{"id":25281,"date":"2018-08-16T11:12:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T18:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.digilentinc.com\/?p=25281"},"modified":"2021-06-09T14:07:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T21:07:20","slug":"analog-discovery-2-and-engineering-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/analog-discovery-2-and-engineering-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Analog Discovery 2 and Engineering Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of months ago, we ran an article which discussed the findings of a research paper titled \u201cMatched Assessment Data Set for Experiment-Centric Pedagogy Implementation in 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) ECE Programs.\u201d\u00a0 This paper discussed how Digilent\u2019s Analog Discovery<\/a> had been used in a study that sought to increase hands on learning at 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).\u00a0 That study concluded that use of the Analog Discovery in engineering courses is an excellent way to increase hands on learning, thereby increasing student performance and retention rates in engineering courses.\u00a0 Researchers continued to evaluate the use of the Analog Discovery at these 13 HBCUs over a four year period, and published their findings in the paper titled \u201cExperiment-Centric Pedagogy – Improving the HBCU Engineering Student Learning Experience.\u201d\u00a0 The content and findings of this paper are summarized below.<\/p>\n

The goal of this study was to \u201cincrease the number of highly qualified and prepared African American engineers, and all students, and to have a better understanding of technology and its role in STEM education and the policy associated with it.\u201d\u00a0 Of the students who participated, 73% were Black, 9% Asian, 7% White, 6% Hispanic, and 4% multi-racial.\u00a0 76% of students were male, 24% female, and a total of 84% indicated English as their primary language.\u00a0 80% of students were from either an engineering or computer science major, and were a mixture of first, second, third, and fourth year students.\u00a0 The purpose of using the Analog Discovery<\/a> was to study how to best incorporate hands-on learning into the traditional classroom environment.\u00a0 Forty-three professors throughout the 13 HBCUs were trained to use the Analog Discovery in over forty different courses involving circuits and electronics during this four-year period.\u00a0 The majority of students had never used the Analog Discovery before, nor were they familiar with experiment-centric pedagogy in engineering courses prior to participating in this study.<\/p>\n

95% of faculty participants reported that they were highly satisfied with their experience incorporating the Analog Discovery Board into their traditional classrooms, and said they will continue to use the Analog Discovery after the study has concluded.\u00a0 They reported that the Analog Discovery<\/a> helped increase their ability to engage in experiment-centric pedagogy.\u00a0 They also reported that students\u2019 enthusiasm for projects and assignments increased when the Analog Discovery was incorporated into the exercise.\u00a0 They also noted that students who had been struggling with theoretical material saw great benefits from using the Analog Discovery.<\/p>\n

Faculty reported that the support they received during the study was crucial to the successful implementation of experiment-centric pedagogy into their courses.\u00a0 This support came in the form of \u201con-site workshops, bi-weekly electronic meetings, and an online portal offering curricula, technological supports, and examples of use.\u201d\u00a0 After receiving such excellent support, 100% of professors participating in the study reported that they would recommend the Analog Discovery to other faculty in their department.\u00a0 As the study progressed, faculty even began developing their own curriculum surrounding use of the Analog Discovery<\/a>, and began sharing this curriculum with each other, and with the other universities participating in the study.<\/p>\n

Below is a list of Benefits and Barriers associated with use of the Analog Discovery, as reported by faculty and students who participated in the study.<\/p>\n

Faculty Reported Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Students ask a higher level of questions<\/p>\n

-Students are more at ease, there is less fear factor<\/p>\n

-Students spend more time questioning each other<\/p>\n

-Students understand quicker<\/p>\n

-Students can visualize what they are doing<\/p>\n

-Students are more interested in\/energized about learning<\/p>\n

-With the ADB, \u201cthey now have more ownership of the process of\u00a0learning and of their knowledge\u201d<\/p>\n

-Learners are more self-reliant<\/p>\n

-Learners are more confident<\/p>\n

-I can demonstrate practical use in the theory part of the course, and show why students need to know circuits\u201d<\/p>\n

-I can better serve my students\/makes me a better instructor<\/p>\n

-Increases\/makes me want to teach again\/better<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Student Reported Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Greater knowledge about profession\/career\/real practice<\/p>\n

-Increased desire to stay in the field \u2013 saw a real purpose<\/p>\n

-88% reported \u201cenhanced professional ability\u201d<\/p>\n

-80% said they can \u201cwork collaboratively with others\u201d<\/p>\n

-75% said they can \u201ctransfer knowledge to problems outside the course\u201d<\/p>\n

-75% \u201chave developed different ways of solving problems\u201d<\/p>\n

-72% \u201ccan apply course content to new problems\u201d<\/p>\n

-71% \u201chelped to develop self -direction and self-responsibility\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Student and Faculty Reported Barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Lack of availability of the Analog Discovery – need one per student, and students should be able to take it home<\/p>\n

-Lack of tinkering time – students and faculty need more time with the boards<\/p>\n

-Lack of full integration – need access to the board throughout the course and across multiple courses<\/p>\n

-Lack of support from upper level administration (IT help, funds, recognition, time as<\/p>\n

individuals, and time to plan together)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overall, participants in this study found use of the Analog Discovery<\/a> to be very beneficial to both students and faculty.\u00a0 It inspired professors to develop new curriculum and teaching methods, and gave students increased enthusiasm for course content.\u00a0 Students got to participate in hands-on learning in a variety of settings, which helped increase their academic performance, and increase interest in careers in the fields of engineering and computer science.\u00a0 Professors enjoyed developing new methods of experiment-centric pedagogy with the help of the Analog Discovery, and found that collaboration with other professors and universities participating in the study enriched their teaching experience.\u00a0 Both professors and students alike would love to see use of the Analog Discovery expanded to more and more institutions around the world.<\/p>\n

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We continue to examine research surrounding the use of the Analog Discovery 2 in engineering curriculum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":24611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,4312,4326],"tags":[1736],"ppma_author":[4501],"class_list":["post-25281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academia","category-usb-scopes-analyzers-generators","category-teaching-training","tag-analog-discovery-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/add2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":4501,"user_id":48,"is_guest":0,"slug":"tambrab","display_name":"Tambra Bleything","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70d28e89b3a9dcbf0a4cbaa7e80acc75f24977ec0e5bd33c2d152bd823e0e10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":"","9":"","10":""}],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25281"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=25281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}