Development of Mixed Signals Course for Electrical Engineering Technology Program

Abstract

One of the important components in the criteria for accreditation of engineering technology programs is to demonstrate continuous improvement. This can be achieved by various ways such as by updating the list of required courses by adding new courses or revising contents of existing courses. Every program needs to keep up with current trends in the industries and job market to produce technologists with needed preparation. Considering expectations from Electrical Engineering Technology graduates, we developed a new course covering topics in mixed signals. This junior level course is complemented by a laboratory course consisting of experiments to perform testing of mixed signals and devices. During fall 2008 this course was offered as special topics. Subsequently this course will be converted in to a regular numbered course in the electrical engineering technology degree plan. Funding for development of the course and laboratory was obtained from the department of education. The laboratory equipment includes LAB-View, MATLAB software and NI ELVIS hardware interface. The assessment of both lecture course and laboratory was performed keeping in mind TAC-ABET outcomes. This paper describes the outline of the mixed signal course and various experiments developed for mixed signals testing. Student learning expectations are also presented.