Designing Effective Electrical Engineering Laboratories Using Challenge Based Instruction That Reflect Engineering Process

In electrical engineering, physical lab courses should provide a multi-facet environment that enables students to apply concepts and principles to design, synthesize and analyze electrical circuits and systems, and gain practical “hands-on” experience, knowledge, and skills and give students “a feel” for problem solving. However, students are often ill prepared to perform the labs and few resources are available for students to learn how to perform necessary lab procedures. This can lead to an over dependence on the instructor for information, which can result in frustration for both students and instructor. A lot of lab time is often spent waiting for instructor assistance, which can result in student loss of interest, motivation, and focus on the lab and its objectives. Also, students may have little or no understanding of how and where the lab concepts and principles can be applied in real world problems. Therefore, an alternative approach to physical lab instruction is desirable. Innovations in technology provide several ways to improve lab instruction. For example, students could prepare for labs through on-line pre-lab tutorials and quizzes that explore the lab principles and test instruments to be used. Web-based tutorials and resources can be made available during the lab itself, helping students to sustain their own inquiry without much assistance from the lab instructor. Anchoring lab experiments to realistic challenges can enable students to understand the practical applications of concepts and principles covered in different labs. Carrying out studies to explore these possibilities for improved instruction can lead to more effective laboratory learning in electrical engineering education.