Title :
A walk in the infosphere: Rethinking EE education in the wireless era
Author :
Flikkema, Paul G.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Abstract :
Do we need a new approach to electrical engineering education? Despite the obvious technological triumphs of the field in recent decades, enrollment in EE programs is flat or declining. I argue that today´s students see EE-derived technologies at a higher, systems-oriented level, and that education should engage students at this level. In particular, new EE students are embedded in an ldquoinfosphererdquo mediated by a wide array of wireless devices, and this perspective can be used to engage them. I briefly describe two upper-division courses, in wireless sensor networks and wirelessly-networked embedded systems, that serve as a start in this direction, and furthermore as a basis for development of compelling introductory courses that integrate EE subdisciplines.
Keywords :
telecommunication engineering education; wireless sensor networks; EE education; EE programs; EE-derived technologies; electrical engineering education; infosphere; system-oriented level; wireless devices; wireless era; wireless sensor networks; wirelessly-networked embedded systems; Business; Educational programs; Educational technology; Electrical engineering; Electrical engineering education; Embedded system; Logic circuits; Radio frequency; Recruitment; Wireless sensor networks;
Conference_Titel :
Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference, 2009. WAMICON '09. IEEE 10th Annual
Conference_Location :
Clearwater, FL
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4564-6
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4565-3
DOI :
10.1109/WAMICON.2009.5207229