Hands-on project — Key issue in the education of future electronic engineers

Abstract

The paper presents a pilot hands-on project in which 73 Bachelor students have taken part. This project addresses a key issue in the education of future electronic engineers: lack of practical activities. For the time being, this activity is placed in the middle of the academic training undergone by Bachelor students. In general, the disciplines which are found in the curricula have the following activities associated: courses, laboratories, seminars or projects. All of these are limited to the discipline they serve. The project described in this paper has been developed as an interdisciplinary activity and is based on the knowledge gained by students at several disciplines studied during the previous semesters. For this purpose, the knowledge gained by students during the first to the forth semesters is considered a prerequisite for realizing the project in the fifth semester. The novelty of the project is completed by the practical development of the electronic module at the end of the fifth semester and by tests and measurements. The electric measurements are compared with the results obtained after designing and simulating the circuit.