Project-oriented approach in teaching programming to the first year undergraduate students in Electrical Engineering

This paper presents the approach of teaching and learning programing languages within the Computer Programming and Programming Languages course taught to the 1
^st
year of study undergraduate students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, based on solving simple Electrical Engineering problems. This approach was extended recently within an Erasmus Blended Intensive Program, through the project entitled DIG-SENSING. The students learn the basic of C/C++ programming through exercises that involve mathematics, physics, theory of electric circuits and other disciplines while they have the opportunity to understand better the use of programming languages in designing engineering applications by hands on experiments exercises and projects. The practical classes include solving problems using the programming languages C, C++, C# and Python. This paper presents laboratory practical examples and projects introduced to increase the student's interest and motivation in learning programming in the context of solving engineering problems. The paper also describes the course related activities such as webinars and presentations of using programming languages in realizing Electrical Engineering practical applications and an evaluation of students perception on learning programming through project oriented approach.