A New Approach to CAI by Interactive Design of Electrical Engineering Systems

Use of computers in engineering education for interactive design of electrical machinery provides a very attractive media to prepare engineering students for their professional lives. A computer system, named ESPACE, which supplies them with great flexibility of use, precise error detection, and a high level of interaction is described in this paper. Its realization is based upon the notion of a "potential model," which is a set of possible components, their relations in a model and the basic actions existing within a design field. When working on this system, the students can design their own technical projects and simulate them to check if they operate properly. This turns out to be possible because the potential model can generate all their particular representations in the computer memory. This CAI system has been working for two years in the Electrical Engineering Department of the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble. This paper gives some results obtained from this experience.     

Multiple Case Studies to Enhance Project-Based Learning in a Computer Architecture Course

The IEEE/Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Computing Curricula and the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) Evaluation Criteria 2000 emphasize the use of recurrent concepts and system design/evaluation through projects and case studies in the curriculum of Computer and Electrical Engineering. In addition, efficient teamwork, autonomy, and initiative are commonly required qualifications for a professional in this field. Project-based learning approaches that require the students to handle realistic case studies are adequate to pursue these objectives. However, these pedagogical approaches tend to be rejected because they promote deep learning but focus on a restricted set of concepts, whereas many engineering curricula require a broad range of concepts to be covered in each course. The introduction of multiple case studies carried out simultaneously in the same course by different teams of students can broaden the set of concepts studied, but collaboration at different levels must be strongly enforced to achieve effective learning. This paper describes a multiple-case-study project design that has been applied to a computer architecture course for four years. After systematically evaluating the experience, the authors conclude that students achieve a deep learning of the concepts required in their own case study, while they are able to generalize their knowledge to case studies of different characteristics from those considered during the course. Furthermore, a number of collaborative skills and attitudes are developed as a consequence of the proposed environment based on multiple levels of collaboration.     

Engaging High School and Engineering Students: A Multifaceted Outreach Program Based on a Mechatronics Platform

If we aim to enhance the interest of students in engineering and therefore produce the best engineers, it is essential to strengthen the pipeline to high school education. This paper discusses several outreach activities undertaken by the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa (UO), Ottawa, ON, Canada, to help the transition between high school and engineering education and to make students aware of the engineering profession. At the heart of these activities is mechatronics education, which demands an interdisciplinary approach, connects to fundamental math and science concepts, and promotes collaborative project-based learning (PBL). Connected to this focus, a multifaceted program of outreach activities has been initiated. The program includes creation of design-simulate-and-build projects by engineering and high school students, as well as an interactive presentation program whereby engineering students connect with high school students through the sharing of projects that they create in their engineering courses. The survey results indicate that for the high school students, these programs promote students' awareness of engineering and how the mathematics and science they take in school connects to engineering concepts. For the engineering students, they are provided with a meaningful context within which to share their projects and explain their own understanding of engineering principles.      

A Teaching Laboratory in Analog Electronics: Changes to Address the Bologna Requirements

Training new electronics engineers presents several major challenges. This paper proposes a new approach for practical lessons in second-level analog electronics, where students get a closer view of real-world practices in electronic engineering. The authors describe and evaluate a more dynamic way of teaching practical lessons in analog electronics in the first year of an electronic engineering degree. The method consists of creating a virtual company that contracts students to develop prototypes. The design process involves theoretical concepts from the students' lessons, and poses challenges with respect to costs and teamwork. The method brings the students closer to the working environment of electronic engineering, and also reinforces both the students' responsibility and their interest in practical matters in electronics.      

A virtual classroom approach to teaching circuit analysis

We have implemented several innovative uses of computers and computer networks to develop a new pedagogy for the delivery of university engineering courses. These uses of computers and networks are creating efficiencies in the learning process, and students have found this interactive learning environment to be a significant improvement upon a traditional engineering course. Student performance and retention, as well as faculty productivity, are increased in this innovative teaching and learning environment     

Computer-aided engineering for computer architecture laboratories

Students coming to senior-level computer architecture courses generally have a substantial background in introductory computer organization, assembly-language programming, and digital-logic design. With this background they are ready to embark on sizable design and implementation projects in computer architecture. The author describes an engineering workstation environment that supports student laboratories in computer architecture. The backbone of this environment is a digital simulator that gives each first-term architecture student the necessary power to produce their own working (simulated) computer     

Introduction for Freshmen to Embedded Systems Using LEGO Mindstorms

The purpose of the course presented here is to introduce freshmen to embedded systems using LEGO Mindstorms, under an ANSI-C programming environment. The students build their own LEGO robots, make programs for them using ANSI-C, and operate them. By creating these LEGO robots, the students become more motivated, learning the basic concepts of embedded systems and how these concepts can be applied to real world problems.      

