Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 83±90, 2004 0949-149X/91 $3.00+0.

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Printed in Great Britain. # 2004 TEMPUS Publications.

Dimensions in Electronics Education

Change*
S. WAKS
Department of Education in Technology & Science, TechnionÐI.I.T., Haifa 32000, Israel.
E-mail: [email protected]
C. R. G. HELPS
Information Technology, Brigham Young University, 265 CTB, Provo Utah, 84602-4206, USA. E-mail:
[email protected]
Through the years, electronics engineering has been undergoing changes in a variety of aspects. An
analysis of these changes is carried out, relating separately to five dimensions: (1) availability of
information; (2) scope of knowledge; (3) engineering entity; (4) information handling; (5)
human-machine interface. Implications of these changes on electronics education curricula are
presented. The transfer of a classic Electronics Engineering Technology BS program into an
Information Technology BS program (integrating electronics hardware with software) is described
and its implementation issues are discussed. This illustrates the issue of dealing with change. The
new programs reflect similar foundations of math and science as to conventional programs but
moves students and institution in directions reflected by trends in industry.

INTRODUCTION means? Many theoretical topics (in an engineering

curriculum) can be taught without adequate refer-
ENGINEERING is changing all the time. Change ence to practice. But applications can certainly not
used to happen gradually. It is now happening in be adequately learned without any reference to
large discontinuous steps [1, 2]. This creates signif- theoretical fundamentals. This calls for a corres-
icant challenges in changing engineering curricula ponding balance in the continuum dimension of
to prepare professionals to master new contents theory and practice in the curriculum, which might
and skills. This paper will elaborate on the issue of be unique to an engineering subject in a specific
applied versus theoretical contents and its effect on social environment. Attempts to achieve such a
the engineering curriculum. The changes inherent balance have been carried out for decades in
within any engineering entity become apparent various engineering colleges. It is agreed among
when the human-technology interface comes into many engineering educators that it is vital, and
action. Since engineering is related also to applica- becoming increasingly essential, that the graduates
tions, the human-technology overlap is quite be educated broadly, be able to think and express
dominant, and it might not be enough to relate themselves (orally and in writing) clearly and
merely to the basics: the product has to operate profoundly.
correctly. This means that details cannot be Curriculum design is often founded on non-
ignored and convenient assumptions must meet changing contents and skills. Engineering disci-
reality-based situations and conditions. Every plines in general and electronics programs in
basic development or innovation initiated by a particular, are characterized by substantial and
scientist or a research engineer, results often in a continuous change, so the issue is how does the
series of new applications, devised in many cases electronics education community deal with these
by the engineering graduate in the field. This contradicting factors.
means that the engineer is confronted with a One way to overcome this contrast is to emphas-
large number of changes. This fact has serious ize, in the electronics curriculum, long-sustaining
implications on the engineering education deci- theoretical foundations rather than applicative
sion-making processes, suggesting the need for episodic subjects. Opponents to this approach
continuous and substantive updating of the claim that diving too much into theoretical foun-
curriculum. dations might distance the engineer from effective
Engineering must deal with the tension between work in industryÐso while such an approach may
the applied and the theoretical or between details be appropriate for the academic-oriented graduate
and vision. This tension stems from the fact that of engineering, it might be an impeding factor in
these two entities are a continuum, not to be practical engineering activities of a field engineer.
treated merely as a dichotomy. Can the applied Radicals claim that many engineers do not arrive to
be approached without employing any theoretical the point of using (consciously or unconsciously)
most of the theoretical material (or contents
* Accepted 30 September 2003. based on it) acquired at university studiesÐwe

