Use of practicums in circuits and signal processing courses

This paper describes the integration of practicums in two undergraduate electrical and computer engineering (ECE) courses, namely circuits and systems and signal processing, at Villanova University. Practicums, which are weekly two-hour laboratory sessions, have been made part of several required courses in the new ECE undergraduate curriculum. They are intended to provide the feel for theoretical concepts by way of computer-based design and simulation of practical systems as well as their actual construction and testing. This paper, in particular, discusses specific practicums that have been developed for the sophomore-level circuits and systems course and the junior-level signal processing course at Villanova University.