Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Courses Research Articles

Time‐domain graphic interface for teaching transient stability

AbstractThe understanding of transient stability in power systems is one of the most challenging research areas in electrical engineering. The transient stability analysis is considered a domain gramental topic to Electric Engineering undergraduate programs. In this paper, we propose a software oriented for teaching transient stability in undergraduate courses in electrical engineering. The final goal of this simulator is to present timely information about stability margins. The efficacy of the proposed simulator is assessed in a multimachine transmission system using MATLAB simulation under various transient disturbances and operating conditions. It will be shown that the proposed software facilitates the understanding and learning of the basic concepts of transient stability. The teaching experience was evaluated through a survey of several simulations answered by the students enrolled in the last five semesters. On the basis of student responses, the inclusion of the software in regular classes improved learning of the fundamental concepts of the course subject.

Study of the effectiveness of interactive videos in applied electronics courses

The use of interactive engineering videos as an instructional technology tool is increasing in engineering education to provide a versatile and attractive learning environment for students and to interest them in course content to increase student engagement. This study assessed the effects of using interactive engineering videos in undergraduate electrical engineering courses to enhance student understanding and engagement with electronics. To test the impact on learning outcomes with the interactive video methodology, we set up six controlled groups of students. The experimental groups were sections “A1”, “B1”, and “C1”, in which a set of 13 customized short, interactive videos (15 min or less) were available through the course. In the controlled group sections “A”, “B”, and “C”, the instruction was applied without videos. The final exam and overall grades were compared in all the sections to obtain an indication of the impact of the interactive videos. Also, we applied an exit survey to the students in the experimental sections to collect their opinions about their engagement, motivation, and commitment during the semester. In the experimental sections, a reasonable impact on the student final grades was found, with averages of 84, 80, and 83. The students’ opinions about the interactive videos were very positive: from the standpoints of motivation, 90.4%; and understanding of class materials, 91.6%. Later, an additional section, “D”, was studied and performed well in their video scores. The students having video scores above the class average had much better performance in their overall grade, with an average of 81.8%. Students from section “D” who did perform lower than the class average in their videos had lower overall performance, with an average grade of 76.5%. Moreover, additional interactive videos were provided in the special “i-Week” activity during the fall semesters. The challenge activity put to the students during that week was “Emergency First Response”, which allowed them to generate some technology proposals for first responders in the community; the students performed very well in the challenge proposed to them. Some insights about this project and the video methodology used in their instruction are described as part of the semester-long activity for the students. Finally, the students suggested additional interactive engineering videos with more example problems to consolidate the hybrid interactive video learning methodology. The interactive engineering video technology is fully considered in the TEC21 Educative Model that governs the new degree programs beginning in 2019 at Tecnologico de Monterrey.

Online Peer Assessment in Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Course

Contribution: This research presents a case study of an online peer assessment (PA) implementation in a random processes course. Students were required to submit simulation assignments, and then to evaluate their peers' submissions. The research explored the students' perception of the activity throughout the course using surveys, and their behavior and academic performance using data obtained in the course. Background: With decreased resources and larger class sizes, the obligatory theoretical random processes course in the electrical engineering program presents a challenge with regard to students' motivation and assimilation of the academic material. Intended Outcomes: In preceding research, PA was found to provide benefits for students' learning, without significantly burdening teaching staff resources. The implementation was directed at achieving these benefits. Application Design: Simulation exercises were designed to provide illustrations of relatively abstract material, and PA was instituted to facilitate better learning of the material without imposing greater resource requirements on the teaching staff. Findings: Results indicated that PA, although executed in accordance with the best practices presented in the literature, failed to achieve the benefits expected, and might even have contributed to lower grades in the course.

An educational tool based on finite element method for electromagnetic study

Electromagnetism forms a mandatory topic in the syllabus of undergraduate and graduate courses in electrical engineering. This topic involves many physical and mathematical concepts like curl, divergence, gradient for field determination and representation. These concepts are not only difficult to understand but also often lead to poor learning because of the imaginations and non-visualization of electric and magnetic fields. A correct understanding of fields and its distribution is necessary to understand the working, design and optimization of electrical machines. This paper presents a finite element method (FEM) based educational tool that allows the technical students to visualize electromagnetic (EM) fields inside the EM systems. This tool therefore provides a better understanding of the design and optimization of various electrical devices. This paper shows an example of a 2-pole linear machine to visualize the distribution of the magnetic field in a non-linear circuit. This machine extends to form a linear switched reluctance motor (LSRM) using step-by-step design and optimization procedure along with the user guide interface programmed in FEM based ANSYS Maxwell software. This motor is used as an example to visualize magnetic fields using FEM software in complex circuits and can be used as a good educational tool for students. The paper incorporates the validation of the design procedure through FEM simulations.

