125 | Page Revitalizing Theoretical Aspects in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Curricula Sridhar Chitta 1 , Dr. V. Kamaraju 2 , A. Mahesh Kumar 3 1 Associate Professor (Retd.), Electronics and Communication Engineering Hyderabad,( India) 2 Principal (Retd.), JNTU Kakinada, Electrical Engineering Hyderabad, (India) 3 Assistant Professor, Deptt. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Mahaveer Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad, (India) ABSTRACT In the past several decades there has been a divide between the theories of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) and Circuit Theory taught in engineering courses which has prevented students with Electrical and Electronics majors, from acquiring cognitive skills necessary for the analysis and application of Electrical science in advanced circuit theory and design. One of the chief reasons many students struggle to understand advanced topics in circuit theory and electronic devices and circuits is the rapid pace in the introduction of abstract concepts using sophisticated field theory and neglect of key concepts in E&M which directly affect circuit processes. After describing the difficulties of teaching and learning E&M, this paper describes proposals made by experts in Science Education for a revised E&M structure which will lend coherence to the disconnected subjects of electrostatics, magnetostatics and fields of moving charges and circuits. Then, the results of performance tests of students in the new E&M sequence is presented followed by a set of guidelines the authors have prepared to assist in restructuring existing engineering curricula in Universities. Keywords - Engineering Curriculum, Syllabus Revision, Revised Electricity and Magnetism Structure, Unified Treatment of Electrostatics and Circuits I.INTRODUCTION In most traditional E&M courses, during which teachers are focused on explaining Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws, inadequate descriptions such as voltage being the “cause for the flow of electrons” are provided [1]. Then, after defining the electric field and potential, finally the term “voltage between A and B” is defined as potential difference = work done to move a unit charge from A to B =ΔV=ΔE p /q, where ΔE p is the work done to move a charge q. According to Professor Hermann Härtel [1], this sequence of exp laining voltage makes it a “highly abstract and mathematically elegant approach” but which “sets aside any causal mechanism which could explain the flow of electrons within electric circuits”. The role of surface charges in the conduction process and microscopic descriptions of electron motion (of the millions and millions of electrons in conductors) is missing which provides the correct causal mechanism [3][6][7]. Laboring to meet syllabus completion deadlines, teachers are unable to discuss the central role of the field in