Instrumentation and measurement course for nonelectrical engineering students

Abstract

There is a need for high quality and quantity of education that gives due consideration to the rapid changes in technology. Instrumentation and measurement provide an introduction to multiple engineering disciplines. It was observed from students' exit questionnaires that their interest and satisfaction with this core course increased with more laboratory work, more problem-solving skills, and less analysis and theory. The course coordinator tried to maintain the four program educational objectives by introducing modern techniques to stimulate their interest in the course. The EE department opened the instrumentation and control laboratory door to students performing experiments without close instructor guidance to encourage self-learning. If some student does not understand the observed and obtained results, he/she may call for an instructor's help. Later, the student analyzed, interpreted, and gave sound comments and justifications in a report. Each semester recommendations are provided for improvements. On simple issues, the recommendations are made by the course coordinator while on more substantive issues the recommendations are made with the entire academic or in some cases, with the entire college. Students learned the theory and practice of classical as well as modern instrumentation techniques