Engineering Students’ Solutions to Accuracy Problems in Analog Electronics Course

Abstract

In the course of the last three years, a longitudinal study researching engineering students’ understandings of the concept of accuracy and error has been carried out. Previous studies of the researchers investigated general misunderstandings of the concept of accuracy and error among engineering students from different programs, and specific misunderstandings of those concepts among electrical and electronic engineering students in Digital Electronics course. The studies showed that students’ understanding of these important engineering concepts is insufficient. The current study researches students’ achievements in solving problems that relate to the concepts of accuracy and to basic analog electronics concept of non-linearity and saturation. The research was carried out in April - May 2017 during Analog Electronics course with 38 participants. A mixed methodology was applied; in the quantitative stage the students solved problems relating to the concept of accuracy, and in the qualitative stage 15 open interviews were carried out. It was found that engineering students with inadequate understanding of basic accuracy concepts struggle with interpreting the concepts of analog electronics while solving problems related to the issue. The research intends to be continued with the aim to show that consistent treatment of the issue will benefit students’ understanding of basic electronics and accuracy concepts.