2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This project is part of an initiative funded by the board of education in our state aimed at increasing accessibility of intermediate engineering topics to students enrolled at two-year institutions, decreasing their time to graduation, and overall cost of education when transferred to a four-year school. Most community colleges offer an introductory circuits course covering direct current circuits and introducing fundamental topics such as Ohm’s Law, Kirchhoff’s Laws, and so on. Typically, four-year schools offer a second circuits course and accompanying laboratory the second semester of the second year of the. However, community colleges do not offer a second circuits course. The second course in circuits is a prerequisite to all the required third year electrical and computer engineering courses at four-year schools. Therefore, students transferring from community colleges typically take an additional semester to graduate, due to taking the required second circuits course and little else during their first semester at a four-year school.

An online course and accompanying laboratory were developed at a four-year institution that students enrolled at a community college can take and reduce curriculum friction after transferring. The course has pre-recorded lectures, resources, homework, and exams to extend students’ knowledge of circuit analysis. A portable laboratory solution is used by students to perform hands-on exercises. All equipment and materials needed to perform the laboratory exercises are sent to students in a single container. Once the student has completed the laboratory portion of the course, the materials and equipment are re-packed by the student and returned before receiving a final grade. Course topics span from sinusoidal steady-state analysis to transients, transformers, 3-phase power analysis, to a final filtering and Fourier analysis exercise. The laboratory exercises are written to complement the topics from the lectures and provide a physical check on the analysis methods presented during lecture.

A select group of students were able to complete the laboratory exercises and achieve the learning outcomes of the course. Anecdotal evidence from the students indicated they felt comfortable performing the laboratory exercises at home at times that fit into their schedules over a semester. The development of the course is aimed at being a comparable lecture and laboratory for students to fill the gaps in offerings to smooth the transfer from two-year to four-year institutions.

Plan for Submission of the Full Paper
The paper will present lecture and laboratory outcomes and topics, equipment selection, laboratory exercise administration, equipment usage, challenges and solutions to manage student progression through material to try and minimize problems that may arise from an incomplete understanding of the laboratory procedures and requirements. The paper will provide results from an anonymous student survey of their experience in the laboratory.