Hardware homework for courses in circuits and electronics

This paper reports first efforts to implement the hardware homework concept in both the first circuit theory course and the first analog electronics course in electrical engineering at Texas Tech University. Hardware homework creates individual interactive learning environments outside the classroom, without a commitment of laboratory space, with little direct intervention by the faculty member, at no cost to the academic program and at a cost less than that of a textbook. Teaching assistants grade the hardware homework in much the same way that they grade ordinary homework. A majority of students in the first electronics course, for which the cost of the recommended parts exceeded $50, felt the cost of the components was too high. Few students in the first circuits course, for which the cost of the recommended parts was less than $40, felt cost was a concern. Students in both courses agreed that hardware homework helped them. In addition, they felt that students should continue to do hardware homework in the two courses