How Free Choice Affects Student Interest in a Junior-level Embedded Systems Lab Course
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Electrical and Computer
- Page Count
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15
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30580
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30580
- Download Count
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395
Paper Authors
Michael Trent Bolt
Auburn University
orcid.org/0000-0003-4401-5071
Michael Bolt is a graduate student at Auburn University pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He is currently working as a research assistant to Dr. Mark L. Adams in the STORM Lab. His current projects include embedded system programming for environmental sensing projects, X-band RF design work, and the reorganization of lab course content to increase student interest in subject material.
Andrew Cookston Auburn University
Andrew Cookston is a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Auburn University. He is currently working as a research assistant to Mark L. Adams in the STORM Lab. His current research focus is in quantum engineering and introducing quantum systems to high school and undergraduate students.
John Y. Hung Auburn University
John Y. Hung is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Auburn University, where he has been on the faculty since 1989. Prior to his academic career, he worked for Johnson Controls, Inc., in the field of digital controllers for commercial building automation systems, and also worked as a consultant in control systems design. Hung is a Fellow of IEEE, and serves on the IEEE Board of Directors. He is the local coordinator for the 2019 ASEE-SE conference, which is being hosted by Auburn University. John's teaching and research interests are in control systems applications.
Victor P. Nelson Auburn University
Victor P. Nelson is a professor and Assistant Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University. His primary research interests include embedded systems and computer-aided design and testing of digital systems and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). He is co-author of the textbook Digital Logic Circuit Analysis and Design and a tutorial book on fault-tolerant computing. He has been Chair of the ECE Curriculum Committee, Coordinator of the ECE Graduate Program, and served one year as Associate Dean for Assessment in the College of Engineering. He is a member of IEEE, ACM, and ASEE, and is an ABET Program Evaluator. He has served as Chair of the ECE Division of ASEE, an at-large AdCom member of the IEEE Education Society, a member of the IEEE Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (CEAA), and previously served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education and on the IEEE Computer Society/ACM Task Force that developed the Computer Engineering 2004 report on model computer engineering curricula. He was a co-winner of the 2005 Wireless Educator of the Year award from the Global Wireless Education Consortium for his role as one of the developers of the bachelor's of wireless engineering program at Auburn University, which is the first of its kind in the U.S.
Abstract
Graduate students at Auburn University (AU) have developed a new course structure for a long-standing embedded systems lab in an effort to increase student interest in the subject matter. Students are now given a choice between two different lab exercises each week that focus on the same skills and course material. In order to quantify the success of this change in course structure, an anonymous survey measuring the Engineering Identity of each student was administered at the beginning and end of the semester for two groups in two semesters: a control group given no choice of lab exercise and an experimental group given a free choice between two lab exercises. This paper examines the results of these surveys to determine the effect that student agency can have on student interest levels and their perception of themselves as engineers.
Bolt, M. T., & Cookston, A., & Hung, J. Y., & Nelson, V. P. (2018, June), How Free Choice Affects Student Interest in a Junior-level Embedded Systems Lab Course Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30580
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