An Alternative Way of Teaching Operational Amplifiers Using a Reconfigurable and Expandable Kit

Early on, students must develop competences by implementing simple or complex electronic circuits with Operational Amplifiers (OpAmps). Traditionally, these skills were mainly developed in laboratory classes, but technology allows us to explore other and complementary ways of aiding students in this achievement. This paper presents a contribution to improve the way OpAmps are included in electronic engineering courses’ curricula. A reconfigurable and expandable kit to teach electronic circuits based on the OpAmp uA741 was designed and implemented. This kit comprises a software application locally interfaced with a hardware platform capable of running in a PC. This platform includes a circuit with the OpAmp uA741 able to reconfigure according to a set of parameters defined by a software application. Its reconfiguration capability also enables the establishment of automatic connections for measuring and for applying signals to a reconfigured circuit, plus the ability to simulate the same or other OpAmp-based circuits. This paper provides an overview about the OpAmp uA741 and its relevance in engineering education. After presenting the kit and make some considerations for its improvement, at the end a brief discussion about its implementation in education according to specific educational strategies and methodologies are provided.This work was supported in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under Grant FCT-UID-EQU-04730-2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

(Digital) tools as professional and generational identity badges in the Chinese creative industries

Animators, architects, designers, and others active in the Chinese creative industries are expert users of tools, both analog and digital. Performances of expert tool use (the wearing of professional identity badges) are strategic ways of signaling creativity understood as sets of skills and character traits essential for attracting work projects but also for professional identity formation. Analogue tools are generally associated with creative openness and fluidity whereas digital tools are discursively constructed as a technological other to the analogue. ‘Older’ creatives (born before 1980) tend to apply some of the media-inflected discourse around the balinghou generation (born 1980–1989) to their younger competitors, including an assumed affinity with digital media and technologies (the pinning on of a generational identity badge). Such generational assumptions can have the effect of reinforcing project hierarchies and denying expert users of digital tools their claims to creativity

A Multi-Institutional Approach to Delivering Shared Curricula for Developing a Next-Generation Energy Workforce

In this paper, we consider collaborative power systems education through the FEEDER consortium. To increase students\u27 access to power engineering educational content, the consortium of seven universities was formed. A framework is presented to characterize different collaborative education activities among the universities. Three of these approaches of collaborative educational activities are presented and discussed. These include 1) cross-institutional blended courses (“MS-MD”); 2) cross-institutional distance courses (“SS-MD”); and 3) single-site special experiential courses and concentrated on-site programs available to students across consortium institutions (“MS-SD”). This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of each approach

VR from a Learning Perspective

Det finns många exempel på att använda teknologi i skolan för att förbättra elevers lärande. En relativt oanvänd teknologi i utbildning är Virtual Reality. De flesta VR applikationer som används i utbildning idag är passiva virtuella studiebesök, där användaren interagerar med applikationen genom att observera den virtuella världen. Detta examensarbete undersöker om interaktiva Virtual Reality applikationer kan ha en positiv effekt på elevers lärande och engagemang, när det kommer till att lära sig grunderna i naturvetenskap. Detta utfördes genom att utveckla en applikation och testa den på högstadieelever. Detta exjobb studerar också hur en Virtual Reality applikation bör utvecklas för att fungera som ett lärandeverktyg. Applikationen lär ut grunderna i elektriska kretsar och designades med en användarcentrerad designprocess och baseras på variationsteori. Ämnet elektriska kretsar valdes baserat på enkäter och en intervju med lärare. En komparativ studie utfördes med två grupper av elever; en grupp som hade en traditionell lektion, och en grupp som använde Virtual Reality applikationen. Båda grupperna testades på vad de hade lärt sig och den andra gruppen svarade på en enkät om deras upplevelse med applikationen. Resultatet från testet visar att eleverna uppskattade användandet av Virtual Reality som lärandeverktyg och att de hade lärt sig av att använda applikationen. På grund av det låga antalet medverkande och att eleverna hade mycket kort tid med applikationen kunde inga konkreta svar ges på huruvida elever lär sig bättre med Virtual Reality. Dock visades det att Virtual Reality har god potential som ett lärandeverktyg på grund av Virtual Realitys uppslukande och interaktiva karaktär.There are many examples of using technology in schools for enhancing student’s learning experience. A relatively unexplored technology in education is Virtual Reality. Most of the existing VR applications aimed at learning are passive virtual field trips, where the user only interacts with the application by observing the virtual world. This thesis explores if interactive Virtual Reality applications can have a positive effect on high school students’ learning and engagement when it comes to learning the basics of natural science. This was done by developing a Virtual Reality application and testing it on high school students. The thesis also studies how a Virtual Reality application should be developed to function as a learning tool. The application teaches the basics of electric circuits and was designed using a user-centered design process and by utilizing variation theory. Electric circuits was chosen as a subject, based on questionnaires and an interview with teachers. A comparative study was performed with two groups of students; one group had a traditional lecture and the other used the Virtual Reality application. Both groups were then tested on what they had learned and the second group answered a questionnaire about their experience with the application. The results of the test show that the students enjoyed using Virtual Reality as a learning tool and that they were able to learn. Due to the small sample size and the short time each student had with the application, there was no conclusive answer to whether or not the students could learn better from a Virtual Reality application. However, it was concluded that Virtual Reality has great potential as a learning tool due to the immersive and interactive nature of Virtual Reality technology

Word And Speaker Recognition System

In this report, a system which combines user dependent Word Recognition and text dependent speaker recognition is described. Word recognition is the process of converting an audio signal, captured by a microphone, to a word. Speaker Identification is the ability to recognize a person identity base on the specific word he/she uttered. A person's voice contains various parameters that convey information such as gender, emotion, health, attitude and identity. Speaker recognition identifies who is the speaker based on the unique voiceprint from the speech data. Voice Activity Detection (VAD), Spectral Subtraction (SS), Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC), Vector Quantization (VQ), Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) are methods used in word recognition part of the project to implement using MATLAB software. For Speaker Recognition part, Vector Quantization (VQ) is used. The recognition rate for word and speaker recognition system that was successfully implemented is 84.44% for word recognition while for speaker recognition is 54.44%

CuDAS: An interactive curriculum combining pedagogic composition with interactive software for the teaching of music technology

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Within the framework of education of Music Technology for 16-18 year olds there exists a lack of thorough teaching and learning resources sufficient for a broad understanding of the basics of audio and electronic synthesis. This PhD submission outlines the role of the composer in the classroom in addressing this fundamental issue through the development of a curriculum containing pedagogic composition and interactive software. There will be a discussion of the principles of pedagogic methodologies developed by various composers and of the current model of learning provided in Music Technology Alevel. The programming tools used to develop the software are investigated, as well as an exploration into the current learning psychology that informed the curriculum development. This submission consists of a written thesis that accompanies a set of compositions and a multimedia DVD, which includes the software for the CuDAS curriculum. Within this software is contained a presentation of a series of interactive tutorials alongside compositions in the form of scores, recordings and interactive exercises. There is also include written supporting documentation and sound files of techniques and recordings from contrasting genres of music history

UTB/TSC Legacy Degree Programs and Courses 2014 – 2015

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1030/thumbnail.jp

UTB/TSC Legacy Degree Programs and Courses 2013 – 2014

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1029/thumbnail.jp

Semester Courses and Course Equivalents: Graduate Courses Summary

A list comprised of summaries of all graduate courses and course equivalents at Wright State University

UTB/TSC Legacy Degree Programs and Courses 2010 – 2011

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/brownsvillelegacycatalogs/1026/thumbnail.jp