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This paper proposes lab work for learning fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) in mechatronic systems. These skills are important for engineering education because FDD is a key capability of competitive processes and products. The intended outcome of the lab work is that students become aware of the importance of faulty conditions and learn to design FDD strategies for a real system. To this end, the paper proposes a lab project where students are requested to develop a discrete event dynamic system (DEDS) diagnosis to cope with two faulty conditions in an autonomous mobile robot task. A sample solution is discussed for LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots with LabVIEW. This innovative practice is relevant to higher education engineering courses related to mechatronics, robotics, or DEDS. Results are also given of the application of this strategy as part of a postgraduate course on fault-tolerant mechatronic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keeping up with novel methods and keeping abreast of new applications are crucial issues in engineering education. In brain research, one of the most significant research areas in recent decades, many developments have application in both modern engineering technology and education. New measurement methods in the observation of brain activity open a new frontier in engineering applications. Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain activity observation processes are very promising and have been used in several engineering studies, primarily for the implementation of control tasks. This paper presents the development, implementation, and assessment of an EEG-based engineering education project, in which engineering students applied the theory they had learned and improved their knowledge and skills in the area of observation and evaluation of electrical signals generated by brain activity and measured by biosensors. The main project goal was to develop and test a brain–computer interface that is able to measure the average attention level. The effectiveness of this project-based learning was evaluated by student questionnaire responses and analysis of students' exam results; students who had participated in the project were shown to have higher levels of acquired knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of using project-based learning (PBL) combined with collaborative learning (CL) and industry best practices, integrated with information communication technologies, open-source software, and open-source hardware tools, in a specialized microcontroller and embedded systems engineering Master's course. In addition to addressing industry requirements in both contents and methodology, the course develops capabilities and competencies in problem solving, independent learning, teamwork, and technical knowledge. Since PBL methodology alone does not ensure teamwork, it was complemented with CL. Design review meetings (as described in IEC 61160), deliverables, and organizational resources were also introduced to mirror industry demands. This structure integrated course content and student academic achievement in a simulated industrial environment. The course had students build a modular management system for home appliances, implementing control software on the “Arduino” open-source platform, as well as using wireless communications. The results show that teaching, learning, and student assessment processes can be improved by using PBL with CL. In addition, the introduction of industry practices, such us peer review meetings, brings academia closer to a real-world context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inspiration for this paper comes from a successful experiment conducted with students in the “Mobile Robots” course in the fifth year of the integrated Master's program in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), Porto, Portugal. One of the topics in this Mobile Robots course is “ Localization of Mobile Robots using the Extended Kalman Filter in a LEGO NXT,” which gives the students the opportunity to study the concepts of localization. This experiment comes within the framework of teaching localization concepts in mobile robotics and focuses primarily on explaining the Kalman filter concept. It involves a specific tool developed by the authors and based on LEGO NXT technology. The work presented here could be a helpful guide for teaching concepts related to localization in mobile robotics to ensure adequate understanding of the concept and of the use of the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The LegoFeup robot described here was built using a LEGO Mindstorms NXT and tested both in simulation and in real scenarios. Based on the results obtained, the authors concluded that the developed tool is effective in motivating students. The implementation of the tool, the structure of the Mobile Robots course, and the criteria for student assessment are described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the evolution of the teaching of electrical engineering to mechanical engineering students based on motivation and a pedagogical strategy incorporating interdisciplinary mechatronics projects in a learning studio environment. Implementation of student projects within the curriculum has been demonstrated to be highly motivational and educational and has even evolved from “play and learn” into industry-inspired green energy applications as a platform for multiple student competitions. Several examples of successful student projects are discussed. These modules can be used as motivation instruments to gradually enhance the interest of current and future engineering students in mechatronics. In this paper, a summary of student feedback is provided, and benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from this initiative are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the results of a study of the requirements for developing a remote radio frequency (RF) laboratory for electrical engineering students. It investigates students' preferred usage of the technical content of a state-of-the-art RF laboratory. The results of this study are compared to previous findings, which dealt with other user groups (technicians in technical colleges and engineers in the RF domain). Based on the results of these analyses, seven essential principles for designing and developing such a laboratory were identified. As a case study, these principles were then implemented into a remote laboratory system. In this paper, the implementation examples are also provided and discussed. The primary aim of this study is to guide remote laboratory platform developers toward the most effective instructional design. This study also determined, from the remote laboratory system case study, what the requirements are of such a laboratory from the students' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the case for emulation-based virtual laboratories in control engineering education. It demonstrates that such emulation experiments can give students an industrially relevant educational experience at relatively low cost. The paper also describes a particular emulation-based system that has been developed with the aim of giving students an introduction to real-world control engineering design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development, implementation, and assessment of a project-based Bioinstrumentation course. All course lectures and hands-on laboratory activities are related to a central project theme: a cardiac pacemaker. The students create a benchtop cardiac pacemaker by applying instrumentation knowledge acquired in the course to each stage of device development. This approach emphasizes both conceptual and practical student learning: The students must apply theory learned in the course to create their devices. Indirect and direct assessment performed with respect to the major course objective demonstrated that course participants were able to successfully design, construct, and test a bioinstrumentation system. The students perceived a marked increase in their instrumentation knowledge, objectively corroborated by their performance on specific exercises related to the creation of their benchtop pacemakers. The outcomes of the course development presented here, along with the course structure and pedagogical methodology, may enhance engineering education by acting as a guideline for the creation of courses in which a central project theme is used as a platform for concept instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a flipped and improved first-year digital circuits (DC) course that incorporates several active learning strategies. With the primary objective of increasing student interest and learning, an integrated instructional design framework is proposed to provide first-year engineering and technology students with practical knowledge of DC. The research presented here compares the effectiveness of the flipped course to the previous traditional course through a controlled experimental study. The improved effectiveness of the flipped course is confirmed through the significant increase in course content and significant improvements in students' performance and their perceptions of their learning experience. Preliminary results suggest that students' academic success, and their engagement and interest in engineering, can be enhanced by refinement of an integrated instructional design framework. The authors believe that this positive outcome is a result of alignment of online preview of lectures, face-to-face student/instructor and peer interactions, discussions, hands-on activities, combined with several active learning strategies infused into the class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power electronics and renewable energy are two important topics for today's power engineering students. In many cases, the two topics are inextricably intertwined. As the renewable energy sector grows, the need for engineers qualified to design such systems grows as well. In order to train such engineers, new courses are needed that highlight the unique engineering challenges presented by renewable energy systems. This paper presents the theory, implementation, and assessment of a new laboratory course designed to teach power electronics and renewable energy to engineering students. A key element of the course is the use of real renewable energy systems in the laboratory setting. Students design, test, and troubleshoot power electronic circuits (such as dc/dc converters and pulse-width-modulated inverters) with tools used widely in industry (such as MATLAB/Simulink and dSPACE digital signal processors). Ten unique experiments are presented, as well as detailed descriptions of two open-ended design projects: a maximum power point tracker for a photovoltaic array and a full converter for a permanent-magnet wind turbine. Results from students' work on the experiments and final projects, as well as an assessment of the effectiveness of the course based on pre- and post-testing, are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of an aero control experiment apparatus (ACEA) for use in aerospace control practical courses. The ACEA incorporates a systematic multihierarchy learning and teaching method, and was designed to improve aerospace engineering students' understanding of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control systems. It offers a number of standard experimental modules at three levels: component, system, and simulation and evaluation. The software and hardware design methods used in the modules were chosen to allow students to conduct experiments in a simple, more hands-on manner. As a result, they were able to select or reconfigure their experiments and so continuously improve their skills and extend the ACEA itself. The practical curriculum modules—grouped in three skill levels of basic experiments, case study, and independent design—were applied in a 3-year M.Sc. course, UAV Control Systems. The