Remote Educational Antenna Laboratory for Enhanced Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Education

该项目正在一个消声室中建造一个互联网可访问的天线范围，该消声室足够大，可以表征适用于1至18 GHz频段的个人电子设备的天线类型。 有了这个设施和现成的软件包，学生可以设计，模拟和测试天线。 研究人员让学生们使用简单的技术来构建天线，比如在电路板上印刷元件，用手工工具切割和组装金属和电介质部件。 此外，他们正在制作一个天线建设工具包，将允许学生在其他网站建立简单的电线和印刷天线。 这种基于网络的设施与正在开发的实施技术相结合，将使全国各地的学生能够设计和测试天线，而无需复制这种昂贵的设施。 形成性和总结性的评估，使用定量和定性的方法，正在评估和提高远程用户体验的有效性及其对学生学习和电磁学的兴趣的影响。 该设施的可用性将通过在会议上的介绍、实验室图尔斯参观、有针对性的信件和研讨会进行广泛宣传。 他们还计划在工程教育会议、会议记录和存档期刊上发表他们的研究结果。该实验室正在与圣地亚哥州立大学合作开发，并在圣地亚哥州立大学、田纳西大学诺克斯维尔和华盛顿大学进行测试。

This project is constructing an Internet-accessible antenna range in an anechoic chamber that is large enough to characterize the types of antennas that are suitable for personal electronic devices in the frequency bands between 1 and 18 GHz. With this facility and readily available software packages, students can design, simulate, and test antennas. The investigators have students construct their antenna using simple techniques such as elements printed on circuit boards and cutting and assembling metal and dielectric parts with hand tools. In addition, they are making an antenna construction kit available that will allow students at other sites to build simple wire and printed antennas. This web-based facility when coupled with the implementation techniques being developed will allow students across the country to design and test antennas without duplicating this costly facility. Formative and summative assessments, using both quantitative and qualitative methods are being employed to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the remote user experience and its impact on student learning and interest in electromagnetics. The availability of the facility will be widely advertised through presentation at conferences, lab tours, targeted letters, and a workshop. They also plan to publish the results of their study in engineering education conferences proceedings and in archived journals. The laboratory is being developed in collaboration with San Diego State University, and beta tested at San Diego State, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Washington.