A project/design approach to electrical engineering

This paper talks about the implementation of a Project/design approach in an electrical engineering course. The School of Engineering at Deakin University adopted a new project/design approach in which students learn through design activities driven by a project with a defined deliverable to deliver the skills and knowledge students require to understand and solve design problems, a key requirement for employability of the modern day engineer. The new approach following the principles of project/design-based learning used a design project to teach students about the fundamentals of electronic signals and systems. The students worked in teams of five to six members and each team was given a design problem, which encompassed the learning outcomes for that particular unit. The staff member played the role of a facilitator, facilitating the student centred learning process. This paper presents the implementation process of the project/design approach across the trimester; the project and design problem and the processes is set for student and staff interaction. This paper also focuses on presenting the views of the students on this new approach.