JEET1046
JEET1046
JEET1046
base courses for understanding embedded systems. planned formal laboratory hours orpredetermined
Today, there are numerous high speed processors and experiments, but the problem with such thing is that
controllers, but the basic architecture for all such students followthe course plans somewhat passively.
devices are similar and which is taught in This predetermined structure of course plan can
undergraduate studies.The need of the time is to prevent students from controlling theirindividual,
effective utilization and selection of appropriate needs-based learning, and can lead to adverse effect
processor or controller for a particular application. In onthe advantageous of active learning methods.
recent times, different active learning strategies have Inaddition to get the hands-on experience in the
been implemented for teaching microprocessor and laboratories, the courses haveused industry-
microcontroller course.One of the key features of developed or department-developed hardwaresystem
these methods is the 'training and education'or 'hands- boards or modules [1]–[6].Use of educational set-ups
on-experience' in laboratory for the theoretical or kits would save student time and reduce the costof
understanding of microprocessors[1]–[3]. Various hardware preparation and also will help to understand
active learningstrategies, such as problem- or project- the concepts up-to certain level. However, at the same
based learning, havebeen applied in order to stimulate time, suchmodules may prevent thorough
students' motivation andaccomplish more learning understanding of, and giveless experience in,
outcomes [4], thereby requiringadditional laboratory microprocessor and microcontroller based design
facilities, larger budgets, and more timeand since bothhardware and software are essential for any
commitment from both students and teachers. embedded systemdesign. Course-Mini projects
provides the new dimensions of course delivery and
Problem-based learning (PBL) was implemented assessment methods of student learning in core
for second year undergraduate students for Laboratory course, attainment of course learning
microcontroller systemlaboratory course by Hedley outcome (CLOs) and program outcomes (POs)
and Barrie [3]. Though the lectures provided the through cooperative teaching learning activity [7],
fundamental knowledge and a number of case studies, [10],[11].
thefocus of thecourse was the laboratory where the
PBL model was applied.The authorsconcluded in 2. Course Objectives and Outcomes
their paper that the course was successful, but they
alsopointed out several limitations, such as students' Microprocessors and microcontroller laboratory
having little confidence in their ability to approach a (EE3551) course is a one credit course in the
complex open-endedproblem, uneasiness with being curriculum for third year (T.Y.) B.Tech electrical
a member of a team, and lackof adequately trained engineering undergraduate program. The course
people to support the students.M. Abdulwahed and W. demands for higher understandings and skills for any
Balidinvestigated to check whether the project based electrical engineering student to acquire. It is not easy
learning would enhance students' learning outcomes to take more than one such course during one semester
and engagementwith an embedded system course. In curricula for students. Students have to study
their strategies, they divided students into two groups architecture, instruction sets and interfacing
namelycontrol and experimental. Thecontrol group application of both, microprocessor 8085 and
was taught in the conventional way, which is attending microcontroller 8051. Another limitation is various
thelaboratory session only, while PBL pedagogical courses during one semester time span, student study
methodology was implemented for the experimental times or limitations in infrastructure or resources.So,
group. For the second group, they were assigned the challenge is to foster a course that can provide
weekly problems to solve during andafter each basic knowledge, analytical skills, practical skills,
laboratory session. The results showedthat the design experience, and self-learning capability for
experimentalgroup got upper hand on the control different processors or controllers. Three course
group. Also, it was seen that the motivation and skills objectives were adopted for the microprocessors and
sets were enhanced[5]. microcontroller laboratory courseas given below:
In recent times, many of the recent microprocessor On completion of this course students shall be able to:
and microcontroller courses have adopted various
active learning methods under outcome based 1. Develop of assembly and/or C level programs and
education (OBE).Most of the instructors include well- providing the basics of the processors.
Journal of Engineering Education Transformations , Volume 31 , No. 3, January 2018, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707 171
2. Interfacing the external devices to the processor PEO2: Utilize expertise to become an academician,
according to the user requirements to create novel practicing engineer and entrepreneur to serve the
products and solutions for the real-time problems. society, ethically and responsibly with concern to
environment.
3. Assist the students with an academic environment
aware of excellence guidelines and foster lifelong PEO3: Engage in lifelong learning to seek excellence
learning needed for a successful professional in professional life.
carrier.
To meet the program education objectives,
The learning outcomes such as knowledge program outcomes (POs) have been defined
application, problem analysis, team-work skills, considering the graduate attributes (GAs), are given in
communication skills, project and finance above table.
management skills, design experience, self-leaning
capability along with ethical responsibility should be The course learning outcomes were developed in
reflected in the course since the educational objective line with the objectives defined above. These
of Department of Electrical Engineering, at outcomes also addressthe industry needs.
