APPLYING ACTIVE LEARNING IN THE ELECTROMAGNETISM CLASS: A FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT

APPLYING ACTIVE LEARNING IN THE ELECTROMAGNETISM CLASS: A FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT

J. Hurtado, M. Perez, J. Cruz (2022).  APPLYING ACTIVE LEARNING IN THE ELECTROMAGNETISM CLASS: A FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT. 599-609.

The intrinsic difficulty of studying electromagnetism added to the ignorance of its implications and applications in our daily life has reduced the number of students who would probably work in this area at the end of their careers. Although it is an opportunity for them to learn and strengthen their professional profile, students usually perceive the electromagnetism class only as a degree requirement. To increase the interest of students in the study of electromagnetism and the utility value of its applications, as well as to improve the general perception and positive attitude of students towards this course, we have implemented and tested an active learning approach (Project-based learning –PBL-) since 2014. These changes were motivated by the adoption of a new CDIO-based curriculum in the electronic engineering program at the Javeriana University in Colombia. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the results obtained by five years of direct and indirect evaluation of students in electromagnetism classes, in terms of their learning graduality of key topics in the field, difficulty perception about learning them, and the general perception of the class. This evaluation was conducted over five years, comparing two different class sections each semester. A class section adopted PBL and active learning within the CDIO framework and the other section (which functioned as a control group) was taught using traditional methodology. In the class section taught with PBL and active learning, the results showed significant improvements in the general perception of the Electromagnetism class, in the learning of complex subjects, and the knowledge of the applications of electromagnetism. Likewise, the results show an increase in the interest of students to get involved in more projects related to electromagnetism later in their undergraduate studies.

