2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Circuits in Action, Grounded in Discovery
Presented at FPD: Complete Papers - Technical Skills in FYE
This Evidence‑Based Practice Paper describes an inter‑university introductory circuits lesson designed to immerse students in foundational electrical engineering concepts through active learning. The module integrates flipped classroom preparation, discovery‑based learning, hypothesis testing, think‑pair‑share, collaborative problem solving, and hands‑on experimentation to support conceptual understanding of voltage, current, resistance, and basic circuit analysis. Before class, students engage with curated multimedia materials and guided readings to build foundational knowledge. In-class activities emphasize peer interaction, practical circuit construction, simulation-based exploration, and iterative testing of predictions. The lesson also introduces students to engineering career pathways by highlighting contributors in electrical engineering whose backgrounds reflect the demographics of the student population. This paper outlines the pedagogical framework and instructional tools used in the module and examines patterns in student perceptions of the active learning strategies employed. Students identified hands-on circuit construction and simulation activities as the most effective learning tools. These findings suggest that the module provides a scalable foundation for strengthening early engineering learning and supporting design‑oriented problem solving in introductory STEM courses.
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Dr. Christopher Horne P.E.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8499-0253
North Carolina A&T State University (CoE)
[biography]
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Dr. Lydia Prendergast Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey [biography]
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Dr. Lorne S. Josephhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-7746-9155
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
[biography]
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