A freshman electrical engineering course and laboratory for all engineering majors

2009 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Dr. Oliveira current research interests include optical fiber communication systems, Monte Carlo simulations, digital signal processing, wireless communications, and engineering education. She has authored or co-authored 13 archival journal publications and 27 conference contributions. From 2007-2011 Dr. Oliveira is serving as the Michigan Tech project director of the U.S.-Brazil Engineering Education Consortium on Renewable Energy that is funded by FIPSE from the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Oliveira is an ABET evaluator, and serve as panelist for NSF projects. Dr. Oliveira has also been contributing to several STEM K-12 outreach initiatives, and to the NSF-ADVANCE initiative at Michigan Technological University. Dr. Oliveira is a member of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), the IEEE Women in Engineering Society, and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lab Experiments and Simple Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges Of Teaching Electrical Engineering Classes To Nonmajors

2009 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

“…It is a common understanding that the laboratory must serve as a learning resource center in which the students not only perform formal lab assignments, but also have the opportunity to use the equipment and computers to strengthen their understanding of the concepts presented in the lecture section 7 . We can't stress enough the value of hands-on learning.…”

Section: Lab Experiments and Simple Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacting Students’ Interest In Stem Fields: An Electronic Communication Course For K 12 Underrepresented Students

2010 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Dr. Oliveira current research interests include optical fiber communication systems, Monte Carlo simulations, digital signal processing, wireless communications, and engineering education. She has authored or co-authored 13 archival journal publications and 32 conference contributions. From 2007-2011 Dr. Oliveira is serving as the Michigan Tech project director of the U.S.-Brazil Engineering Education Consortium on Renewable Energy that is funded by FIPSE from the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Oliveira is an ABET evaluator, and serve as panelist for NSF projects. Dr. Oliveira has also been contributing to several STEM K-12 outreach initiatives, and to the NSF-ADVANCE initiative at Michigan Technological University. Dr. Oliveira is a member of the IEEE Photonics Society, the IEEE Women in Engineering Society, and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).

“…In addition to the complexity and cost of equipment that can emulate digital concepts, the data communication class that we describe in this paper is offered as a core-course for EET majors and a service course for other majors (non-EET). Historically, introductory courses in electrical engineering and electrical engineering technology not always have been adequate to satisfy the goals of providing a foundation for EET majors, while providing some EET knowledge and tools needed for other majors to support their field of study 3 . We continue to struggle with the task of imparting knowledge to students who often have little interest in the material, and who are very impatient.…”

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Hands-on Course in Data Communications for Technologists

2012 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Traditional undergraduate communication courses have focused on analog transmission systems, which can be coupled with a fairly simple laboratory component. The emergency of modern technologies has changed the focus from analog to digital systems, making data communications an essential area of study for students of several technology majors. However, due to the complexity and cost of equipment that can emulate digital concepts, offering an undergraduate course in data communication with a supplemental hardware laboratory is not as straightforward as in the analog case. Simulation only based laboratory is an alternative solution but are not a substitute for hands-on experiments with circuit hardware and real signals. A reasonable solution for this dilemma is to offer a data communication laboratory component with a mixed of computer-aided techniques, traditional communication circuitry and basic instruments, Emona Telecoms-Trainer ETT 101 communications modules, and an end of semester practical application project. This hybrid solution allows for a relatively low-cost and flexible data communications laboratory experience. This paper presents an overview of the experiments that have been developed for a data communication course, and discusses the main challenges and teaching methods that the author has used to encourage student's active learning and engagement. Assessment data indicates that there was improvement in achieving the student learning outcomes for the course as a result of the introduction of the new hybrid laboratory experiments and the teaching methods used.