Introducing Scenario Based Learning

Experiences from an Undergraduate Electronic and Electrical Engineering course.

Benn Thomsen

bthomsen@ee.ucl.ac.uk

Third Year Fourth YearSecond YearFirst Year

An integrated part of the course structure

Electronic Circuits

Digital Systems & Comms

Physical Electronics

Maths & Computing

Engineering Professional Practice

Pro

ject

bas

ed s

cena

rio

Systems, Communications

and Software

Devices, Materials and

Nanotechnology

Wider Context

Individual Project

Systems, Communications

and Software

Devices, Materials and

Nanotechnology

Wider Context

Group Project

Fundamentals Specialisation

Pro

ject

bas

ed s

cena

rio

Pro

ject

bas

ed s

cena

rio

Pro

ject

bas

ed s

cena

rio

Pro

ject

bas

ed s

cena

rio

ScenariosFirst YearScenario A: Electromagnetic lifting

Redesign an electromagnet to maximise the lifting force using only a single battery.

Scenario B: Java based image coding for airport security.

Develop a piece of software in java to scramble and descramble passenger images using a secret key.

Scenario C: The Transistor Radio Kit

Design and build an radio that could be assembled by hand in a third world country and powered off the grid.

Second YearScenario X: Call Detection System

Design, build and test a system that is able to non-intrusively acquire the signal from a phone line and determine the number that has been dialled.

Scenario Y: Due Diligence Report on Broadband Access Solutions

Research, assess and compare the performance, practicality and economic implications of three potential next generation broadband access technologies.

E.g. Scenario A: Electromagnetic weight liftingA company hired a mechanical engineering design firm to produce battery powered electromagnetic for lifting, however, the magnet produced did not provide sufficient lifting force. At this stage in the design process of the robot it is too late to change the mechanical design or the battery type (either a 1.5V C or 9V. You have been contracted to redesign the coil of the electromagnet to maximise the lifting force.

Constraints• Mechanical design• Two battery types

Goal• To lift the most

weight

Validation• Weight lifting

competition

Essentially an optimisation problem

• Need to determine and apply theory to produce a mathematical model

• Some parameters need to be determined experimentally

• The optimum solution determined by the model is then constructed and tested

E.g. Scenario A: Electromagnetic weight lifting

Checkpoints

Scenario Project Model: CIDO model

Planning• Problem

definition• Research• Innovate• Design concept• Assign Roles• Resource

Requirements

Design• Develop design

concept into deployable design specification

• Refinement through several iterations

Realisation• Build and test

subsections• Problem

shooting• Refinement

Validation• Test and

debug• Verify

performance against project specifications

Reporting• Presentation

of results• Production of

project documentation

• Reflection

Con

cept

&

orga

nisa

tiona

l ap

prov

al?

Des

ign

appr

oval

?

Spe

cific

atio

n M

et?

Feedback and Assessment

Feedback• Regular facilitation sessions• Reports are submitted and

marked online in moodle, feedback and comments provided by using Turnitin and GradeMark

• Post scenario debrief session

Assessment• Formative

• Checkpoints• Competitions

• Summative• Group Presentations• Individual technical reports

• Traditional reports• Critical Assessments of

other teams solutions• Group technical report

• User manual• Due diligence document

• Individual Narratives

Evaluation Questions?

• Do scenarios excite and motivate students?

• Is it feasible to carryout a practical engineering design project – ‘from concept to product in a week’?

• Does the scenario reinforce what is taught in lectures?

Student Comments

“I liked getting to apply theory to a real problem and building something to demonstrate and test the designed solution”“I was surprised a single battery

could lift so much, even though our theory indicated it could”It was great to beat the lecturer

“Once the Scenario B teams were announced, I instantly felt relieved. I was never good in programming to begin with and there in my group is ‘student A’, a good programmer. I now have a new insight into programming as I did not realise simple codes are enough to program something I presume as difficult.”

“As I do have previous programming experience I did my best to explain algorithms, object oriented programming, Java and general programming basics to the team members. It was a rewarding teaching experience, as most team members did understand my explanations and learnt from them.”

“I learnt more about biasing transistor more in a week than I ever did in lectures although I attend every single lectures”

“I liked the combination of almost all our modules to produce a very commonly used device”

“I really like the lab and scenario experience. I believe a better explanation during the year of the scientific and/or engineering approach to solve a problem will be very useful for the scenario and lab. Otherwise we fall into the ‘de-engineering process’: 1. Go to internet; 2. Find a similar design; 3. Try to understand how it works; 4. Modify it for our task.I really believe that the ‘engineering way’ is: 1. Study what we have (measuring); 2. Understand what we want in the output; 3. Design the "black box". Now I have clear in my mind these fundamental steps.Probably it was your way to give us a task and see how the students discover the ‘engineering process’.”

Summary

• Students particularly liked– the practical aspects of the scenario– Group work and the increased social interaction– Competitive testing

• Areas to improve– More facilitation staff– More guidance on team working and report writing– It is extremely important to have a timely debrief

session after the reports are marked