Course Outcomes, Specific Performance Indicators, Rubrics and Continuous Quality Improvement in a Core Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Course

Course Outcomes, Specific Performance Indicators, Rubrics and Continuous Quality Improvement in a Core Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Course

Student-centered learning in an engineering course with project-integrated laboratory experiment

In this paper we discuss and present results from the pedagogical development of an advancedlevel undergraduate electrical engineering course at Uppsala University, where a new laboratory experiment was implemented. The implementation of the laboratory experiment seemed to result in improved student performance on written tests and a better overall success/pass rate when compared with previous years. The aim of this paper is to describe the course development and its outcome, with a focus on the individual engineering laboratory experiment. We conclude that unique student tasks, connected to realistic engineering problems, may increase the engagement and subject understanding of students.

Effects of inquiry, computer simulation, and cooperation with intergroup competition on electrical engineering students

ABSTRACT Background: Undergraduate electrical-engineering courses are traditionally taught using the lecturing approach. As for all the teacher-centered approaches, the students perceive learning as an individualistic task and consider lecture-notes their principal information source. They tend to employ the minimum possible efforts to get acceptable marks and compete against other students for best scores. Learning theories considers learner-centered approaches, such as, inquiry, computer simulation, self-directed learning, cooperation and competition, valuable alternatives to the traditional lecturing approach. Purpose: This study aims to develop, apply, and assess a new teaching approach to teach electric filters. The new-approach aims to improve the electrical engineering students learning outcomes and achievement, learning autonomy, and students perception of the role of engagement and cooperation in learning. Sample: Sixty-four students voluntarily participated in the study. Thirty-two students voluntarily decided to participate in the new learning approach study-group, whereas the others played the role of the control-group and followed the traditional-teaching method. Design and methods: The design of the new-approach combines inquiry, computer simulation, and cooperation with intergroup competition. The new-approach is developed in two phases. In the first phase, the preparation phase, the students learned electric filters using simple inquiry, cooperation, and learned and applied computer simulation in filter analysis. The second phase was a face-to-face debate on filters. Data was collected using pre-tests, post-tests, questionnaires, direct observation, and student portfolios. Independent and paired T-tests were used to verify the study hypothesis. Results: The findings showed that, the student could learn autonomously. The new method improved the students learning outcomes and achievements. It also improved the electrical engineering students’ perception of the role of engagement and cooperation in learning. Conclusions: The study showed that, following the new-approach improved the tackled electrical engineering students’ characteristics and defeated some of the negative effects of the traditional lecturing. This leads to think that a long-term implementation of the proposed approach can provide the students with the essential attitudes and skills that serve their future as electrical engineering professionals.

Increasing the interest in antennas and microwave courses

Subjects related to electromagnetics in undergraduate electrical engineering courses are normally seen as problematic by students, due to the inherent complexity and abstract concepts. The effect i...

Cooperative Learning Environment in Teaching Mobile Application Development

The evolution in the formation of techniques in technological vocational education constitutes a series of pedagogical strategies that allow the learning, exercise, incentive and practice of students. The projects of interdisciplinary in the university aims to assist in learning the individual with the incentive of activities directed for collaborating with students in undergraduate. These projects are important for undergraduate courses in electrical engineering and computing engineering at the Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Sobral campus. With the main objectives of the project is to encourage the student to learn to academic growth. This article presents a case study developed by the project called the cooperative learning cell for the development of android applications, applied in groups of engineering students in the first and second semesters, using recent teaching methods aimed at learning, occurring in the period from September to December 2016. The main objective of the project was to promote the learning and sharing of knowledge about the programming content for mobile devices, aimed at the android operating system. In addition, it seeks to stimulate the student with more interactive content, applying examples and activities related to mobile programming that were related with the content of the engineering course or the labor market. After the group of students was created, nine meetings took place in each of them, the cooperative learning methodology was applied to the group, where the knowledge was generated through the interaction between two or more people, resulting in an active participation of the educational process. The classes were designed with a focus on content exposure, challenges and small projects to solve group tasks. In addition, professionals working in engineering companies in the northern region of Ceará were invited to give lectures to show the current situation of the labor market, focused on mobile applications. Evaluating the result over the course of the project. Keywords: Educational incentive, Cooperation, Engineering Teaching, Android.

