A Computer-Oriented Sophomore Course on Nonlinear Circuit Analysis

This paper describes the philosophy, application, and implementation of a collection of FORTRAN IV computer programs currently being used in a sophomore course on nonlinear circuit analysis at Purdue University. Since these programs were developed from the education rather than the user point of view, some of them were deliberately designed in the form of a series of subroutines, and were stored in a common disk file. These subroutines and programs are used to analyze a large class of nonlinear electronic circuits such as waveshaping networks, multivibrators, time-base generators, etc. Since the computer is used to take over only the nonconceptual but otherwise very time-consuming task, the students were found to be much more receptive and motivated in learning new concepts. The results reported in this paper are based on the experiences and reactions of approximately 150 students using the batch-processing mode. A short description, however, is also given on a forthcoming experiment to be conducted at Purdue University on the merits of using an on-line graphic display console.