83
84 S. Waks and C. Helps

have not found any research evidence supporting first identify several dimensions of these changes.
such a claim. It is true, however, that since the The electronics engineering domain is one of the
release of the Grinter report in the USA in the engineering disciplines that is characterized by a
mid-1950s that many engineering programs have remarkable rate of change, through the years. We
emphasized a theoretical or science-based approach will focus on the field of electronics.
to engineering [3]. In regard to curriculum design, the term,
Perhaps another outcome of the issue of losing `change', in a discipline like electronics refers not
the linkage between theoretical science-based en- only to changes in subject matter contents, such as
gineering studies and the practical world has been the shift from component-centered devices toward
the emergence of applied engineering educational systems analysis or synthesis. It relates also to
programs, such as engineering technology in the professional and thinking skills involving, for
USA or the practical-oriented polytechnic colleges instance, the move from small-scale to large-scale
in Europe. On the other hand most of the applied integration and system thinking.
engineering curricula included some theoretical Let us analyze the unique features of change of a
engineering foundations for two main reasons: few dimensions of engineering in general and
(1) the need to understand theoretical techno- electronics education in particular.
logical processes in order to carry out practical
tasks; (2) the need to gain academic professional Dimension 1: availability of information
recognition (and prestige). Since the contents of engineering is changing
In any case, change is occurring in both the rapidly, especially technically related knowledge
theoretical and practical sides of engineering, and required skills, there is little point in loading
though it seems to be more apparent in the the electronics student with vast amounts of speci-
applicative portion. fic knowledge and factsÐmost of it might be
There have been suggestions that the engineer- obsolete by the time he/she graduates, or shortly
ing or engineering technology curricula should afterwards [1]. The engineering graduate's profes-
encompass both the practical and theoretical sional competence will be examined mainly in his/
sides of the discipline. That usually comes in the her capability to create new ideas and design their
form of proposals to make engineering a five-year realization in highly competitive circumstances. In
degree or to make graduate studies required for order to do so one should be competent in identi-
professional practice as is done for law and fying, retrieving and using effectively existing
medicine. These suggestions evolve out of the information and/or knowledge required to solve
constraints of the system. There are considerable engineering problems. This change in emphasis,
economic and academic pressures on most institu- from mastering to applying knowledge, has to be
tions to keep engineering or engineering technology taken into account in the modern educational
as a four-year degree. The final result of this is that engineering programsÐit involves a basic change
curriculum changes are implemented in, effectively, in thinking patterns and professional habits.
a zero-sum game. Topics have to be removed to During recent decades, the availability of infor-
make way for new material. Removing topics from mation in general (including obviously masses of
the curriculum is a difficult process, often facing electronics engineering information) has improved
strong opposition from faculty involved in those substantially. No longer is the lecturer or paper-
areas. Thus as technology changes, particularly in book the sole source of information. Electronic
applied fields, we see new four-year disciplines media sources, like the Internet, provide direct
evolving to fulfill new niches rather than continually access for the student to most of the information
extending the standard engineering curriculum to he/she needs [2] to advance in one's studies. The
encompass the new fields. information available through the Internet is more
We present and illustrate one approach to this comprehensive and updated than that received
problem. No discipline is changing faster than from a book, due to the electronic handling of
information technology. Several universities have information (via hypertext means, for example).
moved to create programs in this area as a new No doubt the information, which can be
discipline in its own right, with the same foun- retrieved from an electronic data base, is not
dation as similar engineering or technology necessarily professional knowledge, which has
programs. Inherent in the creation of a program been traditionally conveyed by a good lecturer or
of this type is the need to base the development of professor. However, Internet sites including infor-
such a program on an analysis of the dimensions mation and explanations in a variety of subjects
that define modern technical curricula. and levels in electronics education (and related
subjects like math, physics and computer engineer-
ing) have been available as shareware on the web
DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING TRENDS since the early nineties or even late eighties [4].
Most of these websites are frequently updated. One
Engineering change occurs in a variety of can find tutorials on a variety of subjects and
aspects. In order to analyze systematically the levels. The electronics educator or student is over-
overall change in engineering developments and whelmed by a huge quantity of software, of which
their implications on engineering education, let us some is invalid, unreliable or untested. To select
 Dimensions in Electronics Education Change 85

