A major change in how the required introductory electronics course is structured is provided by this project. From a content viewpoint, this change shifts the emphasis from modeling and applications of discrete electronic devices to designing, modeling, and applying integrated electronic devices. This much needed change is driven by several factors: most material in existing introductory electronics courses is 25 years old and is obsolete from an industrial perspective; advanced courses cannot build on current integrated electronics concepts because they are lacking in the curriculum; and most industry is no longer hiring electronic circuit designers at the BS level but rather now requiring a graduate degree. From a pedagogical viewpoint, a major change in the laboratory environment is needed to support integrated electronic topics. In this laboratory, students design and test basic integrated circuits that are fabricated in industry. For this activity, diagnostic probe stations, workstations, and CAD tools become as important as oscilloscopes, multimeters, and signal generators. An open laboratory environment with extended operating hours and with multimedia support is developed around a multiple-station work area that makes more effective use of the expanded laboratory equipment requirements. In addition to the changes in equipment needed to support the integrated electronics concepts, the project focuses on making the laboratory environment learning oriented rather than teaching oriented in which teaching assistants are replaced with "coaches" that become resource persons to the students working in the laboratory. The expectations in the laboratory are also changed to enhance teamwork skills and to stimulate innovation by the students. In addition to a group of structured laboratory experiments, a set of four milestones has been established. These milestones are open-ended design projects that stimulate integration of fundamental concepts discussed in the lecture part of the course and in the structured part of the laboratory. These milestones include an emphasis on integrating environmental transducers with basic electronic devices and with developing practical design skills. *
