Integration Project: Ehsan Sheybani

Project Overview

This is a proposal to transform a course by integrating technology into it. Namely, EET 141 (DC Electric Circuits) will be developed online in Blackboard. There are certain challenges associated with creating online technical courses. This project is to serve as an innovation in this area, as well as a pilot test for future products from IET Department. This attempt will show the students' acceptance of the concept and the faculty's efficiencies in such effort. The students will be surveyed and the results analyzed for further improvement to this and future online courses in technical fields.

Project Details: EET 141 -- DC Electric Circuits

This course is designed to build foundational knowledge and skills in the area of electricity and electronics technology. The course begins with basic electricity and electronic theories, devices, components, measuring instruments, and applies gained knowledge to working systems and circuitry. Using a systematic and practical approach, the course covers theory of direct current circuit and circuit analysis, including mathematical analysis of DC circuits using Kirchhoff's Law, Thevenin's, and Norton's Theorems. Using comprehensive laboratory experiments for each unit of instruction, students will be able to comprehend and apply theories to practical situations. EET 141 serves as an introduction to electrical/electronics technology and provides essential skills for IET students specializing in manufacturing, design, and construction technology.

The primary objective of this proposal was to transform a course by integrating technology into it. Namely, EET 141 (DC Electric Circuits) was developed online at an instructional web site shell in Blackboard. Additionally, the students in this technical course were interviewed for satisfaction, attitude, and endorsement of the content and method of delivery. The outcomes were measured in terms of course-related criteria such as revision of a course web site to enhance the use of technology in instructional practices and/or students' learning, development of a new course-related web site and curriculum pages, revision of existing course to incorporate technology, and deliverable parameters such as demonstration of model project. It should be noted that there are certain challenges associated with creating online technical courses. This project is to serve as an innovation in this area, as well as a pilot test for future products from IET Department. This attempt will show the students' acceptance of the concept and the faculty's efficiencies in such effort.

A syllabus for the course has been attached to this report for detailed insight into the procedures and assessment of the course. The students in the course were provided with syllabus, lecture notes, discussion questions and a guide to use the software for the laboratory assignments. The students were also required to purchase the electronic kit needed for the project portions of the course. Assessment activities in this course consisted of test, quiz, survey, assignments (graded), participation (in discussions), and projects. While all of the activities and requirements in the course were designed to be 100% online, a parallel class and lab was running in traditional method to accommodate those students who preferred face-to-face instructions. This gave the instructor an additional tool for comparison of the two methods and better implementation of online course with respect to the coverage in the traditional classroom. Due to the technical nature of the course, the innovative ways in which labs and projects were implemented, and the fact that this prototype is going to be used in offering courses online through KYVU, the technical aspects of the course cannot be shared in this report. However, the interviews conducted with students upon completion of the course indicate satisfactory results with respect to the contents and technical approach to the labs and projects. A few comments from the students with respect to some of the steps in the labs are being considered in future implementations of the course.