A paperless circuits laboratory: vision and reality

Author

Lightner, Michael ; Avery, James

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

3

fYear

1996

fDate

6-9 Nov 1996

Firstpage

1186

Abstract

Modern circuits and electronics laboratories are, more and more, adding a PC class computer to the normal arsenal of oscilloscope, digital multimeter and function generator. With the availability of easy networking, student versions of programs such as MathCad, Matlab, Maple, Electronics Workbench, LabView, PSpice, etc., and the WWW, the possibility of a paperless lab presents itself. We have developed such a lab centered around Netscape, MathCad, Electronics Workbench, and LabView. We present the basic equipment, the specifications, our design decisions in terms of software, the experience in adapting a well functioning paper based lab, and the student response. In addition, after one semester of experience we present some tricks of the trade, pitfalls, and possibilities for improvement

Keywords

computer science education; courseware; electronic engineering computing; electronic engineering education; laboratories; mathematics; mathematics computing; microcomputer applications; teaching; Electronics Workbench; LabView; MathCad; Netscape; PC class computer; PSpice; WWW; easy networking; electronics laboratories; modern circuits; paper based lab; paperless circuits laboratory; student response; student versions; Circuits; Education; Laboratories; Modems; Operational amplifiers; Oscilloscopes; Protection; Signal generators; Springs; World Wide Web;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frontiers in Education Conference, 1996. FIE '96. 26th Annual Conference., Proceedings of

Conference_Location

Salt Lake City, UT

ISSN

0190-5848

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3348-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FIE.1996.567814

Filename

567814