2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Enhancing Teaching Effectiveness and Learning Experience of Digital Circuit Design using Multiple Tools

Presented at Digital Circuits, Architecture, Embedded Systems

Electronic devices, such as smart home devices, drones, robots, and autonomous cars, have been penetrating various aspects of our daily lives. To meet this growing demand, engineering programs often include at least one electrical engineering course in their curriculum. Digital circuit design is a critical component of computer engineering and a fundamental class for computer science students. The class covers the basics of digital circuits, including Boolean algebra, logic minimization, and binary arithmetic, to provide students with the skills necessary to design, build, and test digital systems. Although digital circuit design is of paramount importance, it is commonly known as a challenging subject for some students, especially those with limited proficiency in mathematical concepts. In this paper, we introduce tools (PyEDA and Logisim) as well as the integration of those tools to enhance the teaching effectiveness and learning experience of digital circuit design. The impact of these tools on student performance is evaluated by analyzing student results from a course where these tools were adopted. The results show that students can significantly benefit from those tools and those tools also make the learning of digital circuit design more enjoyable.

Authors

Dr. Guodong Wang Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts [biography]

Dr. Guodong Wang is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). His research topics include: big data transfer in high-speed networks, Future Network Architecture, Software Defined Networking (SDN), Wireless Sensor Network, and Internet of Things (IoT). He has published over 60 papers in prestigious journals and international conferences.
Dr. Yanxiao . Zhao Virginia Commonwealth University [biography]

Dr. Yanxiao Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Zhao’s research interests include, but not limited to: Internet of things (IoT), 5/6G communications, machine learning, cyber security, wireless energy harvesting, power management and communications in smart grid. Dr. Zhao’s research has been supported by NSF, NASA, Air Force and Virginia Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI). Dr. Zhao has published over 80 papers in prestigious journals and international conferences. She was the recipient of the Best Paper Award for three international conferences WASA2009, ChinaCom2016 and ICMIC2019. She has been actively organizing international conferences by serving as TPC chairs, publicity chairs and TPC members. She is an IEEE Senior Member.

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