Welcome to Nikitha's RHEA User Page!

Introduction

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
~ Albert Einstein (Nobel Prize for Physics 1921)

        The term 'education,' derived from the Latin term 'educare' (meaning 'bring out') [Entymology Dictionary], is defined to be the process of developing students mentally, morally, and aesthetically via instruction [Merriam-Webster Dictionary]. While the topic of which form of education is best has always sparked debate (charter schools or home-schooling? public schools or private schools?), the means of instructing students has continually been of increased interest to educators. This begs the important question: What are the best methods to ensure students learn? When it comes to the field of engineering, the question becomes essential in shaping an environment for students to absorb, understand, and engage in engineering concepts in a manner that enables them to develop solutions for real-world problems.

In order to design such an environment, several factors must be accounted for; these factors include, but are not limited to:

  • Cirriculum - what topics will be taught? In what sequence?
  • Learning Modalities - what different learning styles will be incorporated into teaching methods? Are there visual components? Audio components? Kinesthetic components?
  • Time efficiency - what is the best use of time to teach a subject? Meet every other day? Meet every day?
  • Technology - what role does technology play in the classroom?

As colleges and universities continue to find ways to improve upon their instructional system, the importance of such factors increases as newer educational research in these areas surface. Although implementing ideas based on research is necessary, it is equally beneficial for universities to take into account student feedback when improving instruction in a field. What if a student was able to provide an in-depth account of her experience going through a university, detailing specific class-concepts that linked throughout her education and critiquing instructional methods? It is with this idea that this project arose.

Objective
       For the next few months, I will be detailing all the course-work a student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering must endure, and, more specifically, how specific topics link throughout the years to provide an understanding of the field of electrical engineering. In doing so, I hope to provide insight into what improvements could be made to ensure future students learn in the best possible manner.




Course Mapping
When students first become a part of the ECE department, they are required to map out a plan-of-study. How do the major required ECE courses relate to each other?


ECE Course List
A list of the major course EE students are required to take and how they relate to each other.

Alumni Liaison

Ph.D. 2007, working on developing cool imaging technologies for digital cameras, camera phones, and video surveillance cameras.

Buyue Zhang