Teaching of wave propagation phenomena using MATLAB GUIs at the Universidad Politecnica of Valencia

The use of interactive graphics and animations is a fundamental tool for teaching electromagnetic concepts. This is especially true for the study of wave propagation, where the propagation properties of waves are hard to understand with oral explanations or simple, static, chalk drawings on the blackboard. The traditional blackboard or the more recent slides are increasingly giving way to the use of electronic material for illustrating propagation phenomena in the classroom. Several works where computer tools are used in order to improve electromagnetic teaching have already been published (Mathematica, Maple, MATHCAD, Java, MATLAB, Mefisto, and VRML). Of all these tools, MATLAB has been chosen to design several graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that allow the creation of wave-propagation animations under user-specified conditions. These GUIs have been assessed for the teaching of a course on "Electromagnetic Fields and Waves." The main objectives of the course are the knowledge of the main parameters of plane and guided waves, and an understanding of the main propagation phenomena of these two types of waves.