Redesigning the Circuits for Non-majors Course with the Addition of a Robotics Project

One of the most challenging tasks in engineering education is teaching courses to students that are outside their major area. The College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma developed a unique curriculum for teaching circuits and other ECE concepts to non-ECE majors, where the traditional 18-week course is split into three one-credit hour 6-week modules. With this separation, different disciplines are able to build their curriculum to the needs of their students. The first two courses (ENGR 2431: DC Circuits and ENGR 2531: AC Circuits) primarily cover topics that non-majors are required to know for the FE exam. The final 6-week course (ENGR 3431: Electromechanical Systems) includes advanced topics not typically taught in an introductory circuits course, such as LabView programming, digital logic, computer communications, sensors, and motors. To provide a more practical and hands-on approach to the structure of ENGR 3431 a robotics project was implemented in the Spring 2011 semester. This paper focuses primarily on the implementation of this robotics project and uses student surveys and course evaluations to assess its effectiveness. Additionally, assessments of common multidisciplinary course problems of class size and student level disparity are also performed.