Computer simulation and circuit analysis

A teaching approach applied to the introductory circuit analysis course in electrical engineering is discussed. A primary feature is that all attempts to constrain student usage of simulators are rejected. The approach is implemented as a learning sequence: a presimulation thought process, then a simulation followed by a post-simulation thought process. The laboratory notebook illustrates the thought-to-paper conversion process inherent within the presimulation learning experience. Notebook scribblings, characterized by the student as a thinking schematic, are decoded by the instructor for the purpose of developing teaching materials, including new problems that cannot be immediately submitted to a simulator. The printed data produced by the simulation is processed during the post-simulation learning experience for the purpose of interpreting network behavior