Whatever Happened to Computer Algebra Systems in the Engineering Classroom?

In the 1980s and early 1990s, computers and computer algebra (CA) systems were used to transform how undergraduate calculus was taught and learned. Experiments in using these systems in electrical engineering followed rapidly. However, present day reality in electrical engineering education and signal processing education in particular, suggests that use of CA systems may be very limited despite significant gains in functionality and performance over the past decade. This paper describes how Mathematica is used in teaching an undergraduate linear signals and systems course at the University of Southern Maine. This highlights some of the present-day capabilities of a modern CA system and demonstrate its useful pedagogic role in teaching and learning electrical engineering