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Motivating Student Effort in Electronics by Working with Projects of Personal Interest Abstract

Students majoring in electrical and computer engineering are required during their Junior year to take a three-hour lecture course and a two-credit-hour lab course in analog electronics. By the end of the course, students learn the theory and application of such components as diodes, Zener diodes, NPN and PNP transistors, MOSFETs, SCR’s Diacs, Triacs, and optoelectronic devices.

This project investigated the effects on the student’s learning of electronic concepts and applications by having them work on electronic projects which they specifically liked and enjoyed, and then compared these results to the traditional projects required by the curricula. Students worked on several learning oriented, pre-defined labs and then on an electronic project of their own choosing. The project involved using electronic components studied during the course applied to devices the students were personally interested in; for example, electrical guitar audio amplifier circuits or electronic race-car control systems.

At the end of the semester, a survey was given to measure and determine the results on student learning concerning the concepts and applications of electronics. The survey was aimed to discover the development of mental skills in the cognitive domain, by comparing the results of the projects which the students chose with those that had been already required for their curricula. The results of this project may encourage educators to develop laboratory curricula that are interesting, enjoyable, and enhance student learning.

Introduction

Students majoring in electrical and computer engineering are required during their Junior year to take a three-hour lecture course and a two-credit-hour lab course in analog electronics. The content of the three hour lecture course is organized in six to seven topics that cover the following subjects:

1. Diodes and Rectifiers 2. Semiconductor Physics 3. Two-Ports, Load Lines and Biasing 4. Piecewise-Linear Models 5. Q-Point Stabilization, Thermal and Environmental Considerations 6. Emitter Follower, Common Base and Common Emitter, Coupling and Loading 7. Power Amplifier, Transformer Coupling 8. Operational Amplifiers 9. N and P channel depletion and enhancement MOSFET

To provide the students with an enhanced hands-on experience of the electronic components studied in their lectures, a set of 12 learning oriented, pre-defined labs are incorporated in a two hour lab course. These labs cover the following topics:

1. Introduction to diode circuits (terminal characteristic of simple rectifier circuits)

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Ortiz, O., & Leiffer, P. (2007, June), Motivating Student Effort In Electronics By Working With Projects Of Personal Interest Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1946