Theory of PSI Evaluated for Engineering Education

The objective of this paper is to evaluate from experimental data and observation five theoretical features of F. S. Keller's Personalized-Proctorial System of Instruction (PSI) for engineering education. This system was tested in courses in nuclear, mechanical, electrical, and operations research engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. We have found that students easily take advantage of the unique features of PSI and adapt them to their own needs, that they enjoy learning by this method, and that they learn more than in conventional courses. Our results indicate that the selfpacing and unit perfection features of PSI are extremely appropriate for engineering education; that the emphasis on written-word learning and the use of proctors are definite assets; and that the motivational lecture feature is of lesser value.     

Teaching the Art of Fault Diagnosis in Electronics by a Virtual Learning Environment

A virtual learning environment (VLE) to improve understanding of simple faul tfinding was created from a series of Web pages, an online quiz with automated marking, and a local-area-network-based simulator. It was tested on 57 first-year students (in 2002) and 69 students in 2003, taking a module in engineering design in electrical engineering in which a battery charger was designed and constructed. The results indicate that there was better than 100% improvement in the number of working battery chargers in both tested years. In addition, the students who used the VLE produced more working chargers and were better able to identify circuit blocks than those that did not. The learning approach is described by the adaptive character of thought cited in the present paper.     

Instrumentation and communication modules on CD-ROMs for enrichingengineering education

In response to the challenges facing engineering educators today, the latest developments in computer technology were applied to instrumentation and communication, two essential areas of the engineering curricula. Hypermedia-based resource modules containing generic information on these two areas were developed. Users can navigate the modules using either a networked tree or direct access method. This allows students to learn independently, at their own pace, and in a nonlinear way. The resource modules can be used in measurements and technical communication courses, in almost all engineering laboratories, and in capstone design projects. Since the resource modules contain generic information and are put on CD-ROMs, they can be used in other engineering programs. Preliminary results indicate that the modules were informative and helpful to students and also allowed them to learn material independently and at their own pace     

Implementing CS1 with embedded instructional research design in laboratories

Closed laboratories are becoming an increasingly popular approach to teaching introductory computer science courses. Unlike open laboratories that tend to be an informal environment provided for students to practice their skills with attendance optional, closed laboratories are structured meeting times that support the lecture component of the course, and attendance is required. This paper reports on an integrated approach to designing, implementing, and assessing laboratories with an embedded instructional research design. The activities reported here are parts of a departmentwide effort not only to improve student learning in computer science and computer engineering (CE) but also to improve the agility of the Computer Science and Engineering Department in adapting the curriculum to changing technologies, incorporate research, and validate the instructional strategies used. This paper presents the design and implementation of the laboratories and the results and analysis of student performance. Also described in this paper is cooperative learning in the laboratories and its impact on student learning.     

Real-time systems course in undergraduate CS/CE programs

Interactions with industry hiring new software engineers from undergraduate computer science and engineering programs show, case after case, that universities do not pay enough attention to the practical aspects of software development. Another well-known deficiency of the undergraduate programs is in the area of time-critical, reactive programming. The present paper describes a senior course in a computer science undergraduate program designed to address some of the above problems. The real-time course provides the students not only with the basic concepts of real-time programming, but also provides a vehicle for development of small class projects which address methods, tools and the critical aspects of a modern software development life cycle. The experience with teaching the course may serve as a model for similar offerings in other computer science, computer engineering and software engineering college programs. The paper describes lessons learned and future plans     

Virtual Laboratory for Creative Control Design Experiments

This paper proposes a two-step strategy for the computer-aided learning of control. A virtual Web-based laboratory for control design experiments (http://www.hl1.uni-mb.si), which supports a two-step strategy, is based on the MATLAB Web server (MWS) and consists of two virtual laboratories. The first virtual laboratory, called ldquoWeb sisotool,rdquo supports computer-aided control design and structured hands-on experiments. Computer-aided control design is welcome as a design tool while structured hands-on experiments are welcome for the visualization of hard-to-grasp concepts. The second virtual laboratory offers students an unstructured MATLAB-like environment, called ldquoM-file application,rdquo that allows students to create and design control design experiments by writing MATLAB M-files of their own and executing them on MWS. The presented virtual laboratory for control design experiments is cost effective and has already been successfully used for the learning of control. Student feedback is also presented.     

