An integrated studio approach to teaching basic electronics to first year mechatronics degree students

The introduction of studio teaching at City University of Hong Kong allowed for a comparative study of the benefits of this form of teaching. A four-year longitudinal study was carried out using the Introductory Electronics courses designed for First Year Mechatronic Engineering degree students. A similar group in the same department studying Manufacturing Engineering was used as a control. It has been shown during preliminary analysis of the data that students using the teaching studio approach acquire a deeper understanding of the subject as well as achieving better grades than those students using the more traditional approaches. A typical studio session consists of a mixture of discussions, mini-lectures, demonstrations, computer simulations, problem-solving activities, and computer supported laboratory exercises. It utilises computer based teaching materials that emphasise multimedia and interactive learning.