Benefits derived from restructuring the practical component of an introductory course in electronic communication systems

In an effort to address students' complaints regarding the tedious and frustrating nature of the practical component of the department's introductory communication course we embarked on a restructuring exercise. The restructuring of this component of the course shows promise based on preliminary results. The students are obtaining higher grades and gave the practical component a more favorable rating. Additionally the restructuring exercise allows for the addition of several more experiments enabling us to cover a broader portion of the course in the practical component. This paper looks at the changes that were made in the restructuring exercise and present preliminary results on the improvement in student's grade which can be attributed to this exercise. Over 16% of students are now obtaining grades over 80% compare to 0% before the restructuring exercise. Results from students' evaluations of the practical component of the course before and after the restructuring exercise is also presented, which shows an effective 24% improvement in the student rating.