Using Web-Based Teaching Interventions in Computer Science Courses

An open-source management system of Web-based teaching interventions is presented that can be used in general for science curriculum courses and especially for computer science courses. The proposed solution is called System of Teaching Intelligent Interventions (STII) and facilitates the authoring, deployment, and evaluation of Web-based metaphors. This paper discusses the use of metaphors for assisting students to comprehend the substance of cognitive concepts and their basic background. STII has been applied in a particular educational scenario during the learning process of 228 students attending the course ldquocomputer applications.rdquo The presentation of results from a pilot evaluation of two metaphors demonstrates the usefulness of the system. The evaluation focuses on the impact of the two metaphors on student learning, and on detecting potential correlations between metaphors and students' groups. STII evaluation conclusions strongly support that multimedia metaphors can be used as an alternative instructional tool to assist students in confronting their cognitive constraints and developing functional understanding of curriculum courses.     

The qualitative impact of using LEGO MINDSTORMS robots to teach computer engineering

Teaching introductory programming skills and embedded systems design to undergraduate engineering students in a variety of disciplines requires delivering the teaching content according to their learning styles. This paper describes how the LEGO MINDSTORMS robots were introduced as hands-on educational technology for computer engineering and provides student feedback measurements on the effectiveness of using the LEGO MINDSTORMS robots.     

Discovering the effects of feedback on control systems: informativeand interesting numerical exercises

A numerical approach to feedback investigations allows students to discover easily and quickly the basic effects of feedback, both desirable and undesirable, on automatic control systems. Students can quickly learn the intuitive aspects of feedback early in their study of control systems before they enter, and perhaps become lost in, the world of intense mathematical analysis and design applied to feedback. The illustrative example presented in this paper, which is designed to match the preferred learning style of most engineering students, can be used to form coordinated numerical and analytical exercises in lecture, recitation, or laboratory portions of the course. Our students say that they enjoy and benefit from the many learning aspects of these discovery exercises     

The new electrical and computer engineering curricula at Universityof California-Davis

In Fall 1993 the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Davis introduced a new electrical engineering and a new computer engineering curriculum, each characterized by a well-coordinated junior core leading to a carefully chosen set of senior design elective courses. Through integration of a select but powerful set of computer tools into the junior core, students will be able to concentrate on understanding basic engineering principals while simultaneously obtaining important analytic and computer skills for senior elective courses. The number of required courses has been decreased but the number of units has remained roughly the same while maintaining the lower-division (freshman and sophomore) program essentially unchanged as required by the California higher education plan. The result is a curriculum that focuses on fundamentals through modern design techniques in such a way that both on-campus students and community college transfer students will be able to complete the engineering curriculum in four years     

Software Optimization for Improving Student Motivation in a Computer Architecture Course

This paper presents a learning activity designed to improve student motivation towards learning certain topics in computer architecture, particularly assembly-level machine organization. This activity applies a pedagogical method suitable for computer architecture courses. The method improves motivation by allowing students to verify by themselves, on real platforms, that they can apply their architecture knowledge to improve software performance and also by showing them the improvements achieved in complete applications. The activity is compared to other such activities based on different motivation and learning techniques.     

Investigating the Presentation and Format of Instructional Prompts in an Electrical Circuit Analysis Computer-Based Learning Environment

Research has shown that providing instructional prompts in computer-based learning environments designed to support example-based learning fosters learning. In computer-based environments, where learners interact only with a computer and do not have access to direct support from a teacher, learners need to be provided with instructional prompts or just-in-time help intended to encourage more active example processing during learning. This study investigated whether it was more beneficial to provide the learners access to on-demand (self-regulated) help after they committed an error in problem solving or for the learning environment to regulate the presentation of instructional help externally. Furthermore, two different presentational formats—textual and pictorial—of instructional prompts were examined. This study was conducted with a computer-based learning environment that introduced high school students without any prior content-specific knowledge to the principles of parallel and series circuit analysis. Textual prompts facilitated practice problem solving notably better than pictorial prompts. Overall, textual-based prompts produced a large effect on near transfer. A significant format of prompts by academic ability interaction was discovered on near transfer. In particular, lower-ability learners scored significantly better when given textual prompts; whereas, their higher-ability counterparts performed equally well with both formats. Moreover, learners provided with externally regulated prompts reported significantly more positive attitudes toward the prompts in general compared to learners in the self-regulated conditions. Finally, continuous motivation was significantly stronger in learners who viewed textual prompts than in their counterparts in the pictorial prompt groups.