, the alignment of skills to course goals, and appropriateness to the relevant population were qualitatively assessed by pilot studies of usability and faculty assessment.

[1] S. M. Lord and J. C. Chen, “Curriculum Design in the Middle Years,” in Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research, A. Johri and B. M. Olds, Eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 181–200. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139013451.014. [2] M. J. Prince and R. M. Felder, “Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, and Research Bases,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 95, no. 2, pp. 123–138, 2006, doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00884.x.

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Schuman, A., & McNair, L., & Martin, T., & Kleiber, J. (2022, August), Project-Based Learning for Second-Year ECE Undergraduate Education Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40769

TY - CPAPER
AB - Open-ended design projects for engineering students can lead to the integration of technical skills between courses, expose gaps in knowledge, and encourage students to engage with a relevant design context. The second and third “middle year” curricula of typical undergraduate electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs consist of technical classes that teach students the fundamentals of their field. Project-based learning that engages students in more authentic applications of knowledge is often absent from these courses. These years have notable attrition, but relevant design projects can motivate engineering students by reminding them what they enjoy about the field and showing them that their work can benefit society [1], [2]. In this paper, we describe development of a project in a fourth-semester ECE laboratory design course that engages students in designing an autonomous tractor. This project was created to use skills across first- and second-year courses to make a challenging but achievable capstone project aligned with the university’s ECE curriculum revision that expands the range of disciplinary experiences for students. The foundational knowledge students will be required to integrate into their design are a simple controls system, microcontroller programming, Bluetooth communication, and circuit design. Following Prince and Felder’s findings that it is more likely that students can connect their learning to existing cognitive models when engineering work is related to a local context, we chose to situate technological design in autonomous farming because the university is in a rural area [2]. The effectiveness of this project in terms of encouraging student engagement, the alignment of skills to course goals, and appropriateness to the relevant population were qualitatively assessed by pilot studies of usability and faculty assessment.

[1] S. M. Lord and J. C. Chen, “Curriculum Design in the Middle Years,” in Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research, A. Johri and B. M. Olds, Eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 181–200. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139013451.014.
[2] M. J. Prince and R. M. Felder, “Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, and Research Bases,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 95, no. 2, pp. 123–138, 2006, doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00884.x.
AU - Andrea Schuman
AU - Lisa McNair
AU - Thomas Martin
AU - Justin Kleiber
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Project-Based Learning for Second-Year ECE Undergraduate Education
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40769
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40769
ER -