Nissim Sabag

Accreditation of MOOCs

Abstract Higher education institutions face conflicting challenges; they must equip students with up-to-date knowledge in fields in which knowledge is constantly being renewed, while they also need to guide students to examine reality through broad-based observation and consider different scientific disciplines. They operate within different constrictions such as: learning program boundaries, budgetary constrictions, and lack of accessibility to experts in different areas, and the range of courses offered to students is limited. To cope with these constrictions, Ort Braude Academic College of Engineering opened an experimental program. As part of this program, students were allowed to study MOOC courses under the college’s supervision, and were eligible for accreditation if they completed the courses successfully. Only 15 out of the 600 students offered the program, registered for these courses. Only seven were accepted for the program. This paper describes the background for the college’s decision, the registration process and supervision of students, detailing students’ challenges and achievements in the MOOC courses. Students who completed the MOOC courses reported that they enjoyed meaningful learning, requiring serious efforts in comparison to the courses that the MOOC courses replaced. Given this positive feedback by the students, it was decided to continue with the experiment.

Electrical Characterization of a Glucose-Fueled Alkaline Fuel Cell

This paper is part of an effort to establish design parameters for glucose-fueled room temperature membraneless alkaline fuel cells as possible electricity suppliers for portable devices. We report experimental results for three characteristics of glucose-fueled room temperature membraneless alkaline fuel cells: 1) polarization curve, 2) power density as a function of current density, and 3) internal resistance. The internal resistance of the cell was measured by two independent experimental methods: “Voltage Divider” and “Current Interrupt”. The three characteristics were measured as a function of glucose concentration while maintaining the electrolyte, KOH, constant at 0.35 M. The results were compared with those reported for other room temperature Alkaline Fuel Cells fuelled with glucose and methanol. We found that the maximum power density has a value of 0.36 mW/cm2 at a current density of 1.44 mA/cm2 when glucose concentration is 0.22M. The “Voltage Divider” and “Current Interrupt” methods for measuring the internal resistance produced practically the same results. The resistivity of the electrolyte/fuel solution was estimated from internal resistance measurements. Resistivity was found to be linearly dependent upon glucose concentration; at a constant KOH electrolyte concentration of 0.35 M, the specific resistivity of 1 M glucose is 2.56 Ω·m. The power density obtained with Alkaline Fuel Cells fuelled with glucose is an order of magnitude smaller than that obtained for cells fuelled with methanol. More efforts should be invested in order to develop a practical glucose-fuelled fuel cell.Copyright

Engineering design projects as a reflection promoter

This article describes examples of reflection documented in a longitudinal research comprising two studies: a three-year three-stage study on technology project-based learning (TPBL) and a three-year two-stage study on engineering thinking (ET). Both studies used qualitative tools such as interviews, active observations, and document analysis. Reflections expressed by 10th grade pupils from eight high schools and 14 post-secondary school students who participated in the TPBL study as well as the reflection findings of experts and undergraduates from the ET study were used. The data analysis indicates that reflection is not generated on its own; it must be fostered. Reflection takes one of three forms: as a reaction to an irregularity or error made when working on the system design; conducted in groups that is inherent to the design process in industry; and from intuition that something may not be quite right, even though preliminary results seem to be correct.

Internship as an Obligatory Requirement for the Degree of B.Sc. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Internship is an inseparable part of some curricula such as Medicine, Law, Accounting, Teaching and more disciplines, where internship is a crucial part of the curriculum. This is not the situation when it comes to technological studies such as Electronics. Is there any justification for this? This article reviews ten years experience of implementing internship at more then 130 Hi -Tech. factories and research institutes, as an obligatory requirement for the Bachelor degree in EEE. The paper presents the supporting array and the academic requests. A pilot research investigating characteristics of the internship has been conducted lately. About 100 students and 20 supervisors asked to fill in questionnaires. Until now, 44 students and 13 supervisors answered. The results are presented in this paper.

Electrical Engineering Students’ Achievement in Measurement Accuracy of Digitized Signals – Work in Progress

The current paper presents of a continuous longitudinal research dealing with different aspects of accuracy and the way the students understand it. Previous studies have shown that understanding the accuracy concept is not obvious. A previous study exposed students’ difficulties in calculating measurement accuracy of digitized signals. After writing a special study unit on measurement accuracy and measurement error and adding it to the curriculum of Digital Electronics course, two questions questionnaire entered to the final test on digital electronics course. The students’ grades showed an improvement in understanding the accuracy concept, but not sufficient. The study unit included explanation, tutorial and homework. A replication of the previous experiment in Fall semester 2015 showed a substantial improvement in the students’ achievements regarding the accuracy concept. This time the students got explanation and example but no homework concerning the accuracy concept. Nevertheless, they had the chance to see and solve the previous questionnaire so the questions regarding accuracy did not surprise them. Solving old test questionnaires is a common mode of learning among our students therefore this may be the explanation of the improvement in the students’ grades.

Engineering Students’ Solutions to Accuracy Problems in Analog Electronics Course

In the course of the last three years, a longitudinal study researching engineering students’ understandings of the concept of accuracy and error has been carried out. Previous studies of the researchers investigated general misunderstandings of the concept of accuracy and error among engineering students from different programs, and specific misunderstandings of those concepts among electrical and electronic engineering students in Digital Electronics course. The studies showed that students’ understanding of these important engineering concepts is insufficient. The current study researches students’ achievements in solving problems that relate to the concepts of accuracy and to basic analog electronics concept of non-linearity and saturation. The research was carried out in April - May 2017 during Analog Electronics course with 38 participants. A mixed methodology was applied; in the quantitative stage the students solved problems relating to the concept of accuracy, and in the qualitative stage 15 open interviews were carried out. It was found that engineering students with inadequate understanding of basic accuracy concepts struggle with interpreting the concepts of analog electronics while solving problems related to the issue. The research intends to be continued with the aim to show that consistent treatment of the issue will benefit students’ understanding of basic electronics and accuracy concepts.

About the Match of Trainees’ Learning Styles to Their Tutors’ Instructional Strategies and the Correlation of This Match with the Trainees’ Academic Achievements

The match between students’ learning styles (LS) and their teachers’ instructional strategies (IS) and the correlation of this LS-IS match with students’ academic achievements was studied in earlier research. However, there is no report of research where one-on-one education is implemented. Moreover, there are no references relating the match of a trainees’ LS to their tutors’ IS and the correlation of this LS-IS match with the trainees’ achievements. Accordingly, the current paper presents a study designed to investigate the correlation between a trainees’ achievements and the LS-IS match. Two different methods were used to measure the LS-IS match. First, calculating the correlation between trainees’ LS and tutors’ IS (LS-IS correlation); second, calculating the LS-IS distance. Forty-two trainees with learning disabilities were paired with 39 tutors (three tutors had two trainees each) during the 2016 academic year. Thus, 42 pairs of trainees and tutors worked to help the trainees achieve better academic grades. The Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) was used to measure the trainees’ preferred LS and the tutors’ preferred IS. In the first method, the LS-IS correlations were correlated with the trainees’ grades; then, in the second method, the LS–IS distances were correlated with trainees’ grades. If the LS-IS match influences the trainees’ achievements, significant positive correlations in the first method and significant negative correlation in the second method must appear. However, the results show no significant correlation (positive or negative, accordingly) between the LS-IS match and students’ achievements at the end of the first semester of 2016. A replication of the above study was made in the second semester of 2016 and similar results were obtained.