EE service course redesign: A three-year study

Abstract

Electrical engineering service courses at the University of Kansas have been modernized over the past three years from a “one-size-fits-all” format marked by student disinterest and low attendance to multiple courses that are tailored to the needs of specific majors in the other engineering fields. A focus session in 2005 with faculty from the other engineering departments resulted in a three-hour service course on electric circuits and machines tailored to the needs of architectural and civil engineering students in fall semesters (05 to 08). A different service course on circuits, electronics, and instrumentation has been developed for mechanical and aerospace engineering students in spring semesters (06 to 09). An associated one-hour lab is offered during spring semesters. Motivational features include a grading procedure based on daily short quizzes and block exams and (2) occasional classroom presentations of student-driven mini-cases on topics such as resistance strain gauges that demonstrate applications specific to the other engineering fields. This paper both consolidates and expands Works-In-Progress papers presented at the most recent three FIE Conferences by (1) identifying the contributions of laboratory exercises, (2) providing comparative data not previously available, and (3) describing newly revised motivational features.