relevant adequate courseware for a given program `within-electronics content scope' one finds also
might be a problem in itself. Reference [4] (and its the expansion of electronics beyond its own
following updates) provides a selection of tested borders, namely into other disciplines like mechan-
shareware for electronics education purposes, ical engineering (e.g., electronics in the motor-car
which might assist the lecturer and student. industry, machine control, robotics) and software
The fact that courseware (including tutorials) engineering. Similar interdisciplinary issues exist
and lab simulations are available on the Web within other engineering fields. For example
means that availability of knowledge is possible, mechanical engineering encompasses manufac-
not merely information. One should bear in mind turing, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, computa-
that effective e-learning, synchronous and asyn- tional simulation and many other sub-disciplines.
chronous [5, 6], involve great efforts of curriculum In this section we relate merely to quantitative
design on the part of the lecturer and/or the aspects of the scope of electronics. This huge
educational institutionÐjust exposing the student expansion of the electronics discipline carries
to information and even knowledge is far substantial effects on the contents and skills to be
from being enough for an effective learning process acquired in electronics education programs. One
to occur. Most learning theorists in this field outcome of this development was the specializa-
promote cognitive or constructivist learning over tion within electronics curricula, i.e., after studying
acquisition of knowledge [7, 8]. science, mathematics and engineering foundations
during the two first years of an undergraduate
Dimension 2: scope of knowledge program, there were options of specialization
During recent decades, the nature of the electro- (e.g., microelectronics, control, computer engineer-
nics professionals' activities became more inter- ing and telecommunications) in the following two
disciplinary. This trend is reaching professional years toward the B.Sc. degree. The question in this
domains far beyond electronics: it might include regard of fundamentals versus specifics, a dilemma
mechanics (for example `Mechatronics') and aero- remains: how to construct, run and update a well-
nautics, not to mention computers, information balanced curriculum in electronics, in order to
technology and bioengineering. Technological meet modern educational and professional goals.
systems in reality are interdisciplinary in nature. We have seen in this section that the range
Learning many subjects (breadth) in any content dimension of electronics education has expanded
area comes usually on the account of depth-learn- enormously during the years, as a result of scien-
ing in a specific area. However, more complete tific and technology developments. Its impact on
understanding is mainly achieved by depth in a electronics curricula design must be taken into
selected area. Going too far in expanding the scope account.
of disciplines carries the danger of getting to know
very little in a lot of disciplines, namely, shallow- Dimension 3: engineering entity
ness. This might result in professional incapability. For decades the classical method of teaching
On the other hand, too narrow expertise may have electronics has been characterized by starting
similar negative results. The problem is actually to with general theoretical fundamentals such as
find an optimal balance of disciplinary and inter- electricity, electromagnetic fields principles and
disciplinary contents to be included in an educa- discrete components such as resistors, capacitors,
tional program. The engineering graduate has to inductors, diodes and transistors. The physical
possess mastery in a wide range of disciplines with structure of the component was emphasized.
in-depth knowledge in at least one specific domain Thus the resistance of a wire has been expressed
that they might use as a professional anchorÐ through the wire's physical properties such as
illustrating an example of in-depth engineering specific resistivity  and its physical dimensions
thinking patterns. When the electronics domain is (length l and cross-section A) yielding its resistance
considered the interdisciplinary nature takes place R ˆ (l)/A. A similar approach has been used when
across subjects that were once treated under the a two-plate capacitor was concerned (C ˆ ("A)/d).
umbrella called electronics, i.e., interdisciplinary As larger scale integration in technological setups
character of the electronics domain itself. Until has become more commonplace, the functional
World War II (WWII) electrical engineering definition of a system's block and even component
focused on electrical power generation (high (like a transistor for example) has been employed.
current/voltage installations) and its distribution Thus the internal resistance of an electronic system
among customers, and the low current was linked or block/module, is being more commonly
mostly to radio engineers. Other communication approached as the ratio between the voltage
techniques (e.g., telephony, telegraph and even supplied between its terminals and the current it
transmitters) were barely considered in a regular causes. In reality, where larger-scale integration
electrical engineering curriculum. After WWII new prevails, the input-output electrical behavior of
content domains appeared. To mention just a few an electronic system or block is more relevant
electronics branches: control, communication, than its discrete components. This development
digital (besides analog electronics) computers, has a far-reaching effect on how electronics
microelectronics, neural networks and bioelectro- should be taught: the component-to-system
nics. In addition to the expanding borders of the approach should perhaps be replaced by the
86 S. Waks and C. Helps

