Using Multimedia Courseware in Engineering Education

This paper presents the use of multimedia tools in teaching engineering courses, in particular we will discuss the use of "courseware" in conducting classroom teaching for the first electrical engineering circuits course. Some of the questions and/or concerns that have been raised regarding the use of a courseware package and advantages and disadvantages of using such an approach including the developer's comments and students' reactions are included. A brief summary of the steps required to produce a courseware is also provided. The results presented in this paper are based on an on going project that has been partially funded by the Pennsylvania State University and Lenohard Engineering Center of Excellence. The courseware modules are series of executable files that can be used in Windows environment. They also provide links to other useful software packages such as PSPICE and MATLAB. Various examples utilizing these programs are included in the package. The results presented in this paper are based on an on going project that has been partially funded by the Pennsylvania State University and Lenohard Engineering Center of Excellence. A working courseware example will be presented at the conference and also included in the CD-ROM version of the conference proceedings.