Authors (New): 
Jairo Hurtado
Manuel R. Perez
Juan Cruz
Pages: 
599-609
Affiliations: 
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
Rowan University, New Jersey, USA
Keywords: 
Electromagnetism
Active learning
PBL
CDIO
CDIO Standard 7
CDIO Standard 8
CDIO Standard 11
Year: 
2022
Reference: 
Balanis, C. (2012). Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics. J. Wiley & Sons.: 
Balanis, C. (2016). Antenna theory: Analysis and design. Wiley-Interscience.: 
Berkely. Berkely academic guide: Electromagnetic fields and waves. Retrieved June 2019. From https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/EE117/: 
Bértolo, J. M., Obelleiro, F., Taboada, J. M., & Rodríguez, J. L. (2002). General purpose software package for electromagnetics engineering education. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 10(1), 33–44.: 
https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.10015
Bravo, F., Fadul K., Gonzales, M., & Viveros F. Active Learning in Electronics Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Proceedings of the 12th International CDIO Conference, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Turku, Finland, 2016.: 
Bravo, F., Hurtado, J & Prados, A. Elective Projects Course: Realizing the Academic Interests of Students. Proceedings of the 14th International CDIO Conference, Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT). Kanazawa Japan, 2018.: 
CDIO. The cdio standards 2.0: Standard 7 integrated learning experiences Retrieved June 2019. From https://goo.gl/wqjiaf: 
CDIO. “The cdio standards 2.0: Standard 8 active learning,” Retrieved June 2019. From: https://goo.gl/rtGd2i: 
Cheng, D. K. (1993). Fundamentals of Engineering Electromagnetics. Prentice Hall.: 
Collier. S. Top engineering schools in 2017. Retrieved June 2019. From https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/university-subject-rankings/topengineering- schools-2017: 
Crawley, E. F., Malmqvist, J., Östlund, S., Brodeur, D. R., & Edström, K. (2014). Rethinking Engineering Education.: 
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05561-9
Gibson, W. C. (2021). The method of moments in Electromagnetics. CRC Press.: 
Harrington, R. F. (1993). Field computation by moment methods. IEEE Press.: 
Hoole, S. R. H., Jayakumaran, S., & Cha, P. (1993). Numerical approaches to teaching electromagnetics: A historical sketch and lessons from Structural Engineering. IEEE Transactions on Education, 36(2), 265–269.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/13.214711
Huk, T. (2006). Who benefits from learning with 3D models? the case of Spatial ability. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 22(6), 392–404.: 
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2006.00180.x
Jin, J.-M. (2014). The finite element method in electromagnetics. John Wiley & Sons Inc.: 
Jin, J.-M. (2015). Theory and computation of Electromagnetic Fields. Wiley.: 
Jonassen, D. H. (n.d.). Engineers as problem solvers. Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research, 103–118. 2014.: 
https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139013451.009
Keltikangas, K., & Wallén, H. (2010). Electrical engineers’ perceptions on education – electromagnetic field theory and its connection to working life. European Journal of Engineering Education, 35(5), 479– 487.: 
https://doi.org/10.1080/03043791003802045
Lim, S. Y. (2014). Education for electromagnetics: Introducing electromagnetics as an appetizer course for computer science and it undergraduates [education column]. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, 56(5), 216–222.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/map.2014.6971955
Liu, X., Sun, K., Yang, D., Pan, J., & Zhang, Z. (2018). A novel teaching platform design with CAI for EM Education. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 26(5), 1318–1323.: 
https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22026
Lumori, M. L., & Kim, E. M. (2010). Engaging students in applied electromagnetics at the University of San Diego. IEEE Transactions on Education, 53(3), 419–429.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/te.2009.2026636
Macias-Guarasa, J., Montero, J. M., San-Segundo, R., Araujo, A., & Nieto-Taladriz, O. (2006). A projectbased learning approach to design electronic systems curricula. IEEE Transactions on Education, 49(3), 389–397.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/te.2006.879784
Miller, E. K., Cole, R. W., Chakrabarti, S., & Gogineni, S. (1990). Learning about fields and waves using visual electromagnetics. International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Society, Merging Technologies for the 90's.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/aps.1990.115454
MIT Stellar: MIT Course Management System of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: Electromagnetics applications. Retrieved June 2019. from: https://stellar.mit.edu/classlink/course6.html: 
Orfanidis, S. J. (2016). Electromagnetic waves and antennas. Sophocles J. Orfanidis.: 
Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), 223–231.: 
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x
Prince, M. J., & Felder, R. M. (2006). Inductive teaching and learning methods: Definitions, comparisons, and Research Bases. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(2), 123–138.: 
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168- 9830.2006.tb00884.x
Rosenbaum, F. J., Vu, T. B., Vander Vorst, A., de Salles, A. A. A., Mao, Y., El -Khamy, S. E., Wiesbeck, W., Mukherji, K. C., Shapira, J., Yamashita, E., Shugerov, V., Malherbe, J. A. G., Gardiol, F. E., & Parini, C. G. (1990). Teaching electromagnetics around the World: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Education, 33(1), 22–34.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/13.53624
Sadiku, M. N. (1986). Problems faced by undergraduates studying electromagnetics. IEEE Transactions on Education, E-29(1), 31–32.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/te.1986.5570680
Sadiku, M. N. (2018). Elements of electromagnetics. Oxford University Press.: 
Spikol, D., Ruffaldi, E., Dabisias, G., & Cukurova, M. (2018). Supervised machine learning in multimodal learning analytics for estimating success in Project -Based Learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34(4), 366–377.: 
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12263
Stanford. Stanford bulletin. Explore courses: Engineering electromagnetics”. Retrieved June 2019. From https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?q=EE+141%3A+Engineering+Electromagnetics&filtercourses_ 1: 
Trlep, M., Hamler, A., Jesenik, M., & Stumberger, B. (2006). Interactive teaching of electromagnetic field by simultaneous FEM analysis. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 42(4), 1479–1482.: 
https://doi.org/10.1109/tmag.2006.871437
Vidal, O. de, & Iskander, M. F. (1997). Multimedia modules for Electromagnetics Education. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 5(4), 257–267.: 
https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1099- 0542(1997)5:4<257::aid-cae5>3.0.co;2-c
Warnick, K. F. (2020). Numerical methods for engineering an introduction using Matlab® and computational electromagnetics examples. Institution of Engineering & Technology.: 
Go to top
randomness