IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 48, NO. 2, MAY2005 223 Teaching Telecommunications to Electronics Technical Engineers: An Integral Course on Telecommunication Systems Gerasimos K. Pagiatakis, Member, IEEE Abstract—This paper describes the rationale and the content of a two-semester four-hour-per-week course titled Telecommu- nication Systems. The course covers telecommunications in an overall manner, avoiding the segmentation of the telecommunica- tions subject and introducing the student to the theoretical and engineering aspects of telecommunications in the shortest time possible. The course consists of six consecutive modules (basics, signals and systems, transmission techniques, telecommunication links, networks and services, and market issues). Besides offering background telecommunication knowledge and providing the student with a clear and well-structured overview of the overall telecommunications subject, it aims at introducing the student to the basic methodology for treating practical engineering problems. Index Terms—Education, telecommunications, telecommunica- tions education. I. INTRODUCTION T HE traditional way of training electrical engineering students in telecommunications is by offering specialized courses dealing with the various telecommunication subtopics [1]. Although such an approach has the advantage of offering the student more specialized in-depth presentation of the relevant technical concepts, it may result in knowledge seg- mentation, lack of unified perception of telecommunications, and overlapping and waste of training time. On the other hand, as a result of the growth of electrical and computer engineering (including telecommunications), undergraduate programs are under constant pressure to adapt to the obvious restrictions of curricula formation. The approach described in this paper anticipates the delivery of an integral two-semester course in telecommunications that approaches telecommunication technology in an overall end-to-end manner. The course, titled Telecommunication Systems, starts from the basic communication theory and tech- niques (usually covered in preliminary background courses) and continues with more advanced topics, such as communi- cation links (wireless, fiber optics, etc.) and telecom networks and services (telephony and integrated services digital network, or ISDN) [2]. In this way, the students are introduced to the Manuscript received January 29, 2004; revised June 30, 2004. The author is with the Department of Telecom Investment, Hellenic Organiza- tion for Telecommunications (OTE), Athens GR15124, Greece, and also with the Department of Electronics Instructors, Higher School of Pedagogical and Technical Education (ASPAITE, formerly SELETE), New Heraklion, Athens GR14121, Greece. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TE.2004.837037 main issues of telecommunication engineering early and in the shortest time possible while still having the opportunity to work further with the topics of their choice by attending subsequent telecommunications-related courses. Every effort is made to help students develop a problem-solving capability regarding engineering issues and practical applications. Telecommunication Systems is offered at the Department of Electronics Instructors, Higher School of Pedagogical and Technical Education (ASPAITE, formerly SELETE), Athens, Greece [3]. At present, this particular department anticipates a four-year (eight-semester) basic study period (including a semester of industrial work) in which the equivalent of two and one-half years are dedicated to technical subjects (mainly sci- ence, electronics, and telecommunications) and the equivalent of one and one-half years to pedagogical topics. There is also an optional fifth year of study during which additional technical courses are offered. The graduates of the four-year program can be employed as teachers of electronics and communications in technical high schools, while the graduates of the five-year pro- gram have the additional option to work in industry as technical electronics engineers (as opposed to electronics engineers grad- uating from technical universities). The Telecommunication Systems course is offered during the fifth and sixth semester of study (Telecommunication Systems I and II). In total, it consists of 104 lecturing hours (13 weeks per semester and four hours per week). There is also a parallel, but independent, two-semester laboratory course (titled Telecommunications Laboratory) that includes laboratory exercises associated with Telecommunication Systems. II. COURSE RATIONALE AND AIM In developing the Telecommunication Systems course, the following facts have been taken into account: • that all students (no matter what their choices will be in subsequent courses) have to be familiar with the basic the- oretical and practical issues of telecommunications and develop a clear and well-structured perception of what telecommunications is about; • that because of the fast expansion of electronics tech- nology (including telecommunications) and the restric- tions of training time, the content of the course should be packaged in the most efficient way possible so that the student is offered an adequate training in both the theoretical and practical aspects of telecommunications engineering. 0018-9359/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE