Computer-based simulation development of a design course project in electrical engineering
Computer-based simulation (CBS) is a powerful tool in engineering education. In the article, the findings of a study designed to evaluate the impact of CBS for the development of a design course project (DCP) in the framework of the Electrical Applications course taught at electrical engineering master degree are presented. The study is based on an experimental approach to evaluate the impact of CBS on student results during the first year. Then, during three subsequent years, surveys were collected to analyze students perception of the impact that CBS had on the student's learning efficacy and level of motivation during the development of the DCP. The main finding of this work is that students who used CBS as an additional tool during the development of the DCP achieved significantly higher results than their colleagues who did not use it. Analysis of the surveys indicates that students perceived an impact of CBS on their learning efficacy and level of motivation near the high levels of the scoring system used.  2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:587595, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21629
computers simulation electrical engineering education