A Web-Based Educational Interface for an Analog Communication Course Based on MATLAB Builder NE With WebFigures

Experimental experience has a significant effect on students´ engineering education and improves their practical skills. However, experiments are high-cost, requiring laboratory space, experimental sets, and so on. Computer-assisted learning (CAL) can provide a similar educational effect. Web-based interfaces, a type of CAL often used in distance education, are therefore economical solutions in that they require neither laboratories nor experimental equipment. In particular, they facilitate students´ understanding of the practical applications of their engineering education. This paper proposes the Web-based simulation of analog modulation techniques using MATLAB. To this end, a Web-based educational interface, called AnalogWeb, was designed and implemented as part of an analog communication course. AnalogWeb was developed using MATLAB Builder for NE with WebFigures and ASP.NET platform; it can be easily accessed by users/students using only a Web browser and requires no installation of MATLAB or any special program on the server or the clients. AnalogWeb is a user-friendly educational interface providing advanced visualization tools such as zoom, moving graphics, and three-dimensional imaging. AnalogWeb was validated, and its educational contributions tested, with 60 undergraduate students at Sakarya University, Turkey; the results are presented here.