Obstacles in signals and systems conceptual learning

A quantitative assessment of undergraduate signals and systems students highlights several persistent misconceptions, indicated by students choosing the same wrong answer to a question before and after a signals and systems course. The assessment consists of administering the multiple choice signals and systems concept inventory (SSCI) as pretest and a post-test for the course. The SSCI data also show that students' conceptual understanding at the end of continuous time courses is significantly correlated with their understanding at the start of a subsequent discrete time course, but not at the end of the discrete time course. Correlation of SSCI results with grades in prerequisite courses supports the notion that students learn signals and systems better when they have an adequate background in mathematics.