International Conference on Engineering Education and Research “Progress Through Partnership” © 2004 VŠB-TUO, Ostrava, ISSN 1562-3580 367 Web-Based Tutorial Environment for Undergraduate Engineering Students Farzad POURBOGHRAT Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901- 6603, pour@siu.edu, http://heera.engr.siu.edu/elec/faculty/pour/pour.html Ramanarayanan VISWANATHAN Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901- 6603, viswa@engr.siu.edu, http://heera.engr.siu.edu/elec/faculty/vish/vish.html KEYWORDS: web-based, tutorial, engineering, mathematics, Matlab, Simulink ABSTRACT: This paper describes the development of a web based tutorial environment for use by undergraduate students enrolled in an engineering program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This tutorial environment is specifically targeted to illustrate the applications of mathematical techniques in a number of electrical engineering disciplines. The material is intended to help an engineering student gather a better understanding of the applications and techniques of mathematics as he/she progresses through the calculus sequence, linear algebra, complex variables, probability and statistics, and the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) courses such as, electric circuits, signal and systems, controls, and communications. The tutorial environment will: (a) Provide illustrative examples of applications of calculus, linear algebra, complex analysis, and probability and statistics. (b) Develop simulation programs in C++ and MATLAB to illustrate the applications. (c) Provide examples for several electrical engineering courses, such as, Electric Circuits, Signals and Systems, Control Systems, and Communications. (d) Provide web links for additional resources. The tutorial tools will enable students for (a) Setting up the necessary equations for solving an engineering application problem. (b) Adjustment of parameters and solution approach. (c) Interactive simulation of the problem using MATLAB. (d) Graphical observation and verification of the simulated solutions. The web material will be housed by the Engineering server and it should be made available to all SIUC students. 1 INTRODUCTION It has been the experience of teachers of electrical engineering and mathematics that the students look for application examples as a motivation for learning mathematical techniques. Certainly it is expected that a student is adequately trained in mathematical tools before he/she starts learning a particular engineering discipline. The accreditation board of engineering and technology (ABET) in no uncertain terms emphasizes the mastery of mathematics as a component of successful engineering education. We believe that a web-based tutorial environment can offer an additional tool for students to learn engineering applications simultaneously while they learn mathematical tools. While many examples could be made available in the finished product, we mention here a few examples. (a) Symmetric n-section resistive network resulting in a “difference equation”. Setting up of the difference equation and its solution. Sketching the solution of a difference equation as a function of n, using MATLAB. (b) RLC network in electric circuits leading to a “differential equation”. Illustration of the stability concepts. MATLAB plots and solutions. Displaying many graphical illustrations. (c) Convolutional integral as a tool in system analysis. Students have difficulty in understanding running integrals, where a limit of integration is a variable. Graphical illustration of the concept using animation. (d) Sinusoidal steady state analysis of electric circuits. (e) Function approximation and transforms. Fourier series, Fourier transform, discrete-time Fourier transform and fast Fourier transform (FFT).