Integration of Computer-Based Electronics Laboratory into a Control Systems Course

Julio Garcia and Patricia Ryaby Backer, San José State University

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education. Reprinted with the permission of ASEE

Abstract
The goal of this project is to adapt the work of other researchers to improve the delivery of
electronics lecture and laboratory content in the Electronics & Computer Technology (ECT) area
of the BS in Industrial Technology at San Jose State University. There are several other
demographic factors that serve to make the delivery of instruction challenging for the
department. Approximately 70% of ECT students work at least 30 hours a week. SJSU also has a
diverse student population with 62% of all undergraduates identified as having non-White
ethnicity. A higher percentage (69%) of the undergraduate students in the BSIT are non-White
and there are significantly more students from Asian backgrounds in the BSIT than in the
university as a whole. From the research on ethnic and gender differences in learning styles, the
evidence suggests that ethnic minorities and women work best when the material is organized so
that students work in teams and have a high level of hands-on experimentation and problemsolving.
To fund this curricular development, we received a NSF CCLI grant. The four objectives for this
project are (1) Revise the lecture and laboratory content for Tech 167—Control Systems in line with
theories of effectiveness in web-based instruction (Fisher & Nygren1; NSF23; Shiratuddin, Hassan,
& Landoni); (2) Develop multimedia lecture materials for the teaching/learning of Tech 167—Control
Systems using WebCT (Sharer & Frisbee); (3) Revise the laboratory activities to integrate an
electronics kit (consisting of data acquisition hardware) so that students can complete them following
the model established by Wang and (d) Integrate LabVIEW and Multisim in the Tech 167 class to
provide the students with realistic, industry-based simulation experiences

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