A Project-Based Learning Method Applied to an Introductory Course in Electronics Engineering

We present an application of a modified version of the project-based learning (PBL) method in the context of an introductory course in electronics engineering. The project is aimed at solving a real-life communication problem to boost the students' enthusiasm and participation, which are essential motivational aspects to succeed at university. Therefore, the students play an active role in learning the concepts of electronics involving design, construction, and testing of circuits and embedded software. The presented case covers a broader area of knowledge and skills than previously reported PBL introductory courses. We briefly address the criteria used to organize the experiment-oriented lectures and the discovery-oriented labs, which in turn are driven by the project itself. Moreover, the students feedback is analyzed to improve actual PBL implementations and encourage the application of the PBL method from the beginning of the engineering education curricula.