system-to-component orientation. This means, to consumers. At the consumer's premises the elec-
start explaining how an electronic system operates trical energy is converted into another form of
using input-output electrical behavior of the energy, be it thermal, mechanical or light. Over
system or its blocks and only afterwards get into the years, as electronics evolved from the electricity
the block and refer to the discrete components, if supply domain, information was also handled by
needed. electronics. As a result, telecommunication entities
In the preceding section we mentioned the such as telephone, radio and television evolved.
expanded quantitative scope of the electronics Their effects on human life are known. The main
discipline (e.g., communication, digital, computer, change that substantially affected the nature of the
microelectronics, neural networks, and bioelectro- electronics profession was the appearance of
nics). It is not only a question of expanding the computers. Information handlingÐcreating,
quantity of contents, i.e., `more of the same'. The processing, transmitting and receiving huge quant-
characteristics of the subject matter have changed, ities of information, is the principle focus of
be it the required scientific background (e.g., need computer systems. The dominance of information
for discrete mathematics, numerical analysis, using issues is so great that they become a primary
more statistical analysis tools). This means a domain of electronics. The information era, infor-
change in the identity of engineering contents, mation systems and information technology are
the engineering entity has changed. One may look the new terms that illustrate the dominance of
at it as a unique dimension of change, worthy of information in the hierarchy of modern techno-
paying attention to in new engineering curricula logical systems. Is this an episode, which will
developments. diminish with time? The impression one gets is
One of the most dramatic changes occurring in that information-matters will occupy humans'
the electronics professional arena in recent decades mind for the foreseeable future at least.
is the transition from the analog towards the In regard to the electronics profession, this
digital domain. Amplifiers and radio transmitters phenomenon of the empowerment of the informa-
and receivers circuitry that operated mainly in the tion entity is illustrated explicitly by the hardware-
linear region dominated the early days of electro- software interrelationship. With the appearance of
nics (especially before World War II). In the late computers and microprocessor devices there has
forties, as more industrial applications used elec- been a continuous shift from hardware concerns
tronic devices, particularly in control systems, towards software ones. Problems that could in the
switching and pulse circuits became more past be solved only by hardware means, are now
common. The great shift towards digital electro- being handled by software, reliably and efficiently.
nics began with the appearance of computers and Developments in the hardware-software dimension
microprocessors. More and more digital-related call for substantial changes in the electronics
electronics systems, circuits and devices in tele- curriculum. We realize that this dimension of
communication, control and home appliances, change (i.e., information handling) reaches
have been applied in a vast variety of applications. beyond the issue of information availability factors
The situation today is that digital electronic cir- discussed earlier.
cuitry is replacing analog circuits such as audio
amplifiers and radios. Dimension 5: human-machine interface
This dimension of movement towards the digital Consider the electronics graduate professional
domain has reached a point that calls for intro- practice. In the past, his/her activities related
ducing drastic changes in electronics curricula. It is mainly to hardware. The interface was with elec-
no longer a matter of altering some electronics tronic components, devices and instruments. With
courses in the educational programÐit challenges the appearance of computers and microcontrollers,
the whole structure and relevance of the existing professional activities became more and more soft-
programs. We will treat this issue later in this ware-related. At present, the professional user of
article. computer-intensive equipment operates virtual
Radicals amongst electronics educators may buttons on the computer screen, which represent
claim that there exists also a change in thinking physical components such as a volume control in
patterns, not only in contents. Digital thinking an on-line MP3 audio amplifier. Such graphical
patterns are not exactly the same as analytical/ interfaces, called widgets [9], stand for a real
analog patterns of thinking. It is known that some objectÐa combination of an on-screen graphic
engineers feel more comfortable dealing with digi- symbol and some program code to perform a
tal systems, while others prefer analytical analyses specific function.
of analog networks. Though the shift from hardware to software in
the human-machine interface relates mainly to
Dimension 4: information handling users, it has substantial effects on the nature of
Initial applications of electricity related mainly professional activities of an electronics graduate.
to handling energy. For example, converting The curriculum has to take this dimension of
energy stored in coal or fuel, at the power station, change (going from physical towards icon
into electrical energy, transferring it via long- interface), into account. Human-machine inter-
distance power lines and distributing it among faces have always been an issue but analogue or
 Dimensions in Electronics Education Change 87

