Optimizing the Interdisciplinary Course: Introduction to Electrical Engineering (EE) for Non-EE Majors

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

The intellectual merit of this project is its novel approach to optimize an essential interdisciplinary course. It will create a prototype curriculum available to electrical engineering departments that are charged with providing an introduction to electrical engineering for non-EE majors. The new curriculum will: (1) be attractive, motivational, and relevant to students; (2) provide the optimal level of both range and depth of coverage of EE topics in a curriculum package, and (3) be inexpensive to implement and cost effective for both universities and students. And, although this is not a primary focus of the project, the strategies used, the methodology of developing the new curriculum, and the testing methods may help professionals in other fields who want to examine the relevancy of their coursework. The broader impacts of this project include development and dissemination of a curriculum package and model that should be useful to all engineering education programs nationally. With an EE background relevant to their particular disciplines, students will be able to work more cooperatively with engineers from other disciplines. This project opens the door to change the way engineering is taught to non-EE engineering majors. The process and the resulting model can serve as a catalyst that prompts engineering educators to find the best ways to teach EE concepts to multidiscipline non-EE engineering students. The outcome of this project will be the full development and design of a novel and innovative EE curriculum package that includes a course textbook, the laboratory coursework, and the course web-based teaching modules for most non-EE engineering fields. Both fundamental engineering knowledge and topics on emerging technologies will be incorporated into the curriculum.