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The most common problems of students attending courses of optoelectronics are discussed in the presented paper. On the basis of these problems, three computer programs for the computer-aided education (CAE) in optoelectronics have been developed to support the student's understanding of complex phenomena. 'Gaussian Beam' serves for simulations and computations in paraxial optics, 'Optical Fiber' is used for visualization of the electromagnetic field distribution in an optical fiber, and 'General Dielectric Waveguide' performs the full-wave finite-element analysis of arbitrary longitudinally homogenous waveguiding structures. All the programs have been designed for Windows'95 with the emphasis on unified user's managing. Index Terms - Computer-aided education, fiber optics, optical waveguides, paraxial optics.

A senior-level design laboratory course is described, in which an optical fiber communication network is expanded or improved by successive generations of students. In this evolutionary approach, student teams base their work on the final written reports of students in previous course offerings. In addition to its primary goal of providing a high-level technical experience, the course requires multidisciplinary teamwork and provides incentive for the development of effective oral and written communication skills. Results of four offerings of the course are presented. Index Terms - Capstone design, fiber optics, interdisciplinary design, optical communications.

The potential of optical fibers can be taught to undergraduate students using experiments based on a miniaturized Michelson-type interferometer that is relatively insensitive to temperature drifts and a two-mode sensor used in a differential interferometric sensing scheme. These stable phase-modulated sensors can be constructed by the students and used in experiments which test the stability of the miniaturized interferometric sensor; detect surface acoustic waves generated on a metal bar; and detect static strain. Other applications are the measurement of external perturbation manifested as microdisplacement and vibration and pressure sensing.