The development of learning material using learning goal orientation approach in digital electronics

Mastery of digital electronics principles is essential for future engineers in the digital era. This article describes the use of simulations in an undergraduate electrical engineering course to promote the adoption of a learning-goal orientation. This study used experimental method. This was done by providing students with a simulation environment which students freely use to experiment with various circuit models. Students were then invited to reflect on how the simulation results compare with results from lab experiments. The module got 82% of positive rating from 28 students and all of them passed in the examination with 81.8 as the average score. Those majority students were motivated by the combination of two learning goals written in the module. Moreover, they also gain the ability to design more complex systems because of their combined experience. Additionally, the module also has been validated and got 83% of reliability. The final product of this research hereafter can be recommended to be used as teaching material.

On the impedance of infinite LC ladder networks

The subject of electrical impedance is on the syllabi of most undergraduate courses in physics and electrical engineering. For example, Richard Feynman in his famous undergraduate text Lectures on Physics shows how to calculate the impedance of an infinite LC ladder. However, the formula he obtains has no useful physical interpretation if considered in the steady state frequency domain. In fact the value of this impedance becomes infinite unless one assumes that the energy flow along the infinite LC ladder is spatially uniform and in one direction only. This ad-hoc assumption, which renders the solution non-causal, is entirely unnecessary if the problem is considered in the time domain. It is important for students to appreciate that the concept of impedance works well only in dissipative circuits where the effects of transients are largely short lived. The purpose of this paper is to show that the same problem treated in the time domain by the Laplace transform method provides a qualitatively different and more satisfying explanation. We show that the current response of an infinite LC ladder, which is in the zero state before a causal harmonic driving voltage is applied, contains a significant non-harmonic component. This component, which is present in addition to the forced harmonic waveform, decays only very slowly and extracts an infinite amount of energy from the source.

A project-oriented approach for power electronics and motor drive courses

Power electronics and motor drives are major topics covered in undergraduate electrical engineering courses. Nevertheless, current teaching methods are usually based on intensive mathematical analysis, which can be difficult for students to understand but mainly to apply. This article provides ideas and practical experiences of a project-oriented approach implemented in power electronics and motor drives courses at the Automation and Control Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, México. By using a microcontroller-based motor drive and a more practical approach in class, it is possible to introduce students to these courses in a more attractive and efficient way. The results presented prove that this methodology improves student competency, increases motivation and promotes teamwork in such technical courses.

James Clerk Maxwell, Kirchhoff's Laws, and their implications on modeling physiology [Retrospectroscope

Many years ago, while spending a short academic period at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, Lima, Max E. Valentinuzzi had a discussion with Antonio Olivera, a professor of electromagnetic theory in the Department of Engineering, who usually taught undergraduate electrical engineering courses. The two discussed the relationship between James Clerk Maxwell's equations and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff's two laws. Olivera quickly jotted down the essence of his demonstration on a piece of paper. In reminiscing over the Maxwell equations and their relation to the Kirchhoff laws, the authors' goal was not to make any novel conclusions. Instead, they sought to enhance the importance of theoretical studies, and as bioengineers, to consider finding peace of mind in this terrific ancestry.

Concept Development and Meaningful Learning Among Electrical Engineering Students Engaged in a Problem-Based Laboratory Experience

This phenomenographic study documented changes in student-held electrical concepts the development of meaningful learning among students with both low and high prior knowledge within a problem-based learning (PBL) undergraduate electrical engineering course. This paper reports on four subjects: two with high prior knowledge and two with low prior knowledge. Subjects were interviewed at the beginning and end of the course to document their understanding of basic electrical concepts. During the term, they were videotaped while solving problems in lab. Concept maps were generated to represent how subjects verbally connected concepts during problem-solving. Significant to PBL research, each subject’s body of meaningful learning changed with each new problem, according to how the subject idiosyncratically interpreted the activity. Prior knowledge among the four subjects was a predictor of final knowledge, but not of problem-solving success. Differences in success seemed related more to mathematical ability and habits of mind. The study concluded that, depending on context, meaningful learning and habits of mind may contribute significantly to problem-solving success. The article presents a testable model of learning in PBL for further research.