marking criteria created to evaluate students' achievements are presented, along with some results of this evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a tool, LABEL, oriented to the teaching of parallel robotics. The application, organized as a set of tools developed using Easy Java Simulations, enables the study of the kinematics of parallel robotics. A set of classical parallel structures was implemented such that LABEL can solve the inverse and direct kinematic problem of 5R, 3RRR, and Delta robots. An intuitive graphical user interface lets the student change the joint coordinates or Cartesian coordinates of the end effector while observing a graphical representation of the robot. In addition, a set of five practical sessions based upon this tool was developed. During the practical sessions, the student analyzes the inverse kinematics of parallel structures and the direct kinematic problem. Moreover, LABEL makes it easy to analyze the singularities that appear in the solution of the inverse and direct kinematic problem. These singularities are analyzed through the use of a path planning application, which allows the user to plan a trajectory in the robot's workspace. This helps the student to analyze the position and velocity of the end effector while observing the joint trajectories and speeds of the actuators. LABEL was implemented during the academic year 2011–2012 and has been well accepted. Finally, an assessment of LABEL is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the authors' experience of teaching agile software development to students of computer science, software engineering, and other related disciplines, and comments on the implications of this and the lessons learned. It is based on the authors' eight years of experience in teaching agile software methodologies to various groups of students at different universities, in different cultural settings, and in a number of courses and seminars. It specifically discusses three different courses on agile software development, given in different teaching settings and at different levels, and briefly surveys variations to these courses given elsewhere. Based on the experience acquired, analyses and evaluations conducted, and current pedagogical trends at relevant university departments, the authors provide recommendations on how to overcome potential problems in teaching agile software development and make their adoption more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a competition-style of exercise to teach system and network security and to reinforce themes taught in class. The exercise, called NetSecLab, is conducted on a closed network with student-formed teams, each with their own Linux system to defend and from which to launch attacks. Students are expected to learn how to: 1) install the specified Linux distribution; 2) set up the required services; 3) find ways to harden the box; 4) explore attack methods; and 5) compete. The informal write-up at the end of the lab focuses on their research into defense and attack methods, which contributes to their grade, while their competition score is dependent on their abilities to attack during the competition. Surveys were performed to evaluate the efficacy of the exercise in teaching system security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoelectronics is an emerging area of electrical and computer engineering that deals with the current–voltage behavior of atomic-scale electronic devices. As the trend toward ever smaller devices continues, there is a need to update traditional undergraduate curricula to introduce electrical engineers to the fundamentals of the field. These fundamentals encompass topics from quantum mechanics and condensed-matter physics, and they pose new teaching challenges in electronics education; specifically, unconventional ideas must be presented in a rapid and yet complete way so that engineering undergraduates can quickly yet satisfyingly absorb the key concepts, and then apply these concepts to emerging devices. This paper describes the strategies employed by the author in teaching the subject to large undergraduate classes at his institution. These strategies include the use of computer visualization, a careful introduction of quantum mechanics, and a constant demonstration of the relevance of theory by practical examples and calculations. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated through survey results of the Universal Student Ratings of Instruction at the author's institution and by way of typical assignment and exam questions that demonstrate the level of sophistication that students can attain in what might otherwise be viewed as a purely mathematical and esoteric subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning are, in various aspects, very superior education methodologies compared to other traditional ones. They are highly appropriate methodologies for elective courses, as they exert a strong attraction on the students, quite apart from their educational advantages. This paper describes how PBL and cooperative learning have been used to teach the topics of power supplies and photovoltaic electricity within two elective undergraduate courses. A project is carried out for each of the two topics. Moodle is used as the e-learning platform to provide the course materials and the wiki resource and to allow the submission of assignments. The simulation is done by means of Simulink. Work has been done to develop skills for project planning, group management of the work, technical document writing and presentations in public. The methodology has been seen to be successful, as all the students who have followed it over the last few years have passed the courses in which it was included, Design of Industrial Applications and Industrial Electronics. Examples of the rubrics for assessing the projects and examples of the projects themselves are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, some approaches to teaching multivariable control design are discussed, with special