Modernizing probability and statistics engineering curricula

This Work-in-Progress paper describes an ongoing project for modernizing the probability and statistics program component for electrical and computer engineering majors at the University of Kansas. Traditionally in engineering curricula around the nation, this three-hour senior-level course has at most focused on the probability of overlapping events, properties and examples of discrete and continuous random variables, and only rudimentary statistical principles involving confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and linear least-squares curve fitting. Some courses nationwide emphasize only probability and random variables, some focus only on the statistical aspects of data handling, and a few also include small projects that feature computer-generated pseudo-random numbers. ABET has program criteria that require graduates to have some knowledge of probability and statistics. Usually, programs seek to satisfy this requirement by one of these single self-contained three-hour courses. What is needed to modernize the curricula is a more comprehensive treatment that not only improves the course and extends these concepts beyond into the senior capstone and other courses but also prepares graduates for more extensive probability and statistics applications after graduation.