Work in Progress: An Integrated Laboratory Experience - A New Environment for Teaching Communications

A new open laboratory environment is being developed to enhance the learning in several important ways: 1) laboratory projects in RF circuits, digital design, and signal processing courses that are typically isolated from each other will become interdependent; 2) students in "lecture-only" courses will utilize laboratory "homework" experiments so that they may more thoroughly understand complex lecture topics; 3) students will have facilities to explore and create new ideas outside the classroom; 4) the open format of the laboratory will foster the development of student learning communities within the department. While giving our current students the experience they need to design and test modern communication systems, this lab will also help in recruitment, retention, and the development of life-long learning