Codes: an introduction to information communication and cryptography

Information is an important feature of the modern world. Mathematical techniques underlie the devices that we use to handle it, for example, mobile phones, digital cameras, and personal computers. This book is an integrated introduction to the mathematics of coding, that is, replacing information expressed in symbols, such as a natural language or a sequence of bits, by another message using (possibly) different symbols. There are three main reasons for doing this: economy, reliability, and security, and each is covered in detail. Only a modest mathematical background is assumed, the mathematical theory being introduced at a level that enables the basic problems to be stated carefully, but without unnecessary abstraction. Other features include: clear and careful exposition of fundamental concepts, including optimal coding, data compression, and public-key cryptography; concise but complete proofs of results; coverage of recent advances of practical interest, for example in encryption standards, authentication schemes, and elliptic curve cryptography; numerous examples and exercises, and a full solutions manual available to lecturers from www.springer.com This modern introduction to all aspects of coding is suitable for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate courses in mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, or informatics. It is also useful for researchers and practitioners in related areas of science, engineering and economics.

Strategies, Challenges and Prospects for Active Learning in the Computer-Based Classroom

The introduction of computer-equipped classrooms into engineering education has brought with it a host of opportunities and issues. Herein, some of the challenges and successes for creating an environment for active learning within computer-based classrooms are described. The particular teaching approach developed for undergraduate electrical engineering courses is presented. Longitudinal assessment data regarding in-class utilization of computers in the context of achieving program and course learning outcomes are shared.

A learning methodology using Matlab/Simulink for undergraduate electrical engineering courses attending to learner satisfaction outcomes

Learner-centred approaches follow the prevailing tendency in modern University reforms which are primarily concerned about “how people learn”. The methodologies can be learner-centred in the sense of placing the student as the main actor of the teaching–learning process by increasing his interactivity and participation, but also considering what is relevant for the student by measuring the learner satisfaction. In order to promote both aspects, this paper proposes a synchronous software-based active methodology that makes use of the simulations to show a virtual scenario to the students and challenge them to predict and discuss the evolution of the scenario. The proposed methodology improves the visual interface, promotes discussion both among students and with the teacher in a brainstorming stage and shows real-world examples. This software-based methodology has been implemented into an Electric Machinery course at the University of Seville (Spain), and the evaluation has been carried out considering both the affective and cognitive domains. Principal components analysis proves to be useful to highlight the dimensions with a higher influence on learner satisfaction and the affective and cognitive results confirm the successful implementation of the proposal.

Reality versus Simulation

A systematic study of the implementation of simulation hardware (TIMS) replacing software (MATLAB) was undertaken for advanced undergraduate and early graduate courses in electrical engineering. One outcome of the qualitative component of the study was remarkable: most students interviewed (4/4 and 6/9) perceived the software simulations as “fake”. Professionals, on the other hand, find such simulations as essentially perfectly replacing data from “real” systems. The implications of this large difference in perception between advanced undergraduate/early graduate students and professionals are discussed. At present, suitable theoretical frameworks related to motivation do not afford satisfactory explanation for this observation.

Principles and software realization of a multimedia course on theoretical electrical engineering based on enterprise technology

The Department of Theoretical Electrical Engineering (TEE) of Technical University of Sofia has been developing interactive enterprise-technologies based course on Theoretical Electrical Engineering. One side of the project is the development of multimedia teaching modules for the core undergraduate electrical engineering courses (Circuit Theory and Electromagnetic Fields) and the other side is the development of Software Architecture of the web site on which modules are deployed. Initial efforts have been directed at the development of multimedia modules for the subject Electrical Circuits and on developing the web site structure. The objective is to develop teaching materials that will enhance lectures and laboratory exercises and will allow computerized examinations on the subject. This article outlines the framework used to develop the web site structure, the Circuit Theory teaching modules, and the strategy of their use as teaching tool.

Velocity of Propagation in Transmission Lines

This paper discusses the skin effect on lossy transmission lines in the context of undergraduate electrical engineering courses. A new definition for propagation time derived from Parseval's theorem is proposed. In lossless transmission lines the proposed definition produces the conventional results and for lossy lines it matches quite exactly with the time simulation results, as shown by an illustrative example.