Teaching strategy focused on sensory perception, students' interest and enjoyment: Successful application in Electrical Engineering (EE) lab for non-EE majors

Abstract

We report the development and successful teaching of new laboratory experiments for a large introductory course in Electrical Engineering (EE) for non-EE majors. Our goal is to create the learning environment that would engage students' senses; provide hands-on experience, to which they can easily relate; stimulate intuitive understanding of EE concepts; foster enjoyment of learning, and eventually, help them succeed in their own fields. The first experiment focuses on applications of Fourier series to the spectra of sounds of music played on a Virtual Keyboard®. In the second experiment, students solder their own filter circuit to serve has low-pass/high-pass audio filters, and then they apply their filters to an excerpt of music, with the goal of understanding effects of the filter transfer function on the audio signal through listening. Both experiments expand the conventional range of application of theory and circuits in introductory courses (usually, only standard waveforms are used, e.g. sinusoidal and square). In the scheme of the entire course, all lab projects aim to introduce realistic, practical applications that pique student interest, show students the relevance of electrical engineering, and help them transfer their newly learned skills and experience to their own fields of work and future studies.