Abstract
Some universities offer specific project-based learning (PBL) courses in the third year of their electronic engineering degree to equip undergraduate students before they embark on industrial attachment and/or a capstone project. This course exposes those students to full design cycles at circuit and system levels. Students also pick up practical skills, such as component selection, circuit troubleshooting, printed circuit board design, and market analysis. This perspective offers the author’s reflections on effective learning and teaching strategies for this purpose, after running such a course for the past 10 years at Griffith University. In earlier years, students’ have complained about lack of direction and overloading, which are common issues being reported in PBL courses. In response, we have implemented scaffolding and balanced evaluation criteria for assessment, providing formative feedback, and we have designed integrated assessment items. As a result, average marks for the cohort and the percentage of students that receive the grade of high distinction have increased in the past five years. These strategies might be of help at other learning institutions that offer similar courses.
Highlights
It is universally acknowledged that the crown jewel of the undergraduate electronic engineering degree is the senior capstone project
There have been many studies on this subject [1,2,3,4]. Before embarking on this path, the students must be equipped with skills such as project management, project proposal, breadboard prototyping, troubleshooting of faulty circuits, printed circuit board design, demonstration and presentation, writing technical report, etc
In the context of this course, such lecturer must master the wide arrays of electronic circuit designs, as well as printed circuit board (PCB) design and fabrication
Summary
It is universally acknowledged that the crown jewel of the undergraduate electronic engineering degree is the senior capstone project. The details are written in Appendix E This is the major assessment item of the course, as students need to go through the full design cycles, from the preliminary breadboard prototyping to the final presentation on the PCB. They have to write a technical report to document their projects. In order to differentiate the contributions from the group works for the final grade of this course, the fourth assessment item is the final exam, which is worth 40% This controlled, individual-based assessment is two hours in duration and contains subjective questions to test students’ overall understanding of the lecture materials, laboratories, and, most importantly, their own design projects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
