Balancing the ECE Curriculum with the Kolb Learning Cycle

平衡 ECE 课程与 Kolb 学习周期

• 批准号: 0431953
• 负责人: Rodger Ziemer
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0431953&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Balancing; ECE; Curriculum; Kolb; Learning

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is planning to accelerate the pace and broaden the scope of its curriculum innovation, and ground these efforts in modern learning theory. The department has begun a migration to a more balanced curriculum in the ECE Department as a result of a continuing cycle of assessment, feedback, and course updating. They are exploring possibilities of (1) developing a unified curricular theme, and (2) introducing significant components of hands-on instruction to reinforce this unified theme. They are focusing efforts on the systems core, but are also developing a progression of hands-on laboratory experiences integrated with theory from the areas of information technology and microelectronics (including MEMS). An overall goal is to provide a more relevant foundation for senior-level technical electives and capstone design course. They plan to weave the themes of robotics, signal processing, and wireless communications throughout their curriculum by means of a coherent set of courses. They have the following objectives in their new core curriculum design. (1) Expose students to engineering computational methods sooner and increase their use throughout the undergraduate curriculum; (2) Weave design practices throughout the new core course sequence so that they will flow naturally into the senior year where the curricular content consists of technical electives and the capstone design course; (3) Place more emphasis on developing the students' communication and interpersonal skills; (4) Encourage more critical thinking throughout the new core course sequence and into the senior-level technical electives and the capstone design course; 5) More tightly couple lectures with laboratory experiences throughout the curriculum. An assessment procedure specially intended for the proposed core curriculum development will be designed in cooperation with the University's Teaching and Learning Center so that we can determine if the core curriculum is accomplishing its objectives and implement adjustments for better achieving them. Intellectual merit: Realizing the redesigned curricula will require significant research and considerable self-examination. They intend to explore the workforce and educational needs of local and national industry, understand the strengths and weaknesses of students entering our programs, and determine how to combine these in motivational, functional, and personal ways. They plan to explore the literature to evaluate best practices implemented at other institutions, and will creatively adapt these methods to fit their own students. Broader Impacts: They will develop a curriculum that strongly emphasizes innovative practices and explore and develop delivery methods to engage students with diverse learning styles. They will incorporate student-conducted research in the undergraduate education process, from the freshman through senior levels. The will develop specific program objectives to support students of under-represented groups, and connect them to resources available on campus. The investigators will participate in multi- and interdisciplinary conferences and workshops, and publish their findings in the open literature. Society as a whole will benefit from a careful redesign of their curriculum taking into account contemporary technologies, as new engineering graduates are stimulated to move forward and impact the future of science and technology, improving all aspects of life in the U.S. for the decades to come.

科罗拉多斯普林斯大学（UCCS）的电气和计算机工程系（ECE）计划加快步伐并扩大其课程创新的范围，并在现代学习理论中进行这些努力。由于持续的评估，反馈和课程更新，该部门已开始迁移到ECE部门更加平衡的课程。他们正在探索（1）开发统一的课程主题的可能性，（2）引入动手指导的重要组成部分，以加强这一统一主题。他们将精力集中在系统核心上，但也在发展与信息技术和微电子学领域（包括MEMS）的理论相结合的动手实验室经验的进步。总体目标是为高级技术选修课和顶峰设计课程提供更相关的基础。他们计划通过一组连贯的课程编织整个课程的机器人技术，信号处理和无线通信的主题。他们在新的核心课程设计中具有以下目标。 （1）使学生早日了解工程计算方法，并在整个本科课程中增加使用； （2）在新的核心课程序列中编织设计实践，以便它们自然流入课程内容由技术选修课和顶峰设计课程组成的高年级； （3）更加重视发展学生的沟通和人际交往能力； （4）鼓励在整个新的核心课程序列，并进入高级技术选修课和顶峰设计课程中的更多批判性思维； 5）在整个课程中，更紧密的讲座与实验室经验。专门针对拟议的核心课程开发的评估程序将与大学的教学中心合作设计，以便我们可以确定核心课程是否正在实现其目标并实施调整以更好地实现它们。智力优点：实现重新设计的课程将需要大量的研究和大量的自我检查。他们打算探索本地和民族工业的劳动力和教育需求，了解进入我们计划的学生的优势和缺点，并确定如何将这些工作结合在动机，功能和个人方式中。他们计划探索文献来评估其他机构实施的最佳实践，并将创造性地适应这些方法以适合自己的学生。更广泛的影响：他们将开发一项课程，强烈强调创新的实践，并探索和开发交付方法，以吸引具有多种学习风格的学生。他们将在新生到高级阶段的本科教育过程中纳入学生导导的研究。该将开发特定的计划目标，以支持代表性不足的群体的学生，并将其连接到校园可用的资源。调查人员将参加多学科和跨学科的会议和讲习班，并将其发现发表在公开文献中。总体而言，社会将受益于当代技术的仔细重新设计其课程，因为新的工程毕业生受到刺激以前进并影响科学和技术的未来，从而在未来几十年中改善了美国生活的各个方面。