Balancing the ECE Curriculum with the Kolb Learning Cycle

University Of Colorado At Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs CO

Investigators

Abstract

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is planning to accelerate the pace and broaden the scope of its curriculum innovation, and ground these efforts in modern learning theory. The department has begun a migration to a more balanced curriculum in the ECE Department as a result of a continuing cycle of assessment, feedback, and course updating. They are exploring possibilities of (1) developing a unified curricular theme, and (2) introducing significant components of hands-on instruction to reinforce this unified theme. They are focusing efforts on the systems core, but are also developing a progression of hands-on laboratory experiences integrated with theory from the areas of information technology and microelectronics (including MEMS). An overall goal is to provide a more relevant foundation for senior-level technical electives and capstone design course. They plan to weave the themes of robotics, signal processing, and wireless communications throughout their curriculum by means of a coherent set of courses. They have the following objectives in their new core curriculum design. (1) Expose students to engineering computational methods sooner and increase their use throughout the undergraduate curriculum; (2) Weave design practices throughout the new core course sequence so that they will flow naturally into the senior year where the curricular content consists of technical electives and the capstone design course; (3) Place more emphasis on developing the students' communication and interpersonal skills; (4) Encourage more critical thinking throughout the new core course sequence and into the senior-level technical electives and the capstone design course; 5) More tightly couple lectures with laboratory experiences throughout the curriculum. An assessment procedure specially intended for the proposed core curriculum development will be designed in cooperation with the University's Teaching and Learning Center so that we can determine if the core curriculum is accomplishing its objectives and implement adjustments for better achieving them. Intellectual merit: Realizing the redesigned curricula will require significant research and considerable self-examination. They intend to explore the workforce and educational needs of local and national industry, understand the strengths and weaknesses of students entering our programs, and determine how to combine these in motivational, functional, and personal ways. They plan to explore the literature to evaluate best practices implemented at other institutions, and will creatively adapt these methods to fit their own students. Broader Impacts: They will develop a curriculum that strongly emphasizes innovative practices and explore and develop delivery methods to engage students with diverse learning styles. They will incorporate student-conducted research in the undergraduate education process, from the freshman through senior levels. The will develop specific program objectives to support students of under-represented groups, and connect them to resources available on campus. The investigators will participate in multi- and interdisciplinary conferences and workshops, and publish their findings in the open literature. Society as a whole will benefit from a careful redesign of their curriculum taking into account contemporary technologies, as new engineering graduates are stimulated to move forward and impact the future of science and technology, improving all aspects of life in the U.S. for the decades to come.