USING PORTABLE ELECTRONICS EXPERIMENT KITS FOR ELECTRONICS COURSES IN A GENERAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM

摘要

Virtual instruments on a laptop and an accompanying collection of portable hardware serve as good supplements, if not replacements, for benchtop electronic equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, and function generators. These tools can provide a new form of laboratory experience that frees students from traditional geographically-constrained settings and expands laboratory activities into more ubiquitous learning environments, allowing students to achieve laboratory objectives and complete the associated tasks at their individual paces. We hypothesize that this approach to hands-on electronics education will improve multiple learning outcomes within the ABET assessment framework, including outcomes (a) apply math and science, (b) conduct experiments and interpret data, and (e) solve problems. This paper presents our experiences using a custom portable electronics experiment kit (PEEK) in a general engineering program. The PEEK and the accompanying laboratory experiences were developed with NSF-CCLI support. Two electronics courses, ENGR 3014-Circuit Analysis and ENGR 3050-Instrumentation and Controls were selected for this research. As a supplement to regular face-to-face laboratory meetings, each student was given a PEEK to complete the pre-laboratory work and to complete any tasks that could not be finished during the laboratory period. The paper describes the features of the PEEK tool, the details of its implementation within the learning environment, and its effectiveness based on the assessment of the learning outcomes. This paper also discusses practical issues noted in the process of incorporating this learning model into day-to-day instruction, including (1) challenges encountered when the tools were used in a general engineering curriculum, where only a few electronics courses are offered, (2) methods to support students when they work on laboratory assignments off campus and after hours, and (3) different strategies to motivate students in lower- and higher-level classes when they use such tools in unsupervised environments.