BYOE: Introducing the Time and Frequency Domain Relationship in an Introductory Circuits Course

Electrical engineering students should understand the relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain. Many students learn to apply analysis techniques in the respective domains without understanding the relationship between the domains. To address this and other challenges to learning, we have changed the content and format of several introductory courses so that more abstract concepts are first introduced earlier in the program in a practical context. This paper describes our new approach to introduce the relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain to students as they are just being introduced to circuits. Introduction We have changed the content and format of our introductory electrical engineering courses to emphasize the relationships among the different concepts. Some topics that were first presented in the signals theory course of the old curriculum are now introduced in the initial circuits course of the new curriculum. The earlier introduction and subsequent repetition and enhancement of the abstract concepts help students to understand the theoretical basis for practical ideas. The course formats were also changed to a studio form in which experiential learning was coupled with discussions. This paper describes an instructional module to introduce the relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain.