TurningPoint

1
0
Annual Report A 23 Year Retrospective Higher
Education Inc. Electrical Engineering
Division Hand Crafting Graduates, One at a Time
Welcome Stakeholders!
Data Taken From NSF04302
2
National Demographics of Electrical Engineering
Students Bachelor Degree Unless Otherwise Stated
Our Product!
0
3
National Demographics of Electrical Engineering
Students Bachelor Degree Unless Otherwise Stated
Our Product!
0
Jobs of 1999 2000 BSEE graduates in 2001
4
Our Productivity!
0
BSEE Degree Production over Time
Ph.D. Degrees 156 Increase over 19 Years 8.2
per year
Bachelor Degrees 11 Increase over 19 Years 0.58
per year
5
Our Costs!
0
The bad news is our product is stagnating
The good news is production is down and costs are
rising
250
Women Men
200
College Life
150
Percentage Ratio
100
50
0
1987
1992
1997
1982
2002
Year
Costs are 220 Higher Adjusted for Inflation 6.3
per year
6
A Critical Look at the University
0

• Stories are much more powerful than data!
• The observer affects the measurement.
• We generalize personal experiences or beliefs
  rather than base teaching on facts.
• Students are less willing to work now than
  they were in the past.
• Students care more about their social life
  than about their school work.
• Broad generalizations form the mythos of the
  university.

• Universities arose in 11th and 12th centuries
  as cathedral and monastery schools.
• A demand for educated men resulted in secular
  universities.
• Early universities had no physical building-
  students came from all over to study with the
  Masters.
• Over time universities became more organized
  and developed curricula.

The original Latin meaning of curriculum was a
course, but of the kind that one runs around (it
came from currere, to run), or perhaps traverses
in a racing chariot, a transferred sense. The
first borrowing of the Latin word into Englishin
the late seventeenth centurywas for a light,
two-wheeled, twin-horsed carriage
Source http//www.worldwidewords.org/topicalword
s/tw-cur1.htm
7
One of the earliest woodcuts of a Medieval
University (c. 14th Century )
0
8
0
What has changed in nine centuries? The
assumption inherent in the paradigm on which
modern higher education rests is that specialized
information can only be found and learned at
universities.
9
0

• Our students learn what we teach them, but
  often do not become what we intend.
• Students learn behaviors that let them succeed
  in classes, but these behaviors are not always
  needed to succeed as an engineer.
• What is the solution and what does this have to
  do with case studies?
• Transition from a knowledge-based paradigm to a
  paradigm that is development-based.
• Stories are a very effective way to teach
  students why they should learn.
• We remember what we understand
• we understand only what we pay attention to
• we pay attention to what we want.

10
Putting Knowledge in its Place.
0

• Knowledge-based program teaching a specific set
  of concepts prepares students for a career in
  engineering.
• Inherent assumptions
• Information can only be learned at
  universities.
• Information is a rare and expensive commodity.
• Exponential growth of information, need for
  knowledge outside narrow disciplines, growing
  uncertainty in the career choices of our
  graduates ? increase the knowledge content of our
  program without increasing time to graduation.
• Development-based program teach students the
  process of solving the problems in addition to
  the concepts needed to understand them.
• Developing problem solving skills is of equal
  or greater importance than gaining a broad
  overview of electrical engineering.
• Ineffective ways to make this transition
• Removing legacy material from the curriculum.
  
• There is no accepted way to identify legacy
  material, it depends on context rather than
  intrinsic merit. Is chemistry legacy knowledge
  for an electrical engineer? It depends on the
  story!
• Blindly adopting technology.