attention being devoted to a step-by-step transition to e-learning. The approach put into practice and presented here is developed through design projects, from which one is chosen as a competition game and is realized using the E-CHO system, Matlab, and a laboratory pilot plant. All the preparations for the game can be completed using a remote virtual and actual laboratory device, while the final competition evaluation takes place in the laboratory in order to preserve personal contacts between the students and the staff. The methods described, comprising all the important e-education elements, were found to stimulate the students' interest and speed up the learning process, and are directly extendable to different forms of courses suitable for new forms of study and education promotion, including lifelong education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The static design of ac/dc and dc/dc switching-mode power supplies (SMPS) relies on a simple but repetitive process. Although specific spreadsheets, available in various computer-aided design (CAD) programs, are widely used, they are difficult to use in educational applications. In this paper, a graphic tool programmed in MATLAB is presented, which allows students to apply and to reflect upon the knowledge acquired in theoretical classes. This tool has been successfully employed in the course “Sistemas Electrónicos de Alimentación” in the Telecommunications Engineering degree as part of a project in new education methods (University of Oviedo project PB-08–019). During practical sessions, the students used the tool to design a SMPS, achieving better learning results than was the case without the tool. In addition, the tool was successfully used to improve the students' theoretical knowledge of the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes lab work and student competitions based on the LEGO NXT Mindstorms kits and standard LabVIEW. The goal of this combination is to stimulate design and experimentation with real hardware and representative software in courses where mobile robotics is adopted as a motivating platform to introduce mechatronics competencies. Basic LabVIEW examples are proposed for three case-study laboratory practices. These are implemented with the NXT Toolkit and the NXT Direct Command programming libraries for standalone and remote execution, respectively. The application of this instructional material has been tested in two different experiences with senior undergraduate engineering students. A description of the courses as well as an assessment of student results are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation for engineering education is changing. Society needs an increasing number of engineers, requiring ever-increasing student enrollment in engineering schools. The variety of skills that engineering students should master is also increasing. This paper describes pedagogical methods that have been adopted as a response to these needs and to the desires of both students and lecturers to achieve better learning results. A redesigned implementation of Active RF Circuits based on interactive teaching methods is described as well as the impact of these changes on student learning. The course included weekly prelecture assignments, concept tests and student seminar presentations, which lead to an ideal learning cycle. Giving the students frequent guiding feedback was found to be essential to improving student learning. The learning results were encouraging; the students were motivated and they were able to improve their communication and problem-solving skills. Most importantly, the students seemed to have achieved better learning results than with traditional lecturing. The course was targeted towards fourth-year M.Sc. engineering students, who were soon to start their final theses. This qualitative case study is classified as action research with evaluative features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the rationale of a one semester sophomore level basic course on electromagnetic waves for electrical engineers (emphasis on communications), which avoids the mathematical complexity associated with Maxwell's equations (differential operators, vector potential, wave equation) with no loss of logical rigor nor substantial loss of formal rigor. The course is based in the postulation of the fields produced by an accelerated charge in the nonrelativistic limit, and the obtainment of a uniform plane wave as the limiting case of a spherical wave when observed far from the source. In this way, the student can begin working with the full vector description of electromagnetic waves and with relevant scientific and technical examples from the second course week, and his/her effort is directed more to the use and interpretation of waves than to their mathematical derivation. Further postulation of the Huygens-Fresnel principle puts the student in a position to tackle most of the basic problems of wave optics and radiation systems. Although some penalties are paid by this approach (more additional postulates are required; students miss the ability to solve boundary value problems; engineering textbooks are not written with this background; professors feel attached to the classical approach), it has been found much more efficient than the standard Maxwell's equations as an introduction to telecommunication topics. Also, students find it more interesting, motivating, and rewarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering schools are struggling to maintain or increase the number of engineering students. Most attempted solutions focus on better marketing and publicity of the engineering field to K-12 students. How- ever, a large population of K-12 home-schooled students remains relatively untapped. This paper provides background information about the home- school population and their academic performance. The methods that universities and engineering schools can use to recruit home-schooled students are provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]