A Project and Design Oriented Electrical Engineering Curriculum

这一计划拨款部门一级改革将创建一个新的电气和计算机工程系在北德克萨斯大学。 拟议计划的建立，与北德克萨斯大学新的工程学院的建立相吻合，将导致一个模型课程的开发，这代表了我们教育电气工程学生的方式发生了重大变化。这个创新的课程将向学生介绍在新生水平的综合项目导向的工业经验，与额外的项目导向的课程增加每学期。 从附近行业招聘的教师将帮助教授项目导向的课程。 这种大学与工业界的合作将帮助学生将理论与实践相结合，确保工程课程继续具有相关性，竞争力，并面向未来的技术发展。虽然传统的电气工程课程强调模块化结构和专业学科，但这种方法将认知科学的见解与通过将学生的注意力集中在课堂上的项目所提出的实际挑战相结合。因此，我们建议在整个课程中整合基于项目的学习。 我们的方法的预期好处包括增加学生在学习过程中的参与（主动学习和自学），增强沟通技巧，适应更广泛的学习风格，促进批判性和主动性思维。 该方法的主要特点是工业和大学之间的合作伙伴关系，注重主动学习，强调团队合作，以及实验室活动应用于现实世界的问题的重要性。

This planning grant for department level reform will create a new department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of North Texas. The establishment of the proposed program, coincident with the creation of a new College of Engineering at the University of North Texas, will result in the development of a model curriculum that represents a significant change in the way we educate Electrical Engineering students. This innovative curriculum will introduce students to integrated project-oriented industrial experiences at the freshman level, with additional project-oriented courses added each semester. Instructors recruited from nearby industries will help teach the project-oriented courses. Such university-industry collaboration will help students integrate theory and practice, ensuring that the engineering curriculum continues to be relevant, competitive, and directed towards future technological developments. While traditional programs in electrical engineering emphasize modular structures and specialty disciplines this approach combines insights from cognitive science with an appreciation of the practical challenges raised by focusing students' attention on projects in a class. Thus, we propose to integrate project-based learning throughout the curriculum. The expected benefits of our approach include increased student participation in the learning process (active learning and self-learning), enhanced communication skills, adaptation of pedagogies to a wider set of learning styles, and promotion of critical and proactive thinking. Major features of the approach are the partnership between industry and the university, the focus on active learning, the emphasis on teaming, and the importance of laboratory activities applied to real-world problems.