Quantum mechanics (QMs) is a foundational subject in many science and engineering fields. It is difficult to teach, however, as it requires a fundamental revision of the assumptions and laws of classical physics and probability. Furthermore, introductory QM courses and texts predominantly focus on the mathematical formulations of the subject and…

In the Internet era, students have increasingly lost interest in traditional lectures; as a consequence, their learning motivation and exam performance have decreased. The widespread adoption of learner-centered teaching methods that address this issue faces certain barriers, including: 1) the significant faculty effort necessary to prepare…

This paper studies electrical engineering learners' preferences for learning methods with various degrees of activity. Less active learning methods such as homework and peer reviews are investigated, as well as a newly introduced very active (constructive) learning method called "slectures," and some others. The results suggest that…

A laboratory pedagogy interweaving weekly student portfolios with onsite formative electronic laboratory assessments (ELAs) is developed and assessed within the laboratory component of a required core course of the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) undergraduate curriculum. The approach acts to promote student outcomes, and neutralize…

This paper presents and analyzes results of two Delphi processes that polled cybersecurity experts to rate cybersecurity topics based on importance, difficulty, and timelessness. These ratings can be used to identify core concepts--cross-cutting ideas that connect knowledge in the discipline. The first Delphi process identified core concepts that…

This paper describes the design of an industrial informatics course, following the project-based learning methodology, and reports the experience of four academic years (from 2012-13 to 2015-16). Industrial Informatics is a compulsory course taught in the third year of the B.Sc. degree in industrial electronics and automation engineering at the…

This paper presents a robot prototype for an undergraduate laboratory program designed to fulfill the criteria laid out by ABET. The main objective of the program is for students to learn some basic concepts of embedded systems and robotics, and apply them in practice. For that purpose, various practical laboratory exercises were prepared to teach…

Carrying out real-world software projects in their academic studies helps students to understand what they will face in industry, and to experience first-hand the challenges involved when working collaboratively. Most of the instructional strategies used to help students take advantage of these activities focus on supporting agile programming,…

Background: Engineering programs must equip students to solve open-ended workplace problems. However, the literature points to actual or potential difficulties faced by students in solving open-ended or complex problems. During Fall 2014, the authors' students experienced difficulties in solving open-ended bio-signals laboratory problems of…

Contribution: Findings are provided from an initial survey to evaluate the magnitude of the recursion problem from the student point of view. Background: A major difficulty that programming students must overcome--the learning of recursion--has been addressed by many authors, using various approaches, but none have considered how students perceive…

Contribution: This paper reports a curriculum development in hybrid problem-based learning (h-PBL), addresses the design, implementation, effectiveness, and assessment issues of h-PBL, and explains the mixed results observed regarding the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) on student grades from a hybrid perspective. Background: The effect of…

Contribution: This paper illustrates how to design and implement curricula in terms of the combined use of flipped learning and inquiry-based learning in an engineering course. Background: Elementary courses in engineering schools are conventional and foundational, and involve a considerable amount of knowledge. Throughout such courses, students…

Contribution: An approach is presented to provide contextualized feedback for students using a project management (PM) tool. This approach covers the ten PM knowledge areas, guiding students through the planning of software projects. Background: Because software PM is unfeasible without the support of a PM tool there is a growing demand that these…

Contribution: This paper brings forward a paradigm shift in microelectronic and nanoelectronic engineering education. Background: An increasing number of universities are offering graduate-level electrical engineering degree programs with multi-disciplinary Master's-level specialization in microelectronics or nanoelectronics. The paradigm shift…

Contribution: This paper presents the "PBL classroom model," an agent-based simulation (ABS) that allows testing of several scenarios of a project-based learning (PBL) application by considering different levels of soft-skills, and students' perception of the methodology. Background: While the community has made great advances in…