RajarambapuInstitute of Technology (RIT),
Sakharale are as given below: The relation between program outcomes (POs) and
course outcomes (COs) is depicted in the following
Electrical Engineering graduates will be: table.
Table 1. : Program Outcomes (POs) of Table 2. : Course Outcomes (COs) of
MPMC Lab (EE3551)
Department of Electrical Engineering
Course Outcomes (COs):
Sr.
No. Program Outcomes (POs) Statements Sr. No: On completion of the course, the
Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and student will be able to:
PO1
electrical engineering. Create a template program, compile it,
CO_EE3551_1
Design and conduct experiments, as well as to and then build the executable file.
PO2 Examine the effects of executing many
analyse and interpret data.
Design a system, components or process to of the 8085 and 8051 instructions by
tracing the execution of a program in
meet desire d needs within realistic constraints CO_EE3551_2
GNUSimulator and Keil for
PO3 such as economic, environmental, social, microprocessor and microcontroller
political, ethical, health and safety, respectively.
manufacturability and sustainability. Write their own program in assembly
CO_EE3551_3
PO4 Function on multidisciplinary teams. language for 8085 and 8051.
Identify, formulate, and solve electrical Write the steps they go through to
PO5 CO_EE3551_4
engineering problems. perform their tasks.
Demonstrate professional and ethical responsibility. Apply their programming knowledge
PO6
CO_EE3551_5 (assembly and C) for real time
PO7 Communicate effectively at work. applications.
Understand the impact of electrical engineering
PO8 solutions in global, economic, environmental, and
societal context.
1. Course Development Strategies
PO9 Engage in life-long learning. Table 3. : CO-PO Mapping
Use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering
PO10 tools necessary for engineering practice. COs \ POs a b c d e f g h i j k l
Apply the knowledge to evaluate contemporary CO_EE3551_1 ✔ ✔ ✔
PO11 issues with project and finance management skills.
CO_EE3551_2 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PO12 Participate and succeed in competitive exams.
CO_EE3551_3 ✔✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PEO1: Apply knowledge and skills to pursue CO_EE3551_4 ✔ ✔✔
successful career in power sector, manufacturing and
process industries.
CO_EE3551_5 ✔✔ ✔ ✔✔
172 Journal of Engineering Education Transformations , Volume 31 , No. 3, January 2018, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707
The strategies followed to design the course are listed Table : 4. Mapping of Course Objectives with Strategies
here.
Course Objectives Strategies
1) The course should provide undergraduate 1) Develop of assembly and/or C
students with general understanding, practical level programs and providing the 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10
skills, and embedded system design experience on basics of the processors.
microprocessor and microcontrollers in one 13-
2) Interfacing the external devices to
week semester. the processor according to the user
requirements to create novel 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12
2) The course should be an intense, student-centred products and solutions for the real -
active learning course based on PBL. time problems.
3) The course should foster lifelong self-learning 3) Assist the students with an
skills that can be used later for more advanced and academic environment aware of
2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10,
complicated embedded system design. excellence guidelines and foster
11, 12
lifelong learning needed for a
4) The formal class time of 3 hours per week is for successful professional carrier.
e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e o r y, i n s t r u c t i o n s ,
demonstrations, and project discussion, without Table 2 shows the mapping between three course
any formal laboratory hours. objectives and the strategies derived for the course.
The first object is mainly related to classroom
5) The course instructor provides clear and concise activities i.e. teaching-learning activities in the
outlines of thefundamental concepts and classroom for basic concepts and skills. The
functions and plays a role as a facilitator [8]. objectives two and three mainly focuses on the student
centric learning activities through program based
6) Demonstrations of basic functions and the learning (PBL). The strategies were reviewed with
integrated development environment (IDE) are respect to course objectives, course learning
given by a student mentor in the classroom outcomes, resources available, infrastructure and
immediately after the professor's lecture. overall curriculum structure.
7) Ill-structured PBL is the core of the course, where
The strategies derived above mainly focuses on
students decide what more they need to learn to
'hands-on-experience' for students with simple
accomplish their projects;
microprocessor or microcontroller based system built
8) The course encourages students to get together at by a student using any resources available.
their convenience to learn as a group (cooperative
learning) through an open-ended project. 4. Micro processo r and Micro co ntro ller
Application Course:
9) The project room, with basic electronic
equipment and tools should be available as on A. Teaching-LearningActivities and Detailed Plan
required for students.
The course structure consists of various learning
10) All students should make his/her own hardware activitieslike: discussions or lectures, think-pair
on bread- board or PCB using a microcontroller share, brain storming, peer-instructions, handouts,
and use this for their hands-on training and group demonstration, self-learning and student project
project. presentations as shown in detailed plan in Figure 1.