11
A Historical Example Authentic vs. Artificial
Learning
0
An anecdotal story involves a young Niels Bohr
taking a physics exam at the University of
Copenhagen. One of the questions asked how to
determine the height of a skyscraper with a
barometer. Niels Bohrs answer was to tie a long
string to the barometer, lower it from the roof,
then measure the length of the string. The
professor gave a failing grade to Niels, who
immediately appealed on the grounds that his
answer was correct. At the hearing Niels passed
the exam by stating five other ways to determine
the building height, each more practical than the
answer the professor wanted, determining the
difference in air pressure.
Artificial Learning Students use of strategies
like pattern matching or memorization to pass a
class with as high a grade as possible Artificial
learning is reinforced by contrived test or
homework problems Authentic Learning Students
take on tasks that mimic those used by practicing
engineers. To develop deep learning students
must be given authentic tasks. To become
engineers students need to continually practice
being engineers.
12
Order of Book / Lecture Concepts
Three Questions
Order of Book / Lecture Concepts
Three Questions
0
1) Lossless and
lossy
transmission lines
1) Lossless and
lossy
transmission lines
2) Reflection and standing wave ratio
2) Reflection and standing wave ratio
How do charges
How do charges
3) Impedance matching, Smith charts
3) Impedance matching, Smith charts
apply force and
apply force and
4) Coulomb's and Gauss' laws
4) Coulomb's and Gauss' laws
carry energy?
carry energy?
5) Capacitance computations
5) Capacitance computations
6) Resistance computations
6) Resistance computations
7)
Biot
-
Savart
and Ampere's laws
7)
Biot
-
Savart
and Ampere's laws
Why dont circuits
Why dont circuits
8) Electric force, energy, and potential
8) Electric force, energy, and potential
work the same way
work the same way
9) Magnetic force, energy, and vector potential
9) Magnetic force, energy, and vector potential
at high frequencies?
at high frequencies?
10) Inductance computations
10) Inductance computations
11) Electromagnetic boundary conditions
11) Electromagnetic boundary conditions
12) Electromagnetic material properties
12) Electromagnetic material properties
How is information
How is information
13) Maxwell's equations
13) Maxwell's equations
and energy sent
and energy sent
14) Plane waves at normal incidence
14) Plane waves at normal incidence
through space?
through space?
15)
Poynting
vector, complex permittivity
15)
Poynting
vector, complex permittivity
(1) Structure learning around two or three
fundamental questions rather than a fixed set of
concepts.
13
0
(1) Structure learning around two or three
fundamental questions or problems rather than a
fixed set of concepts. (2) Create a realistic
environment and teach students to work in this
environment by emphasizing teamwork skills. (3)
Pose questions through a case study to make the
problem relevant to students and emphasize
social, ethical, and economic impacts of the
problem.
14
Case Studies introduce relevance and emerging
knowledge into the course. Students construct new
knowledge by building upon their prior knowledge-
a case study introduces unfamiliar (new) concepts
in a framework understood by the students.
0
EXPERT
Evaluate
Synthesize
Concepts
Analyze
Anaylze
Apply
Apply
Understand
Understand
Remember
Remember
NOVICE
15
0
(1) Structure learning around two or three
fundamental questions (2) Create a realistic
environment (3) Pose questions through a case
study. (4) Walk students through the process of
solving the problem in three steps (4a)
Remember and understand outside of the classroom.
Tie all your reading assignments back into the
case study!
16
WebCT ensures Knowledge and Comprehension Assign
students reading assignments from book or other
web-based resources every class period. WebCT
based quiz guides students to important concepts
from reading assignment
0
EXPERT
Evaluate
Case Studies
Synthesize
Independent Learning
Concepts
Analyze
Anaylze
Apply
Apply
Outside Class
Understand
Understand
Remember
Remember
NOVICE
17
0
(1) Structure learning around two or three
fundamental questions (2) Create a realistic
environment (3) Pose questions through a case
study. (4) Walk students through the process of
solving the problem in three steps (4a)
Remember and understand outside of the classroom.
(4b) Faculty actively interact with
students in-class in applying what they know and
analyzing the problem. Problems given in context
of case study.
Blooms Taxonomy used to gauge student
development
18
In class students apply their knowledge with
faculty guidance to address student
misconceptions. One team accomplishes a standard
weekly homework assignment each class.
0
EXPERT
Evaluate
Case Studies
Synthesize
Concepts
Team Learning
Analyze
Anaylze
In Class
Apply
Apply
Outside Class
Understand
Understand
Remember
Remember
NOVICE
19
0
(1) Structure learning around two or three
fundamental questions (2) Create a realistic
environment (3) Pose questions through a case
study. (4) Walk students through the process of
solving the problem in three steps (4a)
Remember and understand outside of the classroom.
(4b) Faculty actively interact with students
in-class in applying what they know and analyzing
the problem. Problems given in context of case
study. (4c) Faculty help students create a
method of solution and evaluate their
understanding by creating a realistic deliverable
(product, experiment, etc.) (5) Students build
an engineering portfolio, developing
credentials. (6) Students assess and reflect on
their understanding and experiences.
Blooms Taxonomy used to gauge student
development
20
0
EXPERT
Evaluate
Synthesize
Team Learning
Analyze
Anaylze
In Class
Apply
Apply
Outside Class
Understand
Understand
Remember
Remember
NOVICE
21
What does this change?
0

• 94 of the respondents felt that they learned
  more from working in a team.
• 78 felt this method of teaching helped make the
  material more relevant.
• 78 of students reported that the in-depth
  approach promoted learning
• Even though this class is more work, is very
  demanding, can be confusing, and can be
  frustrating at times I feel that I learn better
  by actually doing. I will definetly sic retain
  it better.
• I think that this class is a good step in
  making learning what it should be -- a vibrant
  and enjoyable experience.
• Did not like the format of the class at all.
  Should have had tests to test what we have
  learned instead of having a final out of the
  middle of nowhere.
• Student-reported learning gains varied greatly
  from class to class with greater success reported
  by faculty more experienced in alternative
  teaching methods.
• A common comment from students is that they miss
  lecture, but there were few substantive comments
  about lecture from lecture courses.
• I feel like the lectures were vital to being
  able to tie together everything we had learned,
  and to see the relationship between two
  concepts.
• After the transition there were three times more
  negative comments concerning course materials
  than positive comments- in lecture courses a
  common thread was the book was not used, rather
  lecture notes were preferred.
• I did not even open the book once the whole
  semester, nor did I do any of the suggested
  homework problems, but I still feel like I know
  this material very well. (student in lecture
  format class)
• There were six times fewer comments about faculty
  in REAL LIFE, correlated with a 36 drop in the
  importance of the instructor to learning
• Faculty rated student learning significantly
  higher than students themselves did the
  students became better learners. They did not
  struggle as hard with difficult material as
  previous classes, since they had tried to learn
  it themselves, and knew what questions to
  ask....

22
Assessment SALGTANSTAAFL!
0
Lecture and review sessions
Electromagnetic Fields
Standard homework Exams
Help from professor/TA
Facts and Equations
Class expectations
Help from friends
Concepts
Test taking ability
Importance Enthusiasm
Textbook other resources
Relevance
Quizzes help learning
Teamwork
Communication
Computer Tools