electromechanical equipment provided visual, new programs do not always replace electronics
tactile and other clues to users while icon interfaces studies, nor are they all necessarily named `infor-
do not. The icon that saves your document could mation technology'. Some of these programs have
look exactly like the one that deletes the entire evolved from computer science programs or infor-
computer hard drive. User interface issues are far mation systems programs. However they share a
more important to modern designers. Consumer common core of topics based on math, science,
electronics has led to great advances in human- various digital core topics, as well as a commit-
machine interfaces. ment to applied technical education based on a
In the light of the above-mentioned trends in firm theoretical foundation. They also all accept
electronics education, changes in curricula are the concept that information technology is an
clearly necessary, and many are indeed taking integrative discipline and that the users' needs are
place. Furthermore, some engineering educators an important factor. They all award 4-year BS
claim that the required changes are so dominant in degrees. They attract many potential students of
the electronics discipline, that even the degree title the classical electronics engineering programs.
of a 4-year electronics program graduate should be Representatives from these programs are working
altered to Information Engineering or Information together nationally (in the US) to agree on curri-
Technology. It is obvious that many electronics cular and accreditation standards for this emerging
educators wouldn't agree with this dismantling of discipline. Various national and international
electronics disciplineÐelectronics reaches beyond bodies, such as the Accreditation Board for
information handling matters (control, power Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the
handling, bioelectronics, microelectronics, etc.). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
This issue is open for discussion in the electronics have officially recognized these efforts. A new
education community. It is interesting to note that interest group of the ACM called SIGITE (Special
the impact of change is perceived more in the Interest Group: Information Technology Educa-
engineering technology applied-oriented programs tion) has been formed. The group has held.
than in the engineering programs, which put more Let us concentrate on one recent example illus-
emphasis on theoretical foundations. So, in order trating the transfer of an electronics engineering
to illustrate the change issue we will refer to the technology program to an Information Tech-
engineering technology case. nology (IT) program as it took place recently in
the School of Technology at Brigham Young
University [12].
NEW 4-YEAR UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS
REFLECTING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

The exponential growth of the number of people AN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

using the Internet is accompanied by huge efforts PROGRAM
and investments of software enterprises in devel-
oping user-friendly human-computer interfacing Brigham Young University offered a program in
working possibilities. Thus the typical computer Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) for
user does not need to know much of the computer about three decades. This program always had
system's technicalities or how it works, he/she an emphasis in computer applications. In recent
desperately needs help in deciding which technol- years, many of the graduates found jobs in IT
ogy is appropriate for specific needs and assistance fields as network designers, system administers
in deploying and using that technology. This and also as software interface designers and related
situation not only calls for introducing substantial fields. Enrollments in EET declined slowly from
changes in existing engineering technology educa- 1984 to 2000 as they did for most similar programs
tional programs, especially in the electronics field, in the USA. In 2000 it was decided to recognize the
it caused the emergence of new professional tech- trend in technology and to convert the program to
nologists, such as the Information Technologist. an information technology emphasis. Many of
Computer and information-related baccalaure- the circuit design courses were eliminated or de-
ate engineering technology programs [10] are emphasized and were replaced with courses in
already running in certain universities in the software, computer hardware and system integra-
US. Consider some of the following examples. tion. The guiding principles behind the develop-
Rochester Institute of Technology [11] has offered, ment were that graduates needed certain types of
for some years, information technology 4-year skills and that many students and employers
programs instead of the 4-year electronics engin- favored a particular approach to education. The
eering technology studies. Their program started in program was thus designed around principles of:
the late 1990's and now numbers in excess of 1000
undergraduate students. Other major universities . Technological competence: the students should
have developed similar programs in recent years; be able to design, implement and manage infor-
Georgia Southern, Purdue University, Brigham mation systems.
Young University, Macon State College and the . System level design and integration rather than
University of Houston, to mention just a few. Such component level.
88 S. Waks and C. Helps

. Human communication (oral, written, leader- grounded in scientific and mathematical principles.
ship, user advocacy). Students focus on computer hardware design and
. Experiential learning. are also competent in software. In contrast to these
. Life-long learning; essential in a rapidly changing disciplines the Information Technology program is
field. housed in the School of Technology. It has an
. Critical thinking. emphasis on system design at the macroscopic
level. While students are competent users and
These principles were written up as the objectives writers of software they will spend a greater
of the BYU program [12]. portion of their time configuring systems compris-
Research and collaboration with similar devel- ing hardware, servers, networks, databases and the
oping programs at other universities helped to like. The program is also characterized by its
develop the core technical topics of the curriculum. emphasis on human-computer interfacing and on
The curriculum now includes basic analogue and project management and written and oral com-
digital electronics, design of digital systems, soft- munication. Being housed in a technology school
ware coding, operating systems, networking data- with its traditions in the fields of engineering
bases, electronic communications and human- technology the program requires extensive project
computer interfacing. This is combined with and lab work. By the time the students reach their
courses in mathematics, (calculus and discrete fourth year of study they will have completed
mathematics), physics, statistics, human commun- several projects independently and are well
ications, and other general education support prepared for their capstone senior project
classes. All technical classes include a significant experience.
laboratory component and most of the third year
and above classes include projects. All students are FACTORS AFFECTING THE
required to select, design, implement, present and IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IT PROGRAM
document a project in the discipline as a capstone
experience in the fourth year. Concepts such as In his keynote address at the 2nd Global
teamwork, project management, system-level Congress on Engineering Education the Editor-
thinking, life-long learning and enterprise-wide in-Chief of the International Journal of Engineering
integration are formerly taught and applied in Education, Dr. M. S. Wald [13], claimed that the
projects and classes. The principles mentioned traditional approach to curriculum change (plan;
above are not necessarily taught as specific classes prototype; assess; modify and adopt) at a univer-
but are incorporated into classes in the major. sity is focused on the curriculum itself. One of the
The above curriculum was announced early in main drawbacks of this traditional approach is
2001 and offered formally in fall 2001. Student that the changes are dictated from above, without
acceptance has been excellent. With almost no enough active cooperation (and motivation) of the
publicity and no formal recruiting efforts student practitioners that are directly involved in imple-
enrollment has increased about 30% in one year menting the curriculum changes, especially the
and the growth has been sustained for three relevant faculty members. In many cases ` . . . their
enrollment years so far. Enrollment in the program only real involvement was trying to guess how this
is now being capped due to limited teaching change would affect them, and in the absence of
resources. Similar increases in enrollment have this information, they would opt for no change'.
been seen at other campuses offering IT or related A new Curriculum Change Model (CCM), to
degrees. Much work remains to be done. which Wald refers, has been developed and applied
The relevance of the new program in informa- recently by a team at Texas A&M University [14].
tion technology can also be illustrated by its The focus of this new model is on changing the
comparison to other similar programs offered at behavior of people, rather than changing the
BYU and at many similar institutions. In addition curriculum itself. The main component for moti-
to information technology BYU has programs in vating change is to foster cognitive commitment
computer science, computer engineering and infor- from those involved in introducing and maintain-
mation systems. The information systems program ing the change (including the decision makers).
is hosted by the School of Business and is char- This model is based on five general stages:
acterized, in this context, by required courses in
accounting, business management and related 1. identify the subjects whose behavior needs
business oriented courses. The remaining three change;
programs all share a core of advanced mathe- 2. act to neutralize the objection to change;
matics, physics, and modern computer pro- 3. implement changes;
gramming techniques. Computer Science is 4. evaluate outcomes and reward participants;
characterized by its emphasis on software algo- 5. stabilize changes.
rithm design. Studies in this program include soft- So far only the first three changes have been
ware effectiveness, discrete mathematical analysis implemented in the new Information Technology
and management of small and large software program in the BYU case. Evaluation and stabili-
design projects. Computer Engineering is a classic zation of the curricular changes are forthcoming
engineering program with an emphasis on design steps, which are in progress.
 Dimensions in Electronics Education Change 89