The first column shows the topic or experiment to be
11) Student teams should freely choose an appropriate performed, second is the mapping with respective
project topic that will be reviewed and confirmed course outcome. Third column depicts the level of
by the professor to ensure that it meets course blooms' taxonomy and practical number in fourth. The
objectives and learning outcomes. schedule of example demonstration by student mentor
or schedule of project work and project presentations
12) The course should strongly motivate students and in the fifth column, and the last sixth column describes
provide a supportive environment.
Journal of Engineering Education Transformations , Volume 31 , No. 3, January 2018, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707 173
the main activities that should be done during code from the 'keil' software. This machine code was
corresponding weeks, either by course instructor or then used in simulation software – 'proteus' for
students. verifying the logic.
Figure1: Teaching-Learning Activities over a Semester Figure : Level controller using 8051
development boards, one of 8051 microcontroller and fundamental example closely related to the lecture
other PIC development board. These development content. Withhis/her own controller breadboard
boards have on-board keypad, LEDs, pins for system connected toa computer, the mentor
interfacing LCD, seven-segment display etc. These demonstrates and explains how toprogram, how to
development boards are as shown in Figure 5. download the program, and how to executeit in the
classroom.Another role of the mentor student is to
give advice to studentsor to answer questions in the
project room, when students are building their
ownhardware system.
Phase III: ProblemAnalysis and Solution 1. Writing the report of the course mini-project.
1. Understanding the exact process with all corners of 2. Final presentation in-front of other batches and
technical aspects (keen observations of real time faculty.
process and situations).
The rubrics were developed for assessment and
2. Analyse different parameters, variables. evaluation process, as shown in figure.
3. Write the algorithm/ draw flow-chart for the D. Evaluation
system/process.
4. Write the program and simulate it to verify the The students are evaluated on their performance
outcomes. on learning activities in the laboratory hours, their
regularity, and mainly on their project results. Three
Phase IV: Software/ Hardware Implementation internal faculties, course instructor and students
evaluate the project presentation and demonstration.
1. Listing out components required with proper There is end-semester examination (ESE) where
ratings external examiner evaluates the students'
2. Cost estimation from various suppliers (observe performance. The assessment and evaluation is as per
market scenario, prefer low cost) the table 5.+
Table 5 : Assessment and Evaluation Scheme
3. Circuit design and implementation in simulation
Assessment & Evaluation Scheme Weightage
environment.
In-Semester Evaluation (ISE) 50%
15%
4. Real time implementation a. Continuous Assessment Sheet (CAS)
b. Programming Test I (PT I) 05%
5. Cost effectiveness: optimization of cost and c. Programming Test II (PT II) 05%
optimization of components d. Project-Based Learning (PBL) 25%
End Semester Exam (ESE) 50%
50%
Phase V: Report and Presentations e. ESE
TOTAL 100%
calculated from continuous assessment sheets (CAS) these constraints will help to improve the PBL
of each student, programming tests (PT-I and PT-II) activity furthermore effectively.
and project-based learning (PBL). The average of
thesein-semester evaluation schemes are taken into Acknowledgment
consideration to calculate the attainment of each
course outcome and is as depicted in the figure 12. We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to Dr.
Mrs. Sushma S. Kulkarni, Director, RIT, all Deans,
The total attainment of course outcomes is HoD and faculties of Electrical Engineering
obtained from 80% of direct and 20% of indirect Department, RIT, and Indo US Collaborative for
attainment. Engineering Education (IUCEE) for their valuable
guidance, cooperation and support.
Microprocessors and micro controller course
requires practical abilities, such as fundamental References
knowledge acquisition and applications, problem-
solving skills, higher-order thinking, project planning [1] W.J.Ohley and D.W.Tufts, “Hands-on
and management skills, and self-directed learning, it microprocessor education at the university of
seems that the students achieved the learning Rhode Island,” IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. E-24,
outcomes to a certain extent. no. 1, pp. 51–54, Feb. 1981.
[8] Jungkuk Kim, “An Ill-Structured PBL-Based Taxonomy (TC-BT) as a Tool and Practical
Microprocessor Course Without Formal Courses Using Magic of Making Mistakes (PC-
Laboratory” IEEE Transactions on Education, MoMM): An Innovative Pedagogy." Journal of
vol. 55, no. 1, pp.145-153, February 2012. Engineering Education Transformations, volume
29, No 3, pg. no75-84, January-2016.
[9] J. Michael, “Where's the evidence that active
learning works?,” Adv Physiol. Educ., vol. 30, [11] Mukund V. Kavade, “Assessment and attainment
pp. 159–167, Dec. 2006 of Course Outcomes and Program Outcomes”,
Journal of Engineering Education
[10] Dontham, Rajesh, et al. "Educating IT- Transformations, Vol.28, No.2-3, Pg.77-84,
Engineering Theory Courses Using BLOOMS 2015.