Shortcuts in circuits and systems education with a case study of the Thévenin/Helmholtz and Norton/Mayer equivalents

Basic Circuits and Systems CAS education is crucial in the first phase of any electrical engineering curriculum, but increasingly under threat. This situation is in many ways similar to that of mathematics education in engineering. Creative shortcuts for teaching mathematics have recently been advocated in the “streetfighting mathematics approach”. Similar innovative, alternative ways can make the basic CAS education more effective. This special session aims to provide a forum where colleagues across the globe come together to share best practices, such as jewels or pedagogical shortcuts, and where they propose modern circuits, signals, and systems curricula for various target student audiences and discuss other related issues. Here we survey the contributions and discuss a case study, namely, the Thévenin/Helmholtz and Norton/Mayer equivalents.