The new curriculum at BYU was developed in universities in the USA, and presented a unique
the full knowledge that concepts such as outcomes- program for BS studies in Information Technology
oriented education and continuous improvement (IT), prepared in the School of Technology at
would be expected of them. These concepts have BYU. Though the IT program relates to the
been built into the design of the curriculum. The existing Electronics Engineering Technology
program has now been through a couple of cycles (EET) it is substantially different, in the sense of
of update and improvement and the faculty are the above-mentioned dimensions of technological
finding what mechanisms to keep the program trends (particularly in the computing domain).
current and relevant, while maintaining standards Therefore it was decided to replace the existing
according to basic goals, are effective so far. EET curriculum by the IT program, starting Fall
However this must still be considered early days 2001. The main feature that distinguishes the
and further evaluation is required. Findings relat- proposed IT program from other IT programs is
ing to these stages will start to be available after the robust integration of hardware and software;
the autumn of 2003 [15]. aiming at imparting to majors a certain extent of
`technical autonomy' so the graduate will be able
to fulfill the role of the technology and computer
CONCLUSION authority/leader at the workplace. This program
also offers options for minor studies for students
We have analyzed the trends of changes required of non engineering disciplines.
to be introduced into the Electronics Engineering The engineering education literature shows that
Technology curriculum, as a result of recent (and preparing a new curriculum such as the one
ongoing) technological developments, especially in presented in this paper is merely one step in
the fields of computers and information tech- introducing and managing curriculum change.
nology. These changes are characterized by multi- This stage comprises merely the `What' (contents)
dimensional factors, which some of them have of the changes. Unless the other component of the
their roots back in the seventies, with the spreading curriculum change is taken care of, namely the
of personal computers. These trend factors relate `How' component, the chances for introducing the
to changes in a variety of dimensions such as going curriculum changes are slim. Furthermore, these
digital (from analog), interdisciplinary (from two components might even be interdependent. In
specialized), software (from hardware) and relating introducing a new program, such as the IT, one
more to systems rather than to components. should focus on people: cooperate with the deci-
We have surveyed some engineering technology sion makers and instructors from the start (as has
educational programs already running in several been the case at BYU).

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90 S. Waks and C. Helps

Shlomo Waks is a Full Professor at the Technion±Israel Institute of Technology. Degrees:

B.Sc. (1962) and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering; 2nd M.Sc. in Science Education; Ph.D.
(1973) in Curriculum Development. Main national and international academic activities:
Head of departmental Graduate Studies (Technion); consultant to the USAID on
curriculum development in engineering/technology education. Published: 80 papers in
refereed journals and international conference proceedings; 23 research reports; 44 text
books (as author or co-author), author of Curriculum DesignÐFrom an Art Towards a
Science. Mentor of 36 Master and Doctoral students that completed their graduate studies
in Science, Technology and Engineering Education.

Richard Helps is an Associate Professor at Brigham Young University and Program Chair
of the Information Technology Program in the School of Technology. Degrees: B.Sc. (1978)
and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (1986); 2nd Graduate Degree in Electrical Engineering
(1992), Engineering Technology Program Accreditor for Accreditation Board for Engin-
eering and Technology, Has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed conference
proceedings and journals. Current research interests in embedded